BT Cotton increased yield by 24 % and profit by 50 %

Bt cotton, the genetically engineered cotton plant, contains genes from Bacillus thuringiensis that make
the plant resistant to the cotton bollworm complex. This inbuilt insect resistance was predicted to reduce the pesticide usage. Most short term analyses showed that farmers are benefited because of reduced  pesticide usage and increased yield. But environmentalists never agreed with these analyses.

Next Generation Genomics Lecture at CPMB

Global Research Council (GRC) formed to coordinate scientific collaborations

The Global Research Council (GRC) (a voluntary organization), has been formed recently  to share best practice and encourage common principles for research collaborations in  different countries. Leaders of about 50 national research-funding agencies met at the headquarters of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia, to discuss the GRC’s agenda: issues such as peer review, data sharing, research integrity, open access, career development and ethical conduct in research on humans.  The GRC’s first meeting produced a set of short, uncontroversial statements