A preliminary assembly and annotation of the soybean genome, Glycine max, has been made available by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), to the greater scientific community to enable bioenergy research.

The announcement was made by Eddy Rubin, DOE JGI Director, during his keynote remarks Jan. 15 at the Plant and Animal Genome XVI Conference in San Diego,CA.

The large-scale shotgun DNA sequencing project began in the middle of 2006 and will be completed in 2008. A total of about 13 million shotgun reads have been produced and deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Trace Archive in accordance with the consortium’s commitment to early access and consistent with the Fort Lauderdale genome data release policy.

Corn can grow in many places but from a nutritional point of view, its fiber benefits are offset by its poor vitamin content.

Deficiencies in vitamin A cause eye diseases, including blindness, in 40 million children annually, and increased health risks for about 250 million people, mostly in developing countries.

It makes sense to find ways to improve corn planting so that corn with more nutritional value will be in use and a team of researchers say they have done just that. This is not genetic modification of corn, this is a tool that analyzes "the genetic makeup of corn that will enable developing countries to identify and increase cultivation of corn that has naturally high levels of vitamin A precursors," says Ed Buckler, a co-leader of the research team from the U.S.

A non-invasive diagnostic tool to detect surface cancers quickly and painlessly using technology currently employed by gyms to calculate body composition has been developed by a QUT PhD medical physics researcher.

Jye Smith from QUT’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences has developed a new diagnostic technique using bioimpedance spectroscopy to diagnose cervical and skin cancers. Bioimpedance measures the electrical characteristics of biological tissue and is used by gyms to calculate amounts of lean tissue, water and fat.

Do antioxidant supplements reduce the risk of cancer and deaths related to cancer?

While some trials have suggested that antioxidants have beneficial effects, results from other trials have been negative. It has been unclear which antioxidant compounts are more beneficial (or more harmful), and how individual antioxidants affect target organs and specific patient populations. To examine these issues, Mayo researchers writing in Mayo Clinic Proceedings conducted a systematic review on the topic.

A study led by McGill University researchers has demonstrated that small differences between individuals at the DNA level can lead to dramatic differences in the way genes produce proteins. These, in turn, are responsible for the vast array of differences in physical characteristics between individuals.

The study was originally initiated by Dr. Tom Hudson, former director of the McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, and drew upon the data collected by the vast HapMap (Haplotype Map) Project, a global comparative map of the human genome, which Hudson and his colleagues were instrumental in completing.

Excavation works carried out by national and foreign archeological teams in the central Syrian Governorate of Hama has yielded several important findings in Tal al-Homsi, Apamea, al-Rawda, Ba'arin Cemetery, Tal al-Qarqour.

The teams also executed many restoration works in the ancient Shaizar Castle.

Head of Hama Department of Ruins Jamal Ramadan said significant parts of Apamea ancient city were unearthed, particularly in the northeastern corners, as well as discovering some findings including a stone statue with intact face.

Mr. Ramadan added that the Syrian-German crew discovered a stone statue of a lioness which was the Symbol of Mamlouki state.