Tag: agriculture
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Process IDs Rice Traits to Help Tsunami-Hit Rice Growers
A collaboration between scientists in Japan and the U.K. is developing methods to identify genetic markers that can help cut the time needed to breed salt-tolerant and shorter rice to help Japanese growers recover from the tsunami in March 2011. The new process, called MutMap, is described online in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription…
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High Levels of MRSA Found in Retail Pork Products
Researchers at University of Iowa College of Public Health and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis have found a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) in U.S. pork products than previously identified. The team’s findings appear in the online journal PLoS One. MRSA is a serious bacteria, causing infections resistant to…
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Biofuels Developer Secures $17M Investment Round
SG Biofuels Inc., a bioenergy crop company in San Diego, has completed a $17 million financing round to expand its R&D and commercialization programs. The series B funding — the second round of financing after start-up — was lead by life sciences venture capital company Thomas, McNerney & Partners, with participation from Finistere Ventures and…
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BASF to Move Plant Biotech Work to U.S. from Germany
The German chemical company BASF says it will move much of its plant science R&D work to the U.S. to take advantage of a more favorable regulatory climate than in Europe. The company expects to relocate its facilities in Limburgerhof, Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a new site in Research Triangle Park near Raleigh,…
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Prototype Livestock Device Cuts Pollutants, Energy Use
Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, West Virginia University in Morgantown, and University of Maryland in College Park have developed a new technology that can lower harmful emissions from some chicken and swine barns, and reduce energy use by recovering heat. The authors published their findings in the December 2011 issue of the…
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New Method Tests Natural Toxins to Help Wheat Battle Pest
A research team from Purdue University in Indiana and U.S. Department of Agriculture have devised a method of finding natural toxins to build wheat’s resistance to an insect pest. The researchers’ results appear online in advance of publication in the Journal of Insect Physiology (paid subscription required). Larvae from the Hessian fly attack and feed…
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Mobile Lab to Test Environmental Impact of Farms
The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, (Neiker-Tecnalia) in Spain has built a mobile environmental monitoring unit to assess on site greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from farms. The measurements from the mobile lab will be used to assess techniques based on scientific protocols to ease the environmental impact of livestock farming developed by…
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Rice Growers to Develop Sustainable Farming Standards
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines is joining a consortium of international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and private companies in an initiative to set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards. The Sustainable Rice Platform, as it’s called, aims to boost growers’ rice production, keep the environment healthy, facilitate safer…
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Research Project to Develop Salad Vegetable Safety Science
A new research initiative aims to provide U.S. growers and industry with the scientific basis to answer questions about the safety of salad vegetables. The research, led by University of Maryland food science professor Robert Buchanan, will conduct tests and collect data to develop safe and hygienic practices in farming, packing, transporting, and storing fresh…
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Contract Awarded for Atlantic Salmon Genome Sequencing
An international business and scientific consortium from salmon-producing countries has awarded a contract for the second phase of sequencing and analysis of the Atlantic salmon genome to the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in Rockville, Maryland. The International Cooperation to Sequence the Atlantic Salmon Genome (ICSASG) that awarded the contract is a partnership of five…