Month: September 2002

The BBC this month ran a story featuring University of Indiana professors Kevin Livingston and Loren Rieseberg arguing that the recent decoding of the genomes of two closely related rice species is the most important result of genetic research to date — more important, they argue, than the decoding of the human genome.

The genomes of indica, a subspecies of rice that dominates in China, and japonica, which is found in dryer parts of Asia such as Japan, were both recently decoded. Since rice is the most important source of food in the world, providing the staple diet for more than half the world’s population, Livingston and Rieseberg told the BBC that this will have enormous implications for the future of rice and other crops,

Because of the importance of rice and its status as a model for all grasses, these sequences will provide a basis for future genetic improvement of all cereal grains, our most important food resource.

Interestingly, the rice genome is huge, with estimates of more than 50,000 genes. That makes it much larger than the human genome.

The main difference between rice, maize and wheat is not that they have different genes, but rather that they have similar genes that are organized differently. This means that the things learned from the rice genome will also provide scientists with plenty of leads on improving wheat, maize and other crops.

The genomics revolution will almost certainly lead to changes and improvements in food crops that will likely dwarf the effects of past such events such as the Green Revolution.

Source:

Rice code is ‘greatest achievement’. David Whitehouse, The BBC, September 6, 2002.

The World Economic Forum this month released a report highlighting the enormous difficulties that the Arab world currently faces and which are likely to get dramatically worse unless drastic change comes to the region.

While the developed world is rapidly aging, the Arab world still has a very youthful population — and a youthful population that is currently relegated to high levels of poverty and unemployment.

In the Arab world as a whole, 40 percent of the population is under the age of 14. Meanwhile, unemployment in the region hovers around 15 percent.

The Arab world’s population is projected to increase from 280 million today to over 400 million in 2020. The last thing the region needs is an abundance of young people without jobs and little future.

Of course things didn’t need to be this way — the Arab world is also one of the richest regions in the world thanks to large oil deposits and other mineral wealth. But that wealth has been squandered away and much of the focus of governments in the region has been on geopolitical issues such as the status of Israel.

The United Nations Development Programme also issued a report on the state of the Arab world, noting that the failure to grant women meaningful rights, endemic state corruption, and substandard educational systems all work to prevent the Arab world from lifting itself out of the dire straits it finds itself in.

Unfortunately, the Arab world appears unlikely to correct any of these problems in the near future.

Source:

Arab world ‘faces further stagnation’. The BBC, September 9, 2002.

First Arab World Competitiveness Report Launched by the World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum, September 9, 2002.

The New York Times recently reported about an outrageous violation of the privacy rights of women in Buena Vista County, Iowa, who received pregnancy tests at clinics and hospitals.

In May, Buena Vista police discovered a horrific crime. They found the dismembered body of a dead baby in the county recycling center. With almost nothing to go on, the county sheriff came up with a brilliant plan — ask clinics and local hospitals to turn over the names of women who had received pregnancy tests.

Unbelievably, almost all of the clinics and hospitals complied. The local Planned Parenthood did not, and is currently in a legal battle with the county over whether or not it can be forced to turn over records of pregnancy tests.

Since police have no evidence at all that the mother of the dead baby is a local woman, much less that she might have been a patient at any particular clinic, the police request is simply a fishing expedition that clearly violates patients’ right to privacy. This sort of blanket request is just as wrong as are proposals to build genetic databases of everybody who comes in contact with police in order to try to better track perpetrators of rape, murder and other crimes.

And some of the clinics who cooperated with the police request might have to pay. At least one woman whose name was turned over to police by the clinic where she received a pregnancy test is considering suing the clinic for damages.

Receiving a pregnancy test is not a suspicious criminal activity and women who request pregnancy tests should not fear that doing so may result in their names being released to police.

Source:

Privacy furor over subpoena in baby’s death. Adam Clymer, The New York Times, August 21, 2002.