bread flour used in walnut and apricot bread

The type of flour used will ultimately affect the finished product. Flour contains protein and when it comes in contact with water and heat it produces gluten, which gives elasticity and strength to baked goods. Different types of flour contain different amounts of protein. Therefore using a different type of flour than what is called for in a recipe (without compensating for this change) will alter the outcome of the baked good.  A cake flour is used to make a white cake where a delicate tender crumb is desired.  Bread flour is used to make a chewy bread and all-purpose flour makes a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies.  

 Bread flour has a 12-14% protein content and is made from hard wheat flour. The high gluten content causes the bread to rise and gives it shape and structure. Comes in white, whole wheat, organic, bleached and unbleached.   Good for making breads and some pastries.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html

~Liwen~

wholemeal flour used in walnuts and apricot bread

Wheat

The most effective grain for bread-making is wheat. It tastes good - nutty with no bitterness - and it performs consistently well. An ear of wheat has all the ingredients for a good loaf: starch for bulk to feed the yeast and to turn a golden brown during cooking; germ to give essential fats and oils which enhance breads nutritional value; bran to help our digestive systems; and gluten which allows bread to stretch and rise.

Strong Flour

The primary rule for producing a really good wheat loaf is to use strong bread flour. What differentiates a bread flour from flour more suited to making cakes and biscuits, is the gluten content. Gluten is a protein present in all wheat in varying amounts. Wheat grown in hot, dry summers in a short season will have a higher gluten content. These wheats are known as hard or strong. The high gluten content will ensure an extensive and even rise and a lighter loaf.

Stoneground 100% Wholewheat or Wholemeal Flour

As the name suggests, this flour is ground on a traditional millstone and made from the whole grain of the wheat, from which nothing is extracted and to which nothing is added. There is no difference between wholewheat and wholemeal flour, unless the packaging on wholemeal flour states that barley and/or rye are added to the wheat.

When wholemeal has been stoneground, it will be stated on the packaging. If it does not say this, the chances are that the flour is reconstituted. In other words, it is a roller-milled flour, which is bleached and to which the bulk of the bran and wheat germ removed by the roller-milling process has been returned. stated on the packaging. If it does not say this, the chances are that the flour is reconstituted. In other words, it is a roller-milled flour, which is bleached and to which the bulk of the bran and wheat germ removed by the roller-milling process has been returned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2198586

~Liwen~ 

GM Products: Benefits and Controversies

Benefits

• Crops
  • Enhanced taste and quality
  • Reduced maturation time
  • Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance
  • Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides
  • New products and growing techniques
• Animals
  • Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency
  • Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
  • Improved animal health and diagnostic methods
• Environment
  • "Friendly" bioherbicides and bioinsecticides
  • Conservation of soil, water, and energy
  • Bioprocessing for forestry products
  • Better natural waste management
  • More efficient processing
• Society
  • Increased food security for growing populations

Controversies

• Safety
  • Potential human health impacts, including allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects
  • Potential environmental impacts, including: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity
• Access and Intellectual Property
  • Domination of world food production by a few companies
  • Increasing dependence on industrialized nations by developing countries
  • Biopiracy, or foreign exploitation of natural resources
• Ethics
  • Violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values
  • Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species
  • Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
  • Stress for animal
• Labeling
  • Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States)
  • Mixing GM crops with non-GM products confounds labeling attempts
• Society
• New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries

Done by Liwen and sutha

Types of GM food

Genetically Modified Foods (GMFs)

1. What foods are produced from GMOs?

What is the approximate number of such products in the market?

