The Industrial Development Manager of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr Alhassane Haidara on Wednesday said the bank would support fertilizer production in Nigeria with 100 million dollars. He disclosed this at a media briefing on the key industrial initiatives and projects of the bank in Abidjan. “We are going to finance a huge fertilizer plant for the production of Uriah, Ammonia, among others and we are partnering with many companies to get it done. The plant will be one of the largest fertilizer plants not only in Africa but in the world,’’ Haidara said. Explaining that the production would be leveraging…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
A dietician, Dr Emeka Obi has said that the high level of “B vitamins’’ in energy drinks can be very toxic to the human liver. Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, he advised Nigerians to be cautious with the consumption of such drinks. “Energy drinks like `Monster’, `Red bull’ and `Lucozade Sports’ can be extremely helpful when the body is low on sugar level and energy. That is why we see so many athletes drinking them; it gives a boost in energy when you want to exercise, especially when you want to partake in cardiovascular activities. “The problem is that we see…
Chinese researchers have identified two new risk gene variants that are responsible for leprosy. The findings have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The research, led by Yao Yonggang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming institute of zoology, was based on a study involving 1,433 patients with leprosy and 1,625 healthy individuals from southwest China’s Yunnan Province. More than 30 risk genes affecting susceptibility to leprosy have been identified. The research team has identified and validated two new rare damaging variants in HIF1A and LACC1 genes that can increase risk of developing the disease. Leprosy is a chronic infectious…
The WHO on Wednesday said seven million people die every year from exposure to polluted air. According to a WHO report, ambient, or outdoor air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period. Those figures are on a par with the number of deaths recorded in an earlier study published two years ago. WHO said air pollution levels remain dangerously high in many parts of the world. New data showed that nine out of 10 people breathe air containing high…
Researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) are developing a pill that makes tumors light up when exposed to infrared light, and the concept has worked in mice. “It’s actually based on a failed drug,” said Greg Thurber, UM assistant professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, in a news release posted on UM website. “It binds to the target, but it doesn’t do anything, which makes it perfect for imaging.” The researchers attached a molecule that fluoresces when it is struck with infrared light to this drug. Then, they gave the drug to mice that had breast cancer, and they…
It has been difficult to predict how weather extremes such as heat waves and cold snaps might change in a future climate. Now, a team of researchers from the Universities of Wageningen, Montpellier and Exeter revealed an unfair pattern. The research team found that rich countries that contributed most to climate change will see less temperature fluctuation, whereas in poor countries the fluctuations will become stronger. While temperature variability is predicted to decrease outside of the tropics, it will increase in tropical countries – countries that are often too poor to deal with these changes. Temperature variability increases by up…
A new study has isolated a gene controlling shape and size of spikelets in wheat in a breakthrough which could help breeders deliver yield increases in one of the world’s most important crops. The team from the John Innes Centre say the underlying genetic mechanism they have found is also relevant to inflorescence (floral) architecture in a number of other major cereals including corn, barley and rice. The genetic identification of an agronomically-relevant trait represents a significant milestone in research on wheat; a crop with a notoriously complex genome. The findings, published today in the journal The Plant Cell, give breeders a new tool to accelerate the global quest to improve wheat. The study also highlights a range of next generation techniques available for fundamental research…
Fish farming is a huge industry in Nigeria, but smallholder farmers face several obstacles. Elisa Burrows, Partnership Manager at Fintrac, writes how offering financing for them can open up a world of opportunities. In the Kano and Sagamu regions of Nigeria, suitable water resources and high market demand mean that aquaculture presents a profitable opportunity for smallholder farmers to expand their farming activities. Yet few farmers take advantage of this opportunity because they lack the technical knowledge fish farming requires and because there are few hatcheries that supply fish to small-scale farmers. To help change this, Chi Farms, a Nigeria-based…
Two African scientists become new honorary doctors at the Faculty of Medicine at Umeå University, Sweden. They are Julia Goedecke at the University of Cape Town and the World Health Organization WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We are very pleased that they have both accepted to become honorary doctors in Umeå. Besides being distinguished scientists, both Julia Goedecke and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus already have a certain connection with Umeå, and we are looking forward to a firmer connection,” says Patrik Danielson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Umeå University. Julia Goedecke is an internationally established researcher studying ethnic…
By Henry Bodkin The world’s oldest known spider has died at the age of 43, outliving its nearest rival by 15 years, Australian scientists have reported. Affectionately known as “Number 16”, the female Giaus Villosus or trapdoor spider had been under observation in the wild since its birth in 1974. The arachnid is believed to have survived for so long by sticking to one protected burrow its entire life and expending the minimum of energy. Previously the oldest known spider was a tarantula in Mexico, which died at the age of 28. Published the Pacific Conservation Biology Journal, the research…