All-African GM maize to make its debut

09/07/2007 - The first ever genetically modified maize developed and tested exclusively in Africa will make its debut in trials in the continent's fields soon, scientists have reported. .............................

Will Kenya's Biosafety Bill of 2005 ever become law?
Kenya needs public support to force its hand on the benefits and risks of growing genetically modified crops, argues Patricia Kameri-Mbote. .............................

New course gets farmers and scientists talking
A new university course will help agricultural scientists communicate their research to a wider audience, including small-scale farmers who can benefit from learning about new developments in the field. .............................

New vaccine to stall African meningitis epidemics
Trials of a new meningitis vaccine have shown it to be much more effective in boosting immunity than currently available vaccines, say researchers.
It could be available in Africa within the next two to three years, according to Dr F Marc LaForce, director of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), the group that conducted the study. .............................

IAVI Report awardees to attend HIV vaccine Symposium
This year IAVI sponsored IAVI Report Travel Award scholarships for four researchers from developing countries severely affected by HIV&AIDS to attend the Keystone Symposium: HIV vaccines from basic research to clinical trials, held in Whistler, Canada from March 25 to 30. .............................

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday he would head a new green group bankrolled by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to help reverse Africa's declining food production and double output. "I am honored today to take up .............................

Livestock Virtually Fenced In
A VIRTUAL fence for livestock that allows better use of pasture, protects the environment and reduces labour, is being developed by the Australia’s CSIRO Food Futures Flagship using satellite technology. .............................

Kenya in a historical step towards reducing mortalities by decriminalizing abortion

NAIROBI - The Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance (RHRA) is set to hold a historic Mock Tribunal on Abortion Rights to publicize the violation of the reproductive rights of women and the negative impact of restrictive abortion laws in Kenya. Five women survivors are expected to testify on the June 26 event in Nairobi. .............................

Major milestone marked in Kenya’s horticultural sector ICIPE-FPEAK sign MoU

NAIROBI - Kenya’s horticultural sector has achieved a major milestone, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICIPE – African Insect Science for Food and Health, and the Fresh Producer Exporters Association (FPEAK). .............................

Joining forces to fight TB and HIV
Source: Bulletin on AIDS Vaccine – www.iavireport.org An astonishing one-third of the world's population is infected with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In most people it remains inactive or latent but in about 10% of people an active case of TB disease will develop within their lifetime. Simple antibiotics can prevent and treat most of these cases, yet 8-10 million people develop an active TB infection annually and two million die from it. .............................

New tests may help predict Alzheimer's: conference
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New tests involving blood and brain scans can detect symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, and brief appraisals of real-life functioning can predict who is likely to develop it, researchers said on Sunday. .............................

Scientists halt cassava and banana devastation in East and Central Africa
Efforts by the Crop Crisis Control Project (C3P) to mitigate the effects of cassava mosaic virus disease and banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) in six countries of East and Central Africa are impacting positively on the lives of thousands of farmers in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. .............................

Getting the Bugs Out of Genetically Modified Crops
Are crops genetically altered to resist insects really better for the environment? In 1985 scientists inserted genetic information into tobacco plants that enabled them to produce a crystal that was toxic to butterflies, moths and other insect pests. Derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, the Bt toxin .............................

What has happened since the launch of the Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV & AIDS?
70 campaign partners came together in South Africa in January to confirm their commitment to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS on persons with disabilities in Africa – and to launch the Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV & AIDS. So what has happened since then? In Uganda the Disability .............................

Scientists plan stem cell cure for blindness
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists plan to use stem cells to cure a common form of blindness, with the first patients receiving test treatment in five years. The pioneering project, launched on Tuesday, aims .............................

Thumbs up for new TB strategy from the WHO
Acting on the World Health Organization's new global strategy for tackling tuberculosis (TB) will result in major gains worldwide, argues Mario C. Raviglione in this editorial from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO). TB control is a high health priority for development,........................................

Pallab Who? From Sceptic to Converted to President
At first, Pallab Ghosh was shaking his head when he got elected president of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) last April at the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists, in Melbourne (Australia). He kept emphasizing: “My main concern was to make sure that London secured the bid to host the next conference.” London got .......................

Kenya creates 'poverty map'
[NAIROBI] A new atlas that draws attention to the relation between regional ecosystems and poverty was launched in Kenya this week (30 May). Kenya will be able to identify regions with .......................

Nairobi to host Bioinformatics meeting
Scientists across the world are to meet in Nairobi for a week (from 28th May) to discuss the role of bioinformatics in the control of African pathogens and disease vectors. .......................

NGO Intervention at the Commission for Sustainable Development, Intergovernmental Preparatory Session, 28 Feb 2007 New York, UN HQ
Climate Change has become a reality much faster than all scenarios predicted. Climate change is not just an environmental issue, as too many people still believe. It is an all-encompassing threat, to health, to agriculture, to peace and security, .......................

Climate Change Casts Shadow Over World Agriculture
ST. LOUIS -- Global climate change will drastically reshape grain, oilseed and other crop production, but exactly how that will happen remains unclear. ........................

Biofuel crops could drain developing world dry
Growing biofuels could put pressure on scarce water supplies in poorer countries, argues Charlotte de Fraiture..................

Seeds and Plant Varieties Act set to be revised – AGHAN DANIEL
Seed merchants in Kenya want regulations in the new Seeds Bill to be harmonized to comply with the East African Community and international seeds regulation. According to Mr Obongo Nyachae, the executive officer of Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK), .......................

African ecologists unite for environment
East African scientists have united in a bid to protect the region's ecology and biodiversity from changing climatic conditions, the invasion of pests, and unsustainable.................

Contraceptives - Commentary – AGHAN DANIEL
Little has been done to create awareness on the safety of contraceptives. Yet fears are rife that millions of women in developing countries could be suffering immense health problems due to the use of these anti-pregnancy drugs, devices and practices.......................

Science Journalists urged to report fraud
Science journalists have a duty to investigate and report scientific fraud, according to retired research scientist Phil Vardy, formerly of Macquarie University, Australia.Speaking at a session on investigating .......................

Government Interference Impeding Science Reporting
Government interference is impeding reportage of public-funded research in developing and emerging countries, say journalists........................

UK to Host Next World Science Journalism Conference
The United Kingdom will host the next World Conference of Science Journalists in 2009, the World Federation of Science Journalists announced in Melbourne, Australia today (18 April).

Conference organisers hope.......................