Cuban Treatment for Diabetic Foot Ulcers Heads for Europe

Cuba's biotechnology industry is hoping to conquer the European Union market with Heberprot-P, a therapeutic drug used to prevent foot amputations in patients with diabetes.

Could Water-Efficient Maize Boost Africa’s Food Security?

As controlled field trials of a genetically modified (GM) crop are about to begin in five African countries amidst promises of improved crops grown under poor conditions, critics are charging organisations with selling out the interests of African farmers.

INDIA: Many Scientific Reports Plagiarsed

Embarrassing retractions of scientific papers and a thinly-disguised report favouring introduction of genetically modified crops by the country's top science academies have revived calls for more stringent action against plagiarism and unethical practices.

North-South Divide Again Clouds Biodiversity Talks

The accelerating destruction of natural habitats will take millions of years to recover from, scientists have warned. This may be the last chance to apply the brakes, Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, reminded delegates representing the 193 member countries of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

LATIN AMERICA: Radioactive Attack on Flesh-Eating Screw-Worm

A biological control method used to eradicate screw-worm, a livestock parasite, in the United States, Mexico and Central America, has just been tested successfully in South America, where its adoption is being considered in the countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur): Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

ENVIRONMENT: New Biosafety Treaty Faces Tough Tests Ahead

A new international treaty on the safe use of modern biotechnology has just come into being, but developing countries say the real challenge lies in how its lofty ideas can be transferred into practical realities.

Nourishing a Budding Sustainable Agriculture Movement

With a record number of people undernourished last year – and that number only down about 10 percent this year – this year's World Food Day, to take place Saturday, carries with it a new sense of urgency. But in the conferences and events being held to commemorate the day, there will also likely be a sense of hope and opportunity.

SOUTH AFRICA: Satellite Preparing Scientists for New Space Industry

Though practically invisible to the naked eye, a uniquely South African satellite has been orbiting the earth for the past year, creating an archive of images and jumpstarting what its creators hope will be a space revolution in the country.

The Yin and Yang of Climate Extremes

The floods that affected 20 million people in Pakistan and the devastating six- week heat wave in Russia in recent months are tragic climate events -- and they're closely linked.

Canada Sees Climate Change “Prosperity” Instead of Calamity

The first comprehensive look at the expected impacts of climate change on Canada offers an embarrassing and misleading "don't worry, be happy" vision, citing more golf days and better access to northern deposits of oil and gas courtesy of global warming, critics say.

Hope for Expanded Protection Against TB

Despite the availability of a vaccine, 1.3 million people worldwide died from tuberculosis (TB) in 2008, according to the World Health Organisation. Most of them lived in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Handheld Computers Speed Up Burundi Food Aid

Aid organisations say a small handheld computer will allow them to more rapidly assess where food aid is needed most urgently. As a result, fewer Burundians will suffer hunger this year.

Engineering a Water Crisis in Rivers

Failure to protect and invest in nature has left the world’s rivers in crisis, threatening the water supply of more than five billion people according to a new study. Pollution, dam building, agricultural runoff, conversion of wetlands, and water-works engineering have severely impacting global river systems, the first- ever health assessment of the planet’s riverine ecosystems reported in Nature last week.

AUSTRALIA: Solar Energy Gets a Boost, But Offers Much More

Proponents of renewable energy say that a planned large-scale solar power plant in Australia’s northern Victoria state, which will produce enough output to provide electricity to 60,000 homes, is just a fraction of what could be achieved if federal and state governments were fully committed to harnessing solar energy.

NEPAL: Himalayas Unsettled by Melting Glaciers, More Avalanches

For the last two climbing seasons, Dawa Sherpa has missed scaling the summit of Mt Everest. But the climate ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and two-time Everest summiteer may not be relishing the thought of bearing witness once more to the impact of rising temperatures on the world's highest peak.

GE Salmon an Ambiguous Milestone for Aquaculture

The march toward domesticating the last wild food source may be about to take a major step forward in Washington - for better or worse.

Geoengineering May Represent Earth’s Best “Plan B”

Beyond Copenhagen and Cancún, a different climate debate has been brewing. The outcome of this debate, however, will affect far more than the climate, and that is precisely why it is so contentious.

CHINA: Massive Rail Network to Cross Continents

As recently as the mid-1980s, China relied on steam-powered relics to transport citizens and goods around its vast territory. Today, the country is home to 6,900 kilometres of high-speed passenger train routes in what is the largest rail network in the world – and growing.

AFRICA: In Search of Lasting Farming Solutions to Climate Change

In the semi-arid Laikipia district of Kenya’s Rift Valley province, research scientist Sarah Ogalleh Ayeri travels from one village to another, documenting methods used by peasant farmers as they attempt to adapt to changing climatic conditions.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Staying Afloat With Submarine Rice

South Asian rice farmers are switching to flood-tolerant strains of rice as insurance against inundations.

SOUTH AFRICA: Coal – A New Solution to Fuel Problems?

A new solution to power and fuel problems worldwide may be developed by using a resource long characterised as dirty and non-renewable: coal.