By Jennifer Couzin-Frankel For a condition that affects up to 10% of reproductive-age women worldwide, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remains mysterious. It’s a leading cause of female infertility and often boosts the risk of metabolic problems such as type 2 diabetes. It’s also highly heritable: The sister of an affected woman has at least a 20% chance of developing it herself, and the risk for identical twins is even higher. Yet although there are many symptoms of PCOS—including lack of ovulation, ovarian cysts, and excess hair growth on the face and body—no one seems to know how it starts. Is…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has donated N50 million to fund its Professorial Chair on Malaria Elimination and Phytomedicine Research programme at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). The commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ibitoye Abosede said in a statement on Wednesday that NDDC’s Managing Director, Nsima Ekere inaugurated the governing board for the research programme. Ekere, who was represented by the commission’s Executive Director of Projects, Mr Samual Adjogbe said the fund would be used to fight malaria in the region. He also said the fund would be used to control, curtail breeding and transmission as well as…
Frequency of the adaptive allele in several human populations (from the 1000 Genomes dataset). Colors and letters represent different populations in the dataset, and the pie charts reflect the proportion of individuals in those populations who have the variant TRPM8 allele. FELIX M. KEY, MPI-EVA MULTIMEDIA DEPARTMENT AND COLLEAGUES
Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger state on Tuesday said that the state government had procured 130 tractors and accessories worth N2.2 billion, to boost agricultural mechanisation ahead of the 2018 farming season. Inaugurating the 2018 farming season, fertiliser sales and distribution of tractors in Minna, he said that the measure to procure tractors would ensure food security in the state and the nation at large. “The state government in its deliberate efforts toward boosting agricultural mechanisation activities has procured 130 tractors valued at N2.2 billion,” Bello said adding that the equipment would be distributed to genuine farmers at 25 percent…
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), says it will provide technical assistance to nine African cities in order to prevent climate change catastrophe. The Executive Director of C40, Mr Mark Watts disclosed in Lagos on Tuesday during the unveiling of the “C40 Climate Action Planning Africa Programme” that the nine African cities include Lagos, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg and Tshwane. Watts said that the unveiling signified the official start of the C40’s Climate Action Planning (CAP) technical assistance programme in the African region. He said that the CAP technical…
As the virus spreads in Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization is preparing to immunize people as soon as this week. By Kerry Grens The World Health Organization, the government of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Merck have agreed to use Merck’s unapproved Ebola vaccine as an outbreak of the virus expands in DRC. “The cold chain is on standby, the stockpile is on standby, the teams have been put on standby including up to 40 people that conducted the initial ring vaccination trial in Guinea,” Peter Salama, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) deputy director-general of emergency preparedness…
Yogurt might help lessen chronic inflammation linked to bowel disease, arthritis and asthma. According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, inflammation is the body’s first line of defense against illness and injury. However, it could also wreak biological havoc on organs and systems and is associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. The new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that yogurt can reduce inflammation by improving the integrity of the intestinal lining, thus preventing endotoxins, the pro-inflammatory molecules produced by gut microbes, from crossing into the blood stream.…
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) plans to hold a training on innovative technologies for weed management in cassava in July. The training program is part of efforts to share to a wider audience proven research findings generated from the IITA- Cassava Weed Management Project that have helped farmers to record 20 -32 tons per hectare of cassava. Titled, “Novel techniques for Weed Management in Cassava Farming Systems,” the training, which will take place on 2-3 July in IITA Ibadan, Nigeria seeks to enhance participants skills in weed management in cassava farming systems. Specific objectives of the course are…
President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s agricultural revolution is real and on course as Federal Government’s economic diversification and inclusive growth programmes are yielding positive results, particularly in key food-producing states. He stated this in Auyo, Jigawa State, at an event to mark the commencement of the rehabilitation and expansion of the 6,000-hectare Hadejia Valley irrigation project, on Monday. Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would sustain the positive momentum in the sector by implementing the right policies and providing the needed financial resources for people-oriented projects. He is in Jigawa for a two-day working visit and expressed delight that the…
By Omri Ben-Shahar Consumers are deeply suspicious of GMO foods–products made from genetically modified agricultural crops. They are told that growing such crops may have adverse health effects. They are warned that the transfer of genes across species amounts to an “unnatural” global experiment in human beings. They are led to believe that GMO cultivation techniques have disastrous environmental effects, due to heavy use of pesticides and insecticides. And they worry about crop biodiversity and about the unintended effects on other species that live in GMO fields. I used to worry about these things too. I was concerned about the environmental impact and the integrity of…