New light on genetic roots: “Present day Europeans trace their ancestry back to three and not just two ancestral groups”

According to the study, the beginning of agriculture and animal domestication, which began in the Near East about 11,000 years ago, had a tremendous impact on human lifestyle. Hunter-gatherers were replaced in many places by sedentary farmers, and there were large increases in population size that laid the foundation for larger towns and eventually complex societies.

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Novel genetically process to protect plants from toxicity of zinc

We all know that Zinc is a most essential metal for optimal plant growth and development. But when high levels of Zinc are present in the soil, it can become toxic to the plant. Consequently, plants need to trigger mechanisms capable of coping with that stress. Researchers from the Institute Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) have now discovered a novel genetic mechanism that protects plants from toxic zinc levels. The research team, led by Paula Duque, identified a gene that produces a protein capable of sequestering zinc inside the cells of the root. In the presence of high levels of zinc, this gene undergoes a special processing which ensures more production of the protecting protein. These findings, published in the latest edition of the scientific journal PLOS Genetics, open new avenues for increasing plant tolerance to zinc.

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GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS AND ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS

Genetically modified crops are plants with modified genome by the introduction of new gene or any DNA sequence of interest – a method called genetic engineering. Such crops are differently named as GMC or GM
crops or biotech crops etc. In January 1983, Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri,
first developed transgenic plant. The first commercially grown genetically modified
food crop was a tomato created by California

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