SciDev.Net news

A Brazilian government agency responsible for natural resources has fined 35 companies for not sharing benefits from exploitation of the country`s biodiversity.

The decision follows official complaints filed by the Genetic Heritage Department of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment to the agency in charge, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).

Preserving the biodiversity of tropical forests could have the added benefit of cutting the spread of malaria, according to a new study.

The finding contradicts the traditional view that clearing native forest for agriculture curbs malaria transmission in the Amazon rainforest.

"Our study suggests, in contrast, that conservation of b

Infecting mosquitoes with a transgenic fungus could drastically cut their ability to transmit malaria, according to research published today in Science (25 February).

Existing efforts to develop fungal malaria control focus on slowly killing mosquitoes before they have the chance to pass on Plasmodium, the malaria parasite. But they rely on mosquitoes being inoculated with parasitic fungus soon after Plasmodium infection, which limits their use.

In this latest research, scient

The presidents of Indonesia and Liberia — Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — and the prime minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, are to co-chair a UN panel to advise on approaches to development after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015.

Announcing the chairs to the UN General Assembly this week (9 May), Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary gene

Scientists in developing countries should look for inspiration in their unique environments instead of trying to replicate European and US methods, a meeting at the United Kingdom’s Royal Society has heard.

George Whitesides, a chemistry professor at Harvard University in the United States, told the London meeting on 27 May that system