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African countries meet in Brazil to discuss food security

Representatives from African countries kicked-off a meeting about food security on Monday in Brazil, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports. The meeting is part of a series of Brazilian initiatives, which aim to strengthen ties between the country and Africa and help the continent expand its agricultural capabilities (5/11).

12 May 2010

New bacterial species in tsete fly may help control African sleeping sickness

A new bacterial species, found in the gut of the fly that transmits African sleeping sickness, could be engineered to kill the parasite that causes the disease. The study, published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, could lead to new approaches to control this fatal infection that is becoming resistant to drug therapy.

11 May 2010

U.S., Haitian partners meet to discuss elections as Haitian parliamentary terms expire

In an article examining elections in Haiti and their impact on the country's recovery from the January 12 earthquake, the Miami Herald writes that Canada, the U.S., the Organization of American States, the U.N. and other partners have "dispatched top lieutenants [to Port-au-Prince] for a Monday meeting" with President Rene Preval to discuss elections.

11 May 2010

Women's empowerment, regional integration, malaria prevention discussed at WEF on Africa

On the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, Graca Machel, founder and president of the Foundation for Community Development, called on African governments to implement strategies aimed at empowering women in order to accelerate the continent's social and economic development, Tanzania Daily News/allAfrica.com reports.

10 May 2010

FAO head calls for more African agriculture investment to boost food security

Country and donor under-investment in agriculture has hindered food security across Africa, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said on Thursday at the group's 26th Regional Conference for Africa in Luanda, Angola, Reuters reports.

10 May 2010

Plant breeding can be used to produce new types of wheat with enhanced health benefits

Wheat products, and in particular, wholegrain products, are important sources of dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals and other components which are beneficial for human health. Analysis of a diverse range of wheat varieties within the HEALTHGRAIN project of the European Union has shown substantial variation (up to four-fold) in the content and composition of these components.

7 May 2010

Nokia launches Ovi Life Tools in China

Nokia today announced the launch of Ovi Life Tools in China. Designed for the emerging markets, Ovi Life Tools offers a wide range of information services covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment.

7 May 2010

IRIN examines possible changes to U.S. food aid policy

IRIN examines the Obama administration's efforts to expand U.S. food aid beyond the distribution of domestically-produced food to countries in need.

7 May 2010

ALMA launches malaria drive on opening day of WEF on Africa

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance, comprised of the heads of 26 countries, on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa "launched a fresh drive to eliminate malaria using a combination of bed nets, insecticides and medication," Reuters reports (Nyambura-Mwaura, 5/5).

7 May 2010

IBM embarks on multi-year research effort to better understand actions needed to improve human health

IBM today launched a multi-year research effort to connect and analyze enormous collections of data from a wide variety of sources in order to enable individuals, governments and businesses to better understand which actions to take to improve human health. The project will initially focus on solving the issue of childhood obesity.

6 May 2010

Greenwire/New York Times examine water, sanitation in Kenya

Greenwire/New York Times examines how water "binds urban sanitation with energy, tourism, agriculture and other sectors throughout sub-Saharan Africa," with a focus on Kenya's "water woes." Kenya's problems have been compounded by changing weather, population growth, "volatile politics," and cultural taboos around sanitation, the article states.

6 May 2010

Increase in antibiotic resistance found in soil microbes

A team of scientists in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are reporting disturbing evidence that soil microbes have become progressively more resistant to antibiotics over the last 60 years. Surprisingly, this trend continues despite apparent more stringent rules on use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, and improved sewage treatment technology that broadly improves water quality in surrounding environments.

6 May 2010

Lake sworn in as UNICEF executive director

Anthony Lake, who "has been a foreign policy advisor to several Democratic U.S. presidents and presidential candidates," has officially become the executive director of UNICEF, Agence France-Presse reports (5/2). Lake was sworn into office Monday by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the U.N. headquarters in New York, according to a UNICEF article (5/3).

5 May 2010

AU chair discusses proposed food security compact ahead of World Economic Forum on Africa

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika "said he planned to work with other African leaders to devise a programme on food security that was sustainable 'regardless of who is looking at it,' and set up what he called an African compact on food security to act as an independent advisory body to the African Union on agriculture and food issues," the Guardian's "Katine" blog reports.

5 May 2010

Biotech industry reviews effects of the recession

Minneapolis Star Tribune, on the Biotechnology Industry Organization's convention in Chicago: "The biotechnology industry, hurt by the recession, is looking for inspiration from Charles Darwin. Leading executives say unless biotech companies adapt to a less-robust economy and changing industry standards, they won't survive the downturn. Biotech start-ups, seen as the lifeblood of the industry, have been among the worst hit by a decline in venture capital investments."

5 May 2010

Kaiser Permanente introduces Sustainability Scorecard for medical equipment, products

Kaiser Permanente, committed to improving the health of its patients, workforce and communities, announced today that it will require suppliers to provide environmental data for $1 billion worth of medical equipment and products used in its hospitals, medical offices and other facilities.

4 May 2010

New breakthrough in nutritional plant breeding may save children’s eyesight

Two Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are part of an international team that has found a way to boost the nutritional value of corn. This has the potential to reduce the number of children in developing countries who lose their eyesight, become ill or die each year because of vitamin A deficiencies.

4 May 2010

Landec announces acquisition of Lifecore Biomedical from Warburg Pincus Private Equity

Landec Corporation, a materials science company that develops and markets patented polymer products for food, agriculture, personal care and drug delivery applications, today announced that it has acquired Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. from Warburg Pincus Private Equity IX, LP. When acquired by Warburg Pincus in March 2008, Lifecore was comprised of two divisions, the Dental Division and the Hyaluronan Division. The Dental Division was merged into a Warburg Pincus portfolio company.

3 May 2010

Report highlights lack of humanitarian access to Cyclone Nargis survivors in Myanmar

"Almost two years after Cyclone Nargis killed nearly 140,000 people in Myanmar, the repression of rights in areas hit by the cyclone continues and the humanitarian space in the country is shrinking instead of growing as originally hoped, a [Human Rights Watch] report released on Thursday said," Reuters AlertNet reports.

3 May 2010

FDA sets new safety standards for transportation of food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking commercial food transporters to follow new guidance the agency is issuing today to reduce the chances of physical, chemical, biological and other risks during transportation of foods while the agency reviews current food safety transportation regulations.

3 May 2010

Agriculture News and Research

African countries meet in Brazil to discuss food security

New bacterial species in tsete fly may help control African sleeping sickness

U.S., Haitian partners meet to discuss elections as Haitian parliamentary terms expire

Women's empowerment, regional integration, malaria prevention discussed at WEF on Africa

FAO head calls for more African agriculture investment to boost food security

Plant breeding can be used to produce new types of wheat with enhanced health benefits

Nokia launches Ovi Life Tools in China

IRIN examines possible changes to U.S. food aid policy

ALMA launches malaria drive on opening day of WEF on Africa

IBM embarks on multi-year research effort to better understand actions needed to improve human health

Greenwire/New York Times examine water, sanitation in Kenya

Increase in antibiotic resistance found in soil microbes

Lake sworn in as UNICEF executive director

AU chair discusses proposed food security compact ahead of World Economic Forum on Africa

Biotech industry reviews effects of the recession

Kaiser Permanente introduces Sustainability Scorecard for medical equipment, products

New breakthrough in nutritional plant breeding may save children’s eyesight

Landec announces acquisition of Lifecore Biomedical from Warburg Pincus Private Equity

Report highlights lack of humanitarian access to Cyclone Nargis survivors in Myanmar

FDA sets new safety standards for transportation of food

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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