Newswatch: Making the
news, from bald spots to bumble bees
A story in Chemistry & Industry magazine about
an astoundingly simple method of regenerating cells to treat
conditions such as baldness, stretch marks and gum disease
understandably received widespread coverage during May 2005.
The technique, which involves multiplying cells called fibroblasts,has
been developed by the US company Isolagen, and the news spread
as far as South Africa and Mauritius after it appeared in
C&I. The story was covered extensively in the UK
regional press and on high-profile websites such as the Times
online, Daily
Mail online and Forbes.com,
as well as some slightly more obscure sites…such as stophairlossnow.com!
Pesticides also proved to be a hot topic in May; there was
a real buzz around some Canadian research into the effects
of the biopesticide spinosad on bumble bees.The research,
which was published in Pest Management Science, found
that the pollinating activity of wild bees was reduced following
exposure to low levels of the pesticide – significant,
considering that one-third of human food in the developed
world is reliant on pollination.
Newspapers, trade magazines and websites such as Honey
Council (Canada) and First for Farming (UK) all
picked up on this research.
Finally, avid readers of BBC News online may have
noticed a quote from SCI Member Dr Matthew Fletcher of the
University of Wales, Bangor, UK, in a story about the isolation
of cancer-fighting compounds from a microbe living inside
the humble sea-squirt.
|