A total of seventy genetically modified crop plants have been released commercially since 1992. Some of the crop plants that have been used for the production of food world-wide is as listed: 

YEAR	ORGANISMS NAME	TRAITS (S)	COMPANY/ INSTITUTE	CONSUME AS FOOD
1992	Tomato	Fruits ripening altered	Calgene	USA (1994)
				Canada (Feb.1995)
1994	Canola	Oil profile altered (fatty acid)	Calgene	US (1995)
				Canada (Apr.1996)
1994	Cotton	Bromoxynil herbicide tolerant	Calgene	US (1995)
				Canada (Aug.1996)
				Japan (Dec.1997)
1994	Corn	Imidazolinone herbicide tolerant	Pioner Hi-bred	Canada (May.1996)
1994	Soybean	Glyphosate herbicide tolerant	Monsanto	USA, UK, Mexico
				Argentina, Canada
				EU (Apr.1996)
				Netherland
				Japan (aug.1996)
				Denmark, Switzerland
1995	Potato	Coleopteran insect resistant	Monsanto	USA 91996), Canada
				Sep.1995 Japan (1996)
1996	Flax	Sulfonylurea herbicide tolerant +	University of Saskatchewan	USA (1998)
		Kanamycin resistant		Canada (Feb.1998)
1996	Papaya	Papaya Ringspot Virus resistant	Cornell University (& Univ. of Hawaii	USA (1997)
1996	Squash	CMV, WMV2 and ZYMV resistant	Asgrow (USA)	USA (1994) Canada (Apr.1998)
			Seminis vegetable
			Inc. (Canada)
1996	Chicory	Phosphinothricin (Glufosinate Ammonium herbicide tolerant, Male sterility and lanamycin resistance)		USA (1997)

Done by sutha

FAQ about GM food

How long have GM foods been in the market?
Chymosin is an enzyme used in cheese making. In 1990, authorities from countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States approved GM chymosin for food use. This was the first approval of a GM food ingredient. In 1994, the first GM whole food, the  Flavr-Savr tomato, was released for sale in the market.


What foods are produced from GMOs? What is the approximate no. of such products in the market?

According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), the principal GM crop in 2008 was GM soybean, followed by GM maize, GM cotton, and GM canola. These four principal GM crops take up more than 99% of the global hectarage of GM crops.

ISAAA also reported that in 2008, GM crops were commercially cultivated in 25 countries. Many other countries have granted regulatory approvals for GM crops to be imported for food and feed use. Since 1996 and as of 2008, at least 670 regulatory approvals have been granted worldwide for the commercial cultivation and/or food and feed use of various GM crops.

Since Singapore imports more than 90% of its food products from various parts of the world, the increasing adoption of GM crops in many countries worldwide implies that it is most likely that foods with GM-derived components are sold here.

Are the foods produced from GMOs safe for consumption?

In 2001, the European Commission published a report summarizing the results of 81 EU-funded projects on biotechnology safety. The projects were conducted by over 400 research teams over fifteen years. The scientific evidences led EU research commissioner Philippe Busquin to conclude that "genetically modified crops and the products thus far developed and marketed, according to standard risk evaluation procedures, present no risk to human health or the environment. In fact, the use of a more precise technology and the more accurate testing during the regulation phase probably make these crops and products even safer than conventional ones. ”

Another report was issued in 2005 by the International Council of Science (ICSU), an organization whose membership consists of 111 national academies of science and 29 scientific unions. After comprehensive analyses of 50 science-based reviews, the ICSU concludes that “currently available genetically modified foods are safe to eat.” The World Health Organization agrees that current varieties of GM foods "are not likely to present risks for human health.”

Closer to home, the official regulatory agency for GM foods is the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA). As a non-regulatory advisory committee, GMAC works very closely with the AVA to ensure GM food safety. 

GM foods commercially available in Singapore have undergone various lines of scrutiny for safety. Firstly, under international food practices, before a GM food can be considered for commercialization, its producer must subject it to rigorous tests on quality, allergenicity, toxicity, composition, and nutritional value. Secondly, all food products derived from GMOs must be assessed to be safe by the competent national regulatory bodies of the exporting countries. Thirdly, in accordance to the GMAC’s Guidelines on the Release of Agriculture-Related GMOs, applications for import or release of agriculture-related GMOs in Singapore are first submitted to GMAC, where an expert scientific committee examines the GMOs' origin, the experimental procedures used to create them, and the methods used to prove that they are safe for consumption. GMAC’s endorsement of a GM product will be one of the main factors that the AVA will take into account when considering the final approval. 

