Source: IRENA Website www.irena.org

The modern Western world is no stranger to heart disease. Experts have long believed that atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries which causes heart attacks and strokes, is a largely modern ailment caused by our sedentary lifestyle coupled with abominable eating habits. But a new study reported in November 2009 in Journal of the American Medical Association is calling these beliefs into question. It turns out that 3,500 years ago, ancient Egyptians were walking around with the same heart problems that plague modern Westerners. Researchers made this surprising discovery when, on a whim, they performed CT scans on 22 mummies housed at the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo to see if they suffered from atherosclerosis. Of the 16 mummies who still had identifiable cardiovascular tissue, nine probably suffered from atherosclerosis. This calcification of the arteries was more prevalent in those who died at an older age, 7 of 8 among those who died when 45 years or older compared with 2 of 8 who died when younger than 45 years. It cannot be said that atherosclerosis was the cause of death, but the simple fact that they had it was a great surprise. It was earlier thought that it was a disease of McDonald's and so this vision of people 3,000 and 4,000 years ago being more pure, free-living and not subject to the evils of modern civilization has been going on for a long time. While ancient Egyptians did not have access to modern junk food, they did eat meat which was often heavily salted. This was especially true of the upper class, the only ones with enough money to afford the expensive mummification process. While the study provides evidence that heart disease is not a modern complaint and that humans in ancient times had the genetic predisposition and environment to promote the development of atherosclerosis, doctors were quick to point out that this should only make us more careful. While genetics may play a large role, diet is also a clear factor and many modern Westerners consume foods far worse for their hearts than the salted meat the Egyptians loved.

India: Nano Filter for Clean Water

An affordable, compact water purifier launched in India in December 2009 could save millions of lives from waterborne diseases. Just two feet tall, the Tata Swach ('swach' is Hindi for 'clean') is being marketed as the 'water purifier for the masses' by India's Tata Group. Each filter consists of a 19-litre plastic box and has a lifespan of 3,000 litres, which can supply enough drinking water for a family of five for a year. The filter does not require running water, electricity or boiling. It uses rice husk ash, a by-product of the rice industry, as a framework on which silver nanoparticles that kill bacteria are mounted. Paddy husk ash is used for cleaning teeth and India produces around 20 million tonnes of it annually. Tata Chemicals will initially produce one million filters a year with the aim of scaling up production to three million within the next five years. It also hopes to export the filter to Africa.

India: Decoding Human Genome

India has successfully decoded the human genome locally making it part of the only six countries in the world to do so, other countries being the United States, United Kingdom, China, Canada and South Korea. The process of genome sequencing was done in New Delhi by the scientists of the Indian Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who took six weeks, a cluster of computers equipped with one teraflop of processing power, bio-informatics tools, and funds of around $30,000 to map the Human Genome Sequence of a 52-year-old Indian male. The project also involved two years of background work. Genome sequencing is an expensive and time consuming process but is necessary for scientists to be able to predict diseases. Just six years ago it cost a billion dollars to get a sequence done. Prices have fallen drastically since. The breakthrough is expected to line up new advancements in the low-cost health care facilities for the masses whose genomes would be mapped. It will also enable the new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases and will allow pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs more attuned with Indian physiology. Furthermore, the human genome mapping could also solve medical mysteries such as why certain people do not respond to certain medications, or could even predict particular diseases likely to be developed in certain groups. For instance, the genome mapping of the 52-year-old person revealed that he was likely to contract cancer and some other diseases in the later stages of his life. The human genome sequence is like a map of the human body. Through this map, one can tell what leads to what. One may use this map to predict mutations in the gene, like predicting how a certain person may get a certain disease. One may foretell for instance, who will get the common bipolar disease or single nuclear polymorphism, or whether a diabetic will develop eye disease or kidney disease. Through the same tool, one may predict the chances of a particular disease affecting a population. One may also explore aspects like why certain drugs don't affect certain people. There are plans to sequence the genomes of 10 more Indians. In comparison, China already has an ongoing project to sequencing the genomes of 100 citizens. When a lot of people will sequence their genes, it will help scientists reliably predict disease probabilities.

