Progress and challenges associated with halal authentication of consumer packaged goods.

Abusive business practices are increasingly evident in consumer packaged goods. Although consumers have the right to protect themselves against such practices, rapid urbanization and industrialization result in greater distances between producers and consumers, raising serious concerns on the supply chain. The operational complexities surrounding halal authentication pose serious challenges on the integrity of consumer packaged goods.

Transgenic and cloned animals in the food chain--are we prepared to tackle it?

Transgenic and cloned animal production for various purposes has been increasing rapidly in recent times. While the actual impact of these animals in the food chain is unknown, the significance of tracking and monitoring measures to curb accidental and or deliberate release has been discussed. Religious perspectives from different faiths and traditions have been presented.

Factors affecting food security and contribution of modern technologies in food sustainability.

The concept of food insecurity is complex and goes beyond the simplistic idea of a country's inability to feed its population. The global food situation is redefined by many driving forces such as population growth, availability of arable lands, water resources, climate change and food availability, accessibility and loss. The combined effect of these factors has undeniably impacted global food production and security.

Comparative analysis of cyanobacterial superoxide dismutases to discriminate canonical forms.

Background: Superoxide dismutases (SOD) are ubiquitous metalloenzymes that catalyze the disproportion of superoxide to peroxide and molecular oxygen through alternate oxidation and reduction of their metal ions. In general, SODs are classified into four forms by their catalytic metals namely; FeSOD, MnSOD, Cu/ZnSOD and NiSOD. In addition, a cambialistic form that uses Fe/Mn in its active site also exists.

Molecular characterization of marine Cyanobacteria from the