Biotech companies like Metahelix and Avesthagen use micro-organisms such as bacteria or substances like enzymes to make drugs and synthetic hormones, speed up industrial processes and devise better crop varieties. Avesthagen, which like Metahelix is based in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, is working to devise better-yielding oilseeds and improve the tolerance of food crops to drought and salinity. Neither Narayanan nor Patell was willing to hazard a guess as to when the...

Standardized state rules for titling vehicles are necessary to combat this type of fraud because strict rules in a number of states in a region make it attractive for unscrupulous sellers to dump cleaned-up flood vehicles in a nearby state that has lax rules. Standardized state rules for titling vehicles are necessary to combat this type of fraud because strict rules in a number of states in a region make it attractive for unscrupulous sellers to dump cleaned-up flood vehicles in a nearby...

It says many grain farmers have joined an insurance scheme to protect their incomes and are benefiting from advice to help a shift to alternative crops like olives, fruit and chickpeas. The harvest is almost over, and farmers gathered for the weekly market in the nearby village of Lagfaf say most of the wheat is good enough only for the animals. Officials in the capital Rabat say climate change has raised temperatures and contributed to a 30 percent decline in rainfall in recent years and...

In this speech to the European Biotechnology Open day in Brussels EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson strongly defends an open European approach to biotechnology and GM food; one that prioritises strict science-based health and safety testing but which recognises that safe biotechnology has a crucial role to play in agriculture and agricultural trade both in Europe and the developing world. In this speech to the European Biotechnology Open day in Brussels EU Trade Commissioner Peter...

Juliette Jowit and Javier Espinoza Sunday June 17, 2007 The Observer One of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles is under threat because environmental projects to protect the monarch butterfly are failing, a leading expert has warned. Scientists have warned for years that the butterflies are under threat because genetically modified crops are destroying the weeds and flowers they feed on and lay eggs in, and illegal logging is decimating their winter habitat high in the Mexican...