Malaysia: HIV Methadone Therapy

Approximately 80 percent of addicts in Malaysia have HIV as a result of sharing needles and this number is expected to increase if no practical and pragmatic approaches are implemented. Although the Methadone Drug Replacement Therapy introduced by the government has been in place since 2006, only 5% of addicts are following this treatment. There are many cases where the methadone dosage administered to addicts is inadequate and as a result, addicts return to their drug habit of using needles to inject themselves. There are also cases where there is an overdose of methadone and this leads to side effects which jeopardize their health. In this context, the researchers from the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM) of the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) have successfully developed a drug therapy called Methadone Therapy which is not only an effective method of treating drug addiction but which has the capacity to reduce the transmission of HIV among addicts who use needles. For the first time in the world, two detection kits to identify the genes related to the control of methadone excretion [CYP2B6 and OPRM1Genes] and to measure the concentration of methadone have been introduced for this therapy. The research, funded by a University Research Grant of RM 3 million began last year. With the new method, one can identify whether the addicts actually take the methadone for treatment and can also determine the appropriate dosage, which will help the addicts overcome their addiction and reduce the risk of HIV transmission through the sharing of needles. Administration of the appropriate dosage is important to ensure that addicts do not return to their habit of using needles to inject drugs. More importantly, this therapy enables the addict to function normally, without being influenced by their addiction. In fact, the addicts' quality of life is getting improved and indirectly, this will reduce the crime rate and other social problems. So far, two clinics in Kota Bahru, Kelantan and Semenyih, Selangor have started using this therapy as well as the two detection kits for purposes of treatment and rehabilitation of addicts.

Source: ResearchAsia News, 30^th November 2009

Maldives: underwater Cabinet Meeting

The government of the Maldives held its first underwater cabinet meeting on 17^th October 2009 to attract international attention to the dangers of global warming. The Maldives, located southwest of Sri Lanka, has become a vocal campaigner in the battle to halt rising sea levels. Most of the island nation, a tourist paradise featuring coral reefs and white sand beaches, lies less just over three feet above sea level and in 2007, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that a rise in sea levels of seven to 24 inches by 2100 would be enough to make the country virtually uninhabitable. President Mohamed Nasheed, dressed in full scuba gear, conducted the 30-minute meeting at a depth of 20 feet off the coast just north of the capital Male. The government arranged a horseshoe-shaped table on the seabed for the ministers, who communicated using white boards and hand signals. The Divers Association of Maldives said the ministers, who had trained over the past two months, felt confident about the unprecedented meeting. As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. The issue had taken on urgency ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference held in December in Copenhagen, where the countries negotiated a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere. President Nasheed had already announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland for his people if the 1192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.

Morocco: Moroccan Biosafety Association (MOBSA)

In Morocco, the majority of the scientific community looks at Biosafety and Biosecurity only from the perspective of biological diversity concerns (compliance with the Cartagena Protocol). Very little education and awareness exist in terms of the unintended consequences of research and laboratory accidents nor these exist in terms of deliberate misuse of life sciences technology for harm. A group of scientists concerned with disseminating information about the spectrum of biological risks and the impact on public health, animals, agriculture, plants and the environment created the Moroccan Biosafety Association (MOBSA) created in October 2009, which aims at defining Biosafety as a multidisciplinary scientific field. Professionals from different fields, such as biology, chemistry, diagnostics centers, agronomy and food technology, pharmacy, medicine, nursing and law are brought together in this promising discipline. MOBSA will seek to advise and support the government on the implementation of new legislation and standards in areas related to biological safety and biosecurity, on the implementation of the BTWC recommendations, and on biotechnology and associated activities. The key objectives of MOBSA are to contribute to enhance national capacity building in the fields of Biosafety and Biosecurity; develop a national Biosafety expertise (including Faculty in the Universities); elaborate educational modules in French and Arabic (professional, high schools, undergraduate and graduate); national and regional networking; stimulate the safe use of new technologies; training BSL3 and BSL2 users; conduct national and regional surveys and case studies etc. MOBSA is open to anyone working in the field, providing unique networking opportunities.