In addition, AVA monitors the presence of GM foods in our market through regular testing in their laboratories.

Are foods derived from GMOs more nutritious?


To date, all GM foods available commercially are the so-called first generation GM foods. These have been bioengineered to express agronomic traits such as pest- and herbicide-resistance and do not differ significantly from their conventional counterparts in terms of nutritional contents.

Scientists have developed second generation GM plants with enhanced nutritional contents. While these have not been commercialized as yet, several varieties are in the pipeline for regulatory approval. A good example will be “Golden Rice” that is rich in pro-vitaminA.


Will foods produced from GMOs carry special labels in Singapore?

There are currently no legislations and guidelines for the labelling of GM foods in Singapore.

GM food labelling is a complex issue. It has implications on food imports, food prices, trade, practicality of enforcement etc. International consensus on GM food labelling has not yet been reached. The Codex Alimentarius, the world's authority on food safety and labelling, continues its work on the issue. The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) is examining the various facets of the GM food labelling issue to come up with an internationally accepted position on the issue. Singapore, being a member of Codex, is working with other countries in the CCFL on the matter. GMAC has also set up a subcommittee to monitor relevant international developments and to help formulate a national position on the GM labelling issue that will be in line with international standards.

Meanwhile, it is accepted by most countries that GM labelling is not for food safety reasons but to provide consumers with choice. Although the AVA’s current food regulations do not require GM food to be specially labelled, GM foods, like all other food products, must meet existing food labelling requirements with regard to ingredient listing and information to facilitate tracing and recall. The local authorities will work to ensure that GM foods commercially available in Singapore are safe for consumption, and will also continue to monitor international developments closely to ensure that Singapore's labelling requirements are up to date

Retreived from:

http://www.gmac.gov.sg/Index_FAQs_Genetically_Modified_Foods.html#two

Done by sutha

Is it safe to eat genetically modified foods?

The EU will ensure there are no genetically modified foods in Europe that pose a danger to the consumer. Today genetically modified foods have to be EU approved before they can be sold in Europe. In order for a genetically modified food to be approved it must go through a Food Risk Assessment. The following points are considered amongst others: Is there a difference between the genetically modified food and the non-genetically modified equivalent? A comparison of fat, proteins, vitamins and toxins are made (amongst others). Can new substances or quantities of materials in the genetically modified foods affect consumers? Are the nutritional values altered? Can the foods become toxic or cause allergic reactions? In some cases, trial feeding of research animals is carried out. It's difficult to know what the future holds or to predict the possible long-term consequences of eating genetically modified produce. In 1994, the first genetically modified crop - a tomato came on the market in the USA. Since then there have been many more. Eating genetically modified food has become quite common. People have only been eating genetically modified food for a relatively short period. So there may be long-term effects which we simply don't know about yet. Americans have eaten genetically modified foods for the longest period. Today they eat genetically modified food produce every day. It's estimated that around 65% of the products available in American supermarkets contain some amount of genetically modified ingredients. Surveys in the USA have shown that many Americans have a relaxed approach to genetic modification. They reason that it must be safe because they've eaten it for years without getting sick. Abstracted from: http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/ff_cont6.htm Done by sutha:

walnuts as a GM ingredient?

Utilization: 

Walnut trees are mainly grown for their nut harvest. The fruits are consumed dried or are processed to foodstuffs and food ingredients:

• Nuts and nut products
• Also: cooking oil

By-products:

• The wood of walnut trees is attractive and very hard. Since walnut trees are rarely grown for their wood, there is only a limited supply and it is mainly used in high-quality articles, mostly as veneer.
• The green husk of the walnuts contains dyes and tanning agents and can be used for dyeing hair and textiles

Gene technology:

Plant development

• Modified root formation: natural walnut trees have a sturdy, deep-reaching taproot, but weaker secondary root system. An aim of these gene modifications is to increase the root system in the upper layers of the soil for a better uptake of nutrients.
• Modified flowering time, to allow a more effective harvest.

