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.

ARSENIC DNA DISCOVERY IS FLAWED: NO DNA WITH ARSENIC IN PLACE OF PHOSPHATE

Last year  NASA made a sensational claim about discovery of  DNA in which the phosphorous is replaced by arsenic.  The bacterial strain GFAJ-1 was isolated from the arsenic-rich sediments of California’s Mono Lake by its ability to grow in the artificial Mono Lake medium without phosphate but with high concentrations of arsenate. It was claimed that GFAJ-1 grew in -P medium only when arsenate was provided, and  significant amounts of arsenate were detected in subcellular fractions.  This was interpreted as “ growth due to  use of arsenate in place of phosphate”. Wolfe-Simon et al. further reported that arsenic was incorporated into the DNA backbone of GFAJ-1 in place of phosphorus, with an  estimated 4% replacement of P by As based on the As:P ratio measured in DNA samples embedded in agarose gel slices.

Read the original paper by clicking here

This discovery claim by NASA  Scientists was sensational as

HIGGS BOSON (God Particle) discovered last week may be an impostor

Last week CERN scientists announced proof of the existence of the Higgs boson that  gives us mass and holds the Universe together. Now a group of Scientists have reinterpreted the data and conclude that the particle identified as Higgs Boson may  be an impostor.

Click the link below for the full article about this

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.1093v1.pdf

Next Generation Genomics Lecture at CPMB

Choosing negative control of cell division: one of the major cause of problems in animal system

Some weeks back when we were discussing about cell division and cancer we were comparing plant vs animal cell cycle and the interesting question came is “Why animals and plants chose different mode of controlling their cell division ?”.  I thought of sharing this with you in this post.
Plants normally do not die (premature death) out of inherent problems (defects in their own genes controlling cell cycle). Mostly their premature death is due to pathogens or stress which are external. In contrast, in animals including human one of the major cause of premature death is the cancer which is due to the defects in cell division control genes.  If we take an aerial view of this problem one thing is clear that plant cells are

Higgs Boson Particle: Not able to understand ?, Read this Article written by a Dutch theoretical physicist

THE HIGGS PARTICLE

Just as a start: the most important concept is not the Higgs particle but the Higgs field. By finding and studying the Higgs particle one hopes to find out more about the properties of the Higgs field.

The Higgs field is a field that fills the entire universe and with which we continuously interact and so we "feel" the presence of the Higgs field. Because of this continuous interaction we are heavy and do not fly through space with the speed of light. The Higgs particle is the ripple of the lowest possible energy in the Higgs field.

The best way to picture a field is as a very long but tight rope that at at one end is secured to a wall and that at the other end is held in your hand. If you now move your hand quickly up and down, it will cause a wave to run through the rope. A field is like the rope and a particle is like a wave in the rope. With a rope held in your hand you can make any motion you want and thus make any wave you like. In quantum mechanics you can only move your hand in a definite number of ways and so create only a limited number of particles.

3D PRINTING: THE LATEST REVOLUTION IN BIOLOGY

3D printing is a method of  manufacturing  things like models of humans, animals, proteins, commonly used tools, jewelry parts of automobiles, machines and aeroplanes etc. using a computer-controlled printer. Printer means not the ink based printers we use daily. These printers  spit  materials like metals, plastic, plaster, polymer, resin etc. Scientifically manufacturing things in 3D printing is called an additive manufacturing technology compared to the normal manufacturing technologies which are called subtractive technologies.   3D objects are generally built out of layers.