Synthetic anti-malaria compound is bad news for artemisia farmers | Jim Thomas
Artemisinin breakthrough by synthetic biologists threatens to open new front in battle between microbes and peopleIn the constant fight between microbes and people, attempts to rein in the malarial parasite have just taken an interesting turn. On Thursday the founder of Amyris Biotech triumphantly announced production of 70m doses of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin. This sounds like good news for poor people but may be a step backwards – the start of a new hi-tech assault on farmers.There is no doubt that artemisinin is important. Artemisinin combination therapies are the World Health Organisation's drug of choice...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 12, 2013 Category: Science Tags: Blogposts Farming Malaria Infectious diseases Pharmaceuticals industry guardian.co.uk Vaccines and immunisation Global development Environment Business Science Source Type: news
Obituary: Lorenzo Odone
Spirited as a child, he developed ALD and became the inspiration behind Lorenzo's oilMy brother Lorenzo Odone, who has died of pneumonia a day after his 30th birthday, became famous worldwide as the inspiration behind Lorenzo's oil. The oil, a therapy for sufferers of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a debilitating and ultimately fatal condition, was discovered in 1990 by his parents, Michaela and Augusto Odone. Two years later, their extraordinary achievement - neither had any medical training - was turned into the Hollywood movie Lorenzo's Oil, directed by George Miller and starring Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte.Lorenzo was b...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - June 3, 2008 Category: Science Authors: Cristina Odone Tags: Medical research Genetics Health Society Science Film World news US news Culture Biology Source Type: news