Agronomic traits

Resistance to pests

• insect resistance
  

Resistance against pathogens

• Fungal resistance
  

• Virus resistance
  
  
• Bacterial resistance

http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/71.walnut.html 

~liwen~

More about GM Food Labelling

Hi Everyone! Just came across an article on GM food labelling in Australia. I think it's quite interesting on the kind of GM food to be labeled or not. Since on the previous post we talk about labelling and its concerns.

Also about the need for labelling exported GM food,

 

 "The policy states that exporters must be required to label all GM foods and that importing countries have the right to judge for themselves the potential risks and reject GM foods, if they so choose. "

- ProQuest ( part of Cambridge Information Group)

I feel that this labelling requirement of exported GM food is important to countries like ours. As a country like Singapore imports most of our food from different parts of the world. Even fresh food like fruits and vegetable. With this law, it help us to "filter" our food imports and ensure the safety of our people here.

 

Since December 2002, the law in Australia states that food labels must show if food has been genetically modified or contains genetically modified ingredients, or whether GM additives or processing aids remain in the final food.

Special labels are not required for:

• ‘Highly refined’ foods where the altered DNA or protein is no longer in the food (for example, oil from modified corn).
• GM food additives or processing aids - unless the new DNA remains in the food to which it is added.
• GM flavours where less than 0.1 per cent is present in the food.
• Food, food ingredients or processing aids where GM ingredients are ‘unintentionally’ present in less than 1.0 per cent.
• Food that is prepared at the point of sale (so takeaway and restaurant food will not have to be labelled).

Labels may be required where:

• Genetic modification has altered the food so that its composition or nutritional value is ‘outside the normal range’ of similar non-GM goods; for example, if GM technology is used to add vitamins.
• Naturally occurring toxins are ‘significantly different’ to similar non-GM foods.
• The food produced using GM technology contains a ‘new factor’, which can cause allergic reactions in some people.
• Genetic modification raises ‘significant ethical, cultural and religious concerns’ regarding the origin of the genetic material used.

-Shirley-

Labelling of GM Food and it's concerns

The FDA's current position on food labeling is governed by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which is only concerned with food additives, not whole foods or food products that are considered "GRAS" - generally recognized as safe. The FDA contends that GM foods are substantially equivalent to non-GM foods, and therefore not subject to more stringent labeling.

Here are some of the concerns labeling of GM foods becomes mandatory.

First, are consumers willing to absorb the cost of such an initiative?

If the food production industry is required to label GM foods, factories will need to construct two separate processing streams and monitor the production lines accordingly.Farmers must be able to keep GM crops and non-GM crops from mixing during planting, harvesting and shipping. It is almost assured that industry will pass along these additional costs to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Secondly, what are the acceptable limits of GM contamination in non-GM products?

The EC has determined that 1% is an acceptable limit of cross-contamination, yet many consumer interest groups argue that only 0% is acceptable. Some companies such as Gerber baby foods and Frito-Lay have pledged to avoid use of GM foods in any of their products.

But who is going to monitor these companies for compliance and what is the penalty if they fail?

Once again, the FDA does not have the resources to carry out testing to ensure compliance.

What is the level of detectability of GM food cross-contamination?

Scientists agree that current technology is unable to detect minute quantities of contamination, so ensuring 0% contamination using existing methodologies is not guaranteed. Yet researchers disagree on what level of contamination really is detectable, especially in highly processed food products such as vegetable oils or breakfast cereals where the vegetables used to make these products have been pooled from many different sources. A 1% threshold may already be below current levels of detectability.

Finally, who is to be responsible for educating the public about GM food labels and how costly will that education be?