Source: Crop Biotech Update, 13^th November 2009

Qatar: Natural Gas Powered Aircraft Maiden Journey

A London-Doha flight of Qatar Airways became the first commercial passenger aircraft to complete flying in six hours fuelled by natural gas. This milestone flight was the first step in making this alternative fuel available to airlines. The Airbus A340-600 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines used an alternative of the blend of synthetic Gas to Liquids (GTL) kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene fuel, developed by Shell. The fuel blend, known as GTL Jet Fuel, contributes to local air quality of airport as it burns with lower sulfur dioxide. Qatar is set to become the leading producer of GTL in the world once commercial production begins from 2012. Qatar's position as the GTL capital of the world has been further enhanced with this achievement. Commercial aviation is one of the exciting new markets for Qatar to help maximizing the value from their natural resources. Data from the GTL flight will be used by scientists in Qatar to further quantify GTL Jet Fuel use benefits.

Source: Economic Times, 13^th October 2009

Tanzania: CO₂, Link to Antarctic Ice Cap Origin

Researchers from Cardiff, Bristol and Texas A&M Universities spent weeks in the African bush in Tanzania with an armed guard to protect them from lions to extract samples of tiny fossils that could reveal CO₂ levels in the atmosphere 34 million years ago. They gathered sediment samples in the Tanzanian village of Stakishari where there are deposits of a particular type of well-preserved microfossils that can reveal past CO₂ levels. The rock samples have shown a strong link between falling CO₂ levels and the formation of Antarctic ice sheets 34 million years ago, underpinning computer climate models that predict both the creation of ice sheets when CO₂ levels fall and the melting of ice caps when CO₂ levels rise. Levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, mysteriously fell during this time in an event called the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition. This was the biggest climate switch since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The study reconstructed CO₂ levels around this period, showing a dip around the time ice sheets in Antarctica started to form. CO₂ levels were around 750 parts per million, about double current levels. CO₂, being an acidic gas, causes changes in acidity in the ocean, which absorbs large amounts of the gas. This can be picked up through chemistry of microscopic plankton shells that were living in the surface ocean at the time. The evidence from around Antarctica was much harder to find. The ice caps covered everything in Antarctica. The erosion of sediments around Antarctica since the formation of the ice caps has obliterated a lot of the pre-existing evidence that might have been there. The models could be used to predict the melting of the ice. The suggested melting starts around 900 parts per million, a level that could be reached by the end of this century, unless serious emissions cuts were made.

Source: Planet Ark, 15^th September 2009

United Arab Emirates: Green Energy Institute

The United Arab Emirates bid to become an international hub for renewable energy takes a step forward with the opening of a US$1.2 billion graduate institution on 6^th September focusing on research into alternative energy, sustainability and the environment. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) of the UAE Capital, Abu Dhabi has been launched from a temporary campus at the Petroleum Institute near the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and has started the academic year with 92 students from 22 countries, who are all on a full scholarship. Just over ten per cent of students are from the Emirates. MIST is part of the US$15 billion alternative energy and clean technology initiative launched in April 2006 by the UAE. Its two-year Master's programme offers five multidisciplinary specialized areas geared towards the R&D of alternative energy and sustainability. MA programmes include Engineering and Systems Management; Information Technology; Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanical Engineering, and Water and Environment. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA will run joint research projects with MIST, as well as help the fledgling institution with student recruitment. MIST is fully devoted to R&D in different fields of energy, which will not only turn UAE into an exporter of green technologies but also establish renewable energy technologies in the Middle East.

Source: Science Development Network, 15^th September 2009