01/September/21

 

In Tunisia, farmers are turning to the past to ensure a future by planting indigenous seeds as the North African country suffers at a time of drought, disease and climate change. M'barek Ben Naceur, head of the national gene bank, says that more than 400 farmers have been persuaded to use these seeds, and old varieties such as Al-Msekni and Al-Mahmoudi are being sown again. "These seeds are the descendants of this land, and they know it," said Ben Naceur. "Our varieties have been accustomed to rises in temperature and drought for thousands of years, so they will resist climate change and temperature rises," he added. IB Times

 

 

To say that scientists now understand life’s “code” is a stretch. So, from the very title of Walter Isaacson’s latest biography, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, he’s off to a rocky start, writes Jag Bhalla in an incisive review. Bhalla writes, "To suggest that Doudna is a 'code breaker' is to compare her to, say, the British code breakers of World War II who cracked the notorious German Enigma code. But when it comes to DNA, our code breaking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: if the Allies had had the same level of expertise in actual cryptology that scientists now have with DNA, they might well have lost World War II." Issues in Science and Technology

 

 

An owner of Prince George foraging and wildcraft business is crying foul after learning a pair favourite spots for collecting her product have been sprayed with a controversial herbicide. Jennifer Cote, owner of Moose Mushrooms and Mud, had travelled to two cutblocks she had previously scouted and at both locations, she found signs indicating it had been sprayed with glyphosate herbicide. The signs say people should avoid the area for 72 hours, but, according to James Steidle of Stop the Spray, recent research shows berries can have more glyphosate than what is allowed in stores the following year. Prince George Citizen