BIOTECHNOLOGY

  THE death toll from killer cucumbers has risen to at least 15 - as the number of people being treated in hospital continues to rise. Officials have banned the infected vegetables as hundreds across Europe fell sick from E.coli, with northwestern Germany the hardest-hit region. Experts say it is the biggest ever outbreak of its kind. Cases of haemolytic-uremic syndrome - otherwise known as HUS - have been reported in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. In Germany the national disease control centre said 373 people were sick with the most serious form of the outbreak - up from 329 on Monday. Investigations are on-going to discover the possible sources of contamination. At first it was reported that the tainted vegetables could be traced from Spain, which was angrily rejected by the Spanish government. But German authorities said today they were unsure whether Spanish cucumbers caused the massive outbreak after tests confirmed the presence of a potentially deadly infection - but i...

metagenomics is the study of genetic material recovered directly from the environment samples. This broad field of microbiology differs from the traditional where the genomic sequencing mainly depent on the clonal culture. here the large microbial groups which are not easy to culture in a lab are studied in their enviromental conditons. This term was used in a publication in 1998 by Jo Handelsman et. al., University of Wisonsin, Department of Plant Pathology. This term is also knows, environmental genomics, ecogenomics, or community genomics.Metagenomic studies of seawater and feces have revealed thousands of previously unknown viruses and bacteria. Marine sediment was found to have millions of previously unknown viruses.The National Institutes of Health is considering a project to sequence all of the microbes of the human body. Currently only 1% of the bodies microbes can be sequenced. A microbe genome is one thousand times shorter than the human genome. However, there are a lot of di...

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  There are numerous terms and acronyms used in the area of biotechnology that can be confusing. Some of the commonly used terms in biotechnology are described as, " Biotechnology " means the application of science and engineering in the direct or indirect use of living organisms, or parts or products of living organisms, in their natural or modified forms. This term is very broad and includes the use of traditional or conventional breeding, as well as more modern techniques such as genetic engineering. " Modern biotechnology " is used to distinguish newer applications of biotechnology, such as genetic engineering and cell fusion from more conventional methods such as breeding, or fermentation. Most often the term "biotechnology" is used interchangeably with "modern biotechnology". " Conventional breeding " or " selective breeding " means propagating plants or animals sexually, selecting for certain traits. Using selective cr...

    FROM June 2011 CSIR-UGC NET Exam for Science stream is conducted by CSIR in the following areas: - 1. Chemical Sciences 2. Earth Sciences 3. Life Sciences 4. Mathematical Sciences 5. Physical Sciences It has been decided to introduce Single Paper MCQ MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) based test from June 2011 exam. The pattern for the Single Paper MCQ test shall be as given below:- v The MCQ test paper of each subject shall carry a maximum of 200 marks. v The exam shall be for duration of three hours. v The question paper shall be divided in three parts Ø Part 'A' shall be common to all subjects. This part shall be a test containing a maximum of 20 questions of General Science and Research Aptitude test. The candidates shall be required to answer any 15 questions of two marks each. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 30 out of 200 Ø Part 'B' shall contain subject-related conventional MCQs. The total marks allocated to this section shall be 70 o...

Algal Biodiesel

  Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. Almost everywhere, the shallow ground or upper 10 feet of the Earth's surface maintains a nearly constant temperature between 50° and 60°F (10° and 16°C). Geothermal heat pumps can tap into this resource to heat and cool buildings. A geothermal heat pump system consists of a heat pump, an air delivery system (ductwork), and a heat exchanger-a system of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the building. In the winter, the heat pump removes heat from the heat exchanger and pumps it into the indoor air delivery system. In the summer, the process is reversed, and the heat pump moves heat from the indoor air into the heat exchanger. The heat removed from the indoor air during the summ...