Category Archives: biotechnology

Covid as Equalizer and Unifier: A Filipino Sage

Herman Tiu Laurel, in Phillipine News Agency, 4 March 2020,where the title runs Covid-19 should unify the world”


AS the Covid-19 virus jumps vast distances and oceans to other continents, we see how other countries are adopting lessons from China’s responses, including mass “lockdowns” and other preemptive moves. The effectiveness of China’s response has resulted in a reduction of the Covid-19 crisis after just three short months, unlike past epidemics that took almost a year before subsiding.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, biotechnology, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, coronavirus, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, governance, landscape wondrous, life stories, medical marvels, unusual people, world events & processes

Beating the Corona Bug: All Your Own Work

How you can self-check about the Corona infection: Taiwanese experts suggest doing a simple check that we can do on our own every morning:

*  Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you successfully complete it without coughing, without discomfort, a sense of oppression, etc., this shows that there is no fibrosis in the lungs, indicating essentially no infection.

  • In such critical times, do this check every morning in a clean air environment!
  • Also ensure that you disinfect the PC keyboard and mobile phones.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, biotechnology, charitable outreach, landscape wondrous, life stories, medical marvels, performance, world events & processes

Victoria faces Coronavirus Pandemic War

ABC News Item 3 March 2020.…. with this title Victorian plane passenger tested for coronavirus as hospitals brace for ‘tens of thousands’ of COVID-19 cases”

A man who flew into Avalon Airport this morning is one of hundreds of people who have been tested for coronavirus in Victoria, as the state’s hospitals prepare for the pandemic phase of the outbreak.

Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos toured the Doherty Institute this morning. (AAP: David Crosling)

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, biotechnology, education, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, meditations, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Murali in Support of the UWA Bio-Tech Unit Today …. Cutting-Edge Research

News Item from UWA, 9 December 2019, entitled “Cricket legend visits UWA to test wearable technology”

Sri Lankan spin bowling legend Muttiah Muralitharan (Murali) has visited The University of Western Australia for an update on the technology that cleared his unorthodox bowling action in the late 1990s, resulting in him becoming the world record holder for the most wickets taken in both Test and one-day cricket.
“I’ve been tested here (at UWA) five or six times,” Murali said. “Every time there is a problem I come here and test, so the facility year by year is improving. They are still developing, for a new generation, how to overcome these problems.”

Today  Yesterday … with Jacqui Alderson directed by Bruce Elliot

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, biotechnology, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, disparagement, education, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, medical marvels, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, unusual people, world events & processes

An Eye-Opener: A Study of China’s Agricultural Biotechnology Policies

Ronald J. Herring reviewing GMO China by Cong Cao (see end for details)

Cong Cao’s book GMO China is refreshing and enlightening. Unlike many authors in this genre, he knows the essentials of his subject: biology, agriculture, politics, history. He is not a campaigner. Readers learn much about the historical evolution of China’s developmental state, global connections of scientists, and the growing importance of global activists and narratives as influences on Chinese domestic policy. We learn why China became a world leader in some applications of agricultural biotechnology and pulled back from others. More important for general readers, China is the most interesting historical-longitudinal case in the global fissures on GMOs: biosafety, bioproperty, and biopolitics.

Herring of Cornell University

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under biotechnology, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, energy resources, export issues, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, world events & processes