The National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), through its special initiative-Uganda Biosciences Information Centre (UBIC), has assumed the front-place position of sensitizing its key stakeholders on the relevance of modern crop technologies such as biotechnology, in addressing major crop challenges and increasing agricultural productivity in Uganda

The ISAAA Annual Brief (51) on the 20^th Anniversary (1996 to 2015) of the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015, authored by ISAAA Founder and Emeritus Chair Dr. Clive James was launched in a press conference in Beijing, China last April 13, 2016. The Report was presented by Dr. Paul S. Teng, ISAAA Chair of the Board who reported the 20 year achievements of biotech crops and the highlights of 2015.

Modern technologies that make it easier to recover lost fishing gear are giving a boost to efforts to reduce so-called "ghost fishing" and its harmful impacts on fish stocks and endangered species. Growing concern over this problem, coupled with the increasing availability of these technologies, has led FAO to begin developing international guidelines on the effective tagging of fishing gear as a way to cut down levels of troublesome sea trash.

YouGov and Huffington Post survey shows that GMO perception may be linked to educational attainment and family income. A total of 1,000 American adults were interviewed about scientific issues on April 8-10, 2016. One of the questions asked was "Do you think it is generally safe or unsafe to eat genetically modified foods?"

Only three African countries planted GM crops in 2015, leaving farmers in other countries with missed opportunities to boost yields and mitigate climate change effects, according to the new ISAAA report.

New Life Sciences Egypt hosted the 8th biennial international conference, Bio Vision Alexandria 2016 (BVA 2016), at the Library of Alexandria on April 12-14, 2016. The event was organized by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in partnership with the World Life Sciences Forum. BioVision Alexandria brings together distinguished speakers from different countries to discuss the finest achievements of the human intellect in the realms of science,

Researchers and scientists from 10 Asian countries increased their understanding of the interaction between climate change and rice production in a recently concluded training course at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
 

As 60 million people around the world face severe hunger because of El Niño and millions more because of climate change, IFAD joined top media experts at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia in calling for improved news coverage around issues relating to climate change, weather patterns and migration.

When Dr Michael Kawooya, a radiologist at Mengo Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, performs an ultrasonography on pregnant patients he’s often asked, “Doctor, is this dangerous?” His answer is always “No”. “Ultrasonographies do not use ionizing radiation, so they aren’t dangerous,” says Dr Kawooya, who is also Director of Ernest Cook Ultrasound Research and Education Institute in Kampala.

Leite et al. (1) conclude that isolation according to the forest refuge hypothesis (FRH) may have had a minor, if any, role on Atlantic Forest (AF) biotic evolution based on genetic data from five mammal species. Their evidence comes from signatures of population expansion during both glacial and interglacial periods, and fragmentation of reconstructed distributions during interglacial periods. Despite its novelty (i.e., the influence of sea-level changes in AF phylogeography), Leite et al.’s study presents many issues that need a critical appraisal.