News 360° - Briefs

MINING ALARM IGNORED Some of the 33 Chilean miners trapped 700 metres underground for 69 days had informed the management about the risk of a cave-in three hours before it occurred. Their bosses told them not to stop the work.

Following rules doesn't pay

Organizations that continued with embryonic stem cell research benefit

Cloned food safe for consumption, says US

Just over a decade after scientists cloned the first animal, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared that meat and milk from cloned farm animals are safe to eat. The announcement comes after a six-year-long study by the US Food and Drug Administration, which says food derived from cloned cows, pigs, goats and their offspring is "as safe to eat as products from conventionally bred livestock".

Buffalo protein against cattle diseases

it is believed that buffaloes are more tolerant to tropical infections than cattle. A new study says Indian water buffalo harbours a protein which can yield antibiotics to cure diseases in cattle. The protein, called bovine neutrophil beta-defensin-4 (bnbd-4), is effective against bacteria resistant to existing antibiotics.

BYTES

numbers phobia: Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have particular difficulty understanding numbers and sequences, a University of Alberta study shows. An assessment of 50 Canadian children diagnosed with FASD, a condition caused by the mother's alcohol consumption while a foetus is still in the womb, revealed that the youngsters had specific deficits in memory for numbers and sequences, which may contribute to common maths difficulties faced by these children. The study also revealed differences among ethnicities.

Cloning revives Himachal willows

willow trees are drying up in the Lahaul valley of Himachal Pradesh.

Snipptes

• South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who is standing trial on charges of fraud and embezzlement for his team's research on stem cells, has resumed work on animal cloning. He has opened a biological research facility in southern Seoul and is working with about 30 of his former lab associates. His lawyer has said that Woo-suk will not restart research on human embryonic stem cells.

Korean cloning expert quits

Hwang Woo-Suk, who cloned the first human embryo for harvesting stem cells for therapeutic use in 2004, resigned as the head of the World Stem Cell Hub, an international research body. The resignation follows reports that some of the eggs used for the 2004 study were "bought". South Korean ethical guidelines state eggs for stem cell research should be voluntarily donated.

Another first in clones

forthe first time, two unrelated clones of a wild species have bred naturally.

Mesoamerican masters of biotechnology

Maize is undeniably humanity's greatest, and the first, feat of genetic engineering. But the success story cannot be attributed to modern humans. A recent research shows that it is only due to the selective breeding efforts of ancient Americans that maize today has its huge ears, each packed with firmly attached kernels sumptuously filled with starch, protein and oil. It is these characteristics that made a useless grassy weed, called teosinte, into an edible species.