Food labels must be designed to clearly convey accurate information about the product in simple language that everyone can understand. This may be the greatest challenge faced be a new food labeling policy: how to educate and inform the public without damaging the public trust and causing alarm or fear of GM food products.

In January 2000, an international trade agreement for labeling GM foods was established. More than 130 countries, including the US, the world's largest producer of GM foods, signed the agreement. The policy states that exporters must be required to label all GM foods and that importing countries have the right to judge for themselves the potential risks and reject GM foods, if they so choose. This new agreement may spur the U.S. government to resolve the domestic food labeling dilemma more rapidly.

 

- ProQuest ( part of Cambridge Information Group)

-Shirley-

Why say no to GM Food?

Hi everyone! Upon some reflection i think i should also share about the cons of GM food. (it seems like i have been only sharing about the pros of GM food ) i did some read ups. And found interesting reasons why some people "SAY NO" to GM food.

Environmental hazards

Can cause harm to other organisms

"Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish."
-  USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups

 

Reduced effectiveness of pesticides

Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides

Gene transfer to non-target species

Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into non-modified crops planted next to GM crops. The possibility of interbreeding is shown by the defense of farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto. The company has filed patent infringement lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested GM crops


- ProQuest ( part of Cambridge Information Group)
.
Human health risks

Allergenicity

Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans was abandoned because of the fear of causing unexpected allergic reactions^.  Extensive testing of GM foods may be required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies.


"Genetic engineering is imprecise and unpredictable. By inserting genes from organisms" - Friends of the Earth (http://www.foe.co.uk)

which have never been eaten as food, new proteins are introduced into the human and

animal food chains. There is concern that these could cause allergic reactions or other

health effects.

Unknown effects on human health

There is a growing concern that introducing foreign genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health. A recent article published in Lancet examined the effects of GM potatoes on the digestive tract in rats^.  This study claimed that there were appreciable differences in the intestines of rats fed GM potatoes and rats fed unmodified potatoes. Moreover, the gene introduced into the potatoes was a snowdrop flower lectin, a substance known to be toxic to mammals.


Economic concerns
Increase social gap (between the poor and the rich)
Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
 


so Why say no to GM food? Well, after knowing about the cons of GM food.. Hmm.. i am considering to say... noo.. yes..? well ~


- Shirley-

Why GM Food? (Part II)

Hi Everyone, Here comes the Part II of "Why GM Food?"

Before i start, here is a picture of 2 corns. Can you make a guess on which is the GM one?

Yup, it is quite obvious actually. It's the one a the bottom!

Wow, did you see the difference between both corn? one that is genetically modified while one is not. alright, i am not making any conclusion here yet that GM food are definetly better than the non-GM ones.

This is just an example of what genectic engineering can do to our food. Technologies are just so amazing now a days. For consumers like us, GM food not only provide variety, availability and increase nutrition value. (In part I). It also improve taste and quality of crops like the GM corn above which make meals more appealing

 

Look at the even kernels on the cob of the corn :D

In fact studies shows that

"Currently, up to 85 percent of U.S. corn is genetically engineered as are 91 percent of soybeans and 88 percent of cotton (cottonseed oil is often used in food products). It has been estimated that upwards of 70 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves–from soda to soup, crackers to condiments–contain genetically engineered ingredients."
- Centres for Food Safety


So most likely the corns that we usually have are GM corns as we hardly find any corn with non-uniform kernels now a days..
Alright, other than Consumer Benefits of GM food. Here are some of the other reasons why GM food?

For the Environment

• "Friendly" bioherbicides and bioinsecticides
• Conservation of soil, water, and energy
• Bioprocessing for forestry products
• Better natural waste management

 For the Animals

• Increased resistance, productivity of animals when they eat GM food
• Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
• Improved animal health 

For Society

• Increases food security for growing populations  

-Shirley-

Why GM Food? (Part I)

Hi Everyone!

