winningscience
Friday, 9 September 2016
Gene editing video
Can't stop the feeding!: http://youtu.be/C0MBl0BANHg
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Dollars from the Dustbin. (by Ifeoma Comfort Ndefo)
Nigeria is a country blessed with rich natural and
material resources. Imagine that even the waste products generated from the
enormous human activity of a population of over 160 million people could be
used to generate electricity, create jobs and wealth; using the Biogas technology.
Picture of Refuse Dump by Ifeoma Ndefo |
In a seminar
recently organized by the Environmental Biotechnology Department of the
National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), a Nigerian expert on Biogas,
living in the USA, Dr Felix Afumuzo Ukponu, President and CEO of Hermesmann
L.L.C, USA, explained that Biogas is one of today’s cheapest and safest
renewable energies. It is produced from plants, animals, and human waste.
Substrates from refuse dumps are important raw materials for the production of
electricity, useful for small generator fuels and cooking gas at exceedingly
low prices.
According to Ukponu, Biogas is a mixture of sixty
percent methane and about 30-40% carbon-dioxide. It contains about 60% methane that can be used to
generate electricity or used for heat or for fuel for vehicles. Any animal
manure, human sewage or food waste will produce methane during anaerobic digestion.
Biogas can be "cleaned" to yield purified methane that can be used in the natural gas pipelines. Methane from biogas is an excellent alternative energy source. Using methane for energy helps the environment by replacing the use of non-renewable fossil fuels with renewable energy and by taking the methane out of the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that has 21 times the
heating effect as carbon dioxide. Biogas methane is renewable unlike natural gas which is mined from underground wells and is a non-renewable fossil fuel.
Biogas can be "cleaned" to yield purified methane that can be used in the natural gas pipelines. Methane from biogas is an excellent alternative energy source. Using methane for energy helps the environment by replacing the use of non-renewable fossil fuels with renewable energy and by taking the methane out of the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that has 21 times the
heating effect as carbon dioxide. Biogas methane is renewable unlike natural gas which is mined from underground wells and is a non-renewable fossil fuel.
As world economic powers shift the pendulum of
global oil business from fossil fuel to more environmentally friendly
alternatives like Biogas, major oil dependent economies like Nigeria are faced
with the challenge to restrategise to evolve new energy forms and sources that offer
comparative and competitive advantages.
Dr Afumuzo Ukponu , reiterated that agricultural
products like corn serves as veritable raw materials for the process. He also
added that the enormous wastes littering and polluting our environment are
potential raw materials for Biogas, capable of creating plum jobs for numerous
unemployed youths in Nigeria.
In her response, the Director- General, NABDA, Prof
(Mrs.) Lucy J. Ogbadu, described the Biogas technology as simple and applicable
within the Agency. She stated that
Friday, 23 January 2015
Biotechnology Solutions for today's problems
Whenever and however the war on the dreaded Ebola virus is
won; the roles and impact of biotechnology tools and medicines used for
fighting the scourge will always be remembered.
Zmapp, an
experimental drug belonging to a US Biotechnology Company, Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Incorporated, administered to two American medical
missionaries, Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol infected in Liberia, was the
first to offer a ray of hope that the Ebola disease was not a death sentence
afterall; as the patients recovered and returned to their families and normal
lives.
The serum, never tested on humans before, was administered
to the two Americans within 7-10 days of their exposure to the virus, broke the
jinx of helplessness, and demystified the disease said to be without a known
cure.
As casualty rates
increased to over 1000 lives in West Africa and leaving many more infected, the
World Health Organisation( WHO) panel of medical ethics experts ruled that it
was ethical to administer unproven drugs or vaccines to people infected with,
or at risk of, Ebola virus.
Consequently, the requests for Zmapp and similar
experimental drugs rose beyond possible supply limits. The US government’s
announcement of insufficient doses of Zmapp to meet demand of affected West
African countries was viewed by some people as an attempt by the West to
withhold help from poor African countries.
However, whatever the arguments or questions, the Ebola
scourge, certainly, tells a story, sends a message and teaches a lesson. It
simply shows that in a world that has become a global village, good and bad
exchanges occur. Diseases and disasters can penetrate borders and permeate
boundaries. Epidemics have potentials of occurring in different parts of the
globe within the same time.
As a result, no one
would leave the smoke sprouting in his house to come and put out the fire in another
man’s house. Africa should as a matter of urgency grow to live up to the
expectation of her survival and sustainability.
It is time to take
advantage of new science and technology that proffer solutions for today’s
problem s. The Biotechnology experimental drug in the treatment of infected
victims of the Ebola virus is phenomenal. As a set of techniques that employ
organisms, or parts of it, to make or modify products; Biotechnology is
applicable in Agriculture, Medicine, Environment, and Industry.
It behoves on the poor countries of Africa to copy these
technologies that make the West the strong and developed entities that they are
today. And a stitch in time, they say, saves nine. (Written by Ifeoma Comfort Ndefo)
NABDA Ebola Testing Kit
In a
concerted effort to join in the war waged by the Federal Government of Nigeria
against the dreaded Ebola virus, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology
through her National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), in collaboration
with Bioneer Corporation of South Korea, recently, presented to stakeholders
and Nigerian scientists a new Ebola Molecular Diagnostic kit.
The kit
showcased at the workshop on Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment of Hemorrhagic
and zoonotic Viral Diseases, recently organised by NABDA in Abuja, is a faster
and more effective facility for testing blood samples of patients, with optimum
safety standards.
In his
opening remarks, the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Abdu Bulama reiterated the high
premium placed on eradication of the deadly ebola disease from Nigeria, and
commended NABDA’s proactive step in providing formidable scientific solution in
the fight against the Ebola scourge.
Furthermore,
the Director-General NABDA, Prof(Mrs) Lucy Jumeyi Ogbadu explained that as soon as the genome
of the Ebola Virus was sequenced and published on the internet in March 2014,
the Agency commenced work on possible biotechnology and scientific
interventions in the prevention and control of the spread of the disease in
Nigeria.
She added
that if not for the unfortunate sudden entrance of the infected Liberian,
Patrick Sawyer, into the country; the initiative taken by NABDA to constitute a
multidisciplinary and multi – agency science based solutions would have been in
place before the disease appeared in Nigeria.
Similarly,
Prof Abdusalami Nasidi, DG National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), narrated
the journey so far in curbing the spread of the disease in Nigeria, alluding
that with fervency and commitment shown so far by the federal government of
Nigeria, the country would likely eradicate the disease in a few weeks. (Written by Ifeoma Comfort Ndefo)
Friday, 22 November 2013
The African Spurred tortoise and threats of extinction.
The African spurred tortoise is one of Nigeria’s most endangered species.It is vigorously hunted and used for several cultural and commercial purposes. A few surviving ones are preserved in protected areas such as the national parks and zoos .
According to an ARKive report, The African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata) is the largest tortoise of the African mainland, and is surpassed in size only by the giant island species from Aldabra and Galápagos . This desert-dwelling tortoise is well camouflaged by its overall sandy coloration, having thick golden to yellow-brown skin and a brownish carapace . The African spurred tortoise has a broad, oval carapace which displays prominent serrations at the front and back margins and conspicuous growth rings on each scute, which become particularly marked with age . Large, overlapping scales cover the front surface of the forelimbs, while the hind surface of the thigh bears two or three large conical spurs, from which the species earns its name. African spurred tortoise populations have declined rapidly in the face of habitat loss, particularly in Mali, Chad, Niger and Ethiopia, largely as a result of urbanisation, overgrazing by domestic livestock and desertification. Several ethnic groups in the Sahel, especially nomadic tribes, eat the African spurred tortoise. The already vulnerable position of the species has been compounded in recent years by an increase in capture for international trade, as pets and for body parts reportedly used to make longevity potions in Japan. It is primarily juvenile African spurred tortoises that are captured for trade and, as this species takes 15 years to reach maturity, there is grave concern that generations in the wild may be unable to renew themselves, resulting in extinction of local population.
Friday, 15 November 2013
DNA BARCODING TO INCREASE AUTHENTICITY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
The need and use of medicinal plants in Nigeria is
growing at a tremendous rate. Whether for food or as medicines for ailments
ranging from common cold, malaria and even
more complicated health problems such as hypertension and diabetes,
Nigerians of all ages and classes find it easier to consume the herbal remedies
produced from medicinal plant.
Picture of Herbarium at the National Parks Service, Abuja, Nigeria. Taken by Comfort Ndefo |
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines
traditional medicine as the
sum total of all the knowledge and
practical, whether explicable or not, used in the diagnosis, prevention and elimination
of physical, mental or social imbalance and relying exclusively on practical
experience and observation handed down from generation to generation, whether verbally
or in writing. Traditional medicine might also be considered as a solid amalgamation
of dynamic medical know how and ancestral experience.
These traditional medicines are adjudged as
potent by their users. However , oftentimes,
problems arise from consumption of
either overdose, under dose or even some natural toxins within the plant
due lack of scientific information of the components of the plant.
According to, a postdoctoral fellow and College of Arts &
Sciences alumni, Dr. Allan Showalter, “Misidentifications or adulteration of
authenticated materials can lead to reduced effectiveness of herbal products or
accidental poisonings. Barcoding provides a way to confirm the identification
of raw plant material and establish a level of quality assurance.
The DNA Barcoding is an exciting new tool for
taxonomic research. The DNA barcode is a very short, standardized DNA
sequence in a well-known gene. It provides a way to identify the species to
which a plant belongs.
Barcoding is generating a global, open access
library of reference barcode sequence which enables non-taxonomists to identify
specimens.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Roan Antelope Hunted by Poachers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)