As i was reading through more about GM food to work on our report, i found some interesting benefits of why people prefer GM food. The people who will prefer and benefit the most from GM food are mainly the farmers and the supplier. Here are some of the reasons why?

• Saves the use of toxic chemicals! GM crops can be made resistant to pests, so pesticides do not need to be sprayed on them. In turn, save production cost. $$$
• Prevents wasted crops. If pests cannot eat the crops, nothing goes to waste. Therefore, farmers make more money! $$$$
• Increase yield / production. Thus farmers makes more profit! $$$$$

Now, the next questions, how about consumers like us?

Increase food variety & availability. GM food can grow at a varitey of climate. thus,farmers can begin to grow foods in different conditions. For instance, strawberries can be genetically engineered to grow in frosts. Other foods that grow in cold climates could be engineered to grow in hot climates (such as Africa where much of the continent does not have enough food).

Did you know that heirloom tomatoes (left) are what tomatoes originally look like without genetic modification?

Increase nutritional value. Some foods can be genetically modifies to contain higher amounts of important vitamins and minerals. Vitamin A deficiencies cause blindness. In Africa, 500,000 go blind each year. If rice can be modified to contain more vitamin A, the amount of people going blind will decrease.

Purple & yellow Cauliflower rich in antioxidants! :D

Heart- shape watermelon! :D
 Updating soon, Stay tune for more on "Why GM Food?" (Part II) :D

-Shirley-

German tests link bean sprouts to deadly E. coli

"People who ate sprouts were nine times more likely to have bloody diarrhoea than those who did not," Mr Burger said.
Germany's top disease control official said the origin of the contamination was still believed to be the small organic farm in Lower Saxony which first came under suspicion at the weekend.
"The links are ever clearer - it's a hot lead," he told reporters in Berlin, at a joint news conference with the heads of Germany's federal institute for risk assessment and federal office for consumer protection.
He said it was possible that all tainted sprouts had now either been consumed or thrown away, but he warned the crisis was not yet over.
"There will be new cases coming up," he said.

"Thousands of tests carried out on tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce have proved negative," he added.
Lower Saxony agriculture minister Gert Lindemann said earlier this week that experts had found no traces of the E. coli bacterium strain at the Bienenbuettel farm but he did not rule it out as the source of the contamination.
In an interview to be published in next week's edition of Focus magazine, Mr Lindemann said some 60 of the people taken ill had eaten sprouts from the farm, which employs about 15 people.
Contamination might have been caused by contaminated seeds or "poor hygiene", he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13725953

~liwen~

German tests link bean sprouts to deadly E. coli

New data released in Germany strongly suggests that locally produced bean sprouts were, as suspected, the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak.

"It's the bean sprouts," said Reinhard Burger, head of Germany's centre for disease control.
Officials initially blamed the E. coli, which has killed 29 people, on imported cucumbers, then bean sprouts.
In another development, Russia agreed to lift its ban on imports of EU fresh vegetables in return for guarantees.
The Russian ban had compounded a crisis for EU vegetable-growers, with Spanish cucumber producers wrongly blamed for the contamination.
Mr Burger, who heads the Robert Koch Institute, told reporters on Friday that even though no tests of the sprouts from a farm in Lower Saxony had come back positive, the epidemiological investigation of the pattern of the outbreak had produced enough evidence to draw the conclusion.
The institute, he added, was lifting its warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, but keeping it in place for the sprouts.
Some 3,000 people have been taken ill with the German outbreak of E. coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.
Sufferers may develop haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) where bacteria attack the kidneys and nervous system, giving them fits and often forcing them on to dialysis.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13725953

~liwen~

Cow that produces human milk

Different from a similar studies done by Chinese scientist, this new cloned cow has two human genes instead of one human gene. Rosita ISA, the name of the cow, will produce milk that contains proteins more similar to human milk.  This will be "a development of great importance for the nutrition of infants”, National Institute of Agribusiness Technology in Buenos Aires said in a statement.

source: The telegraph

entry contributor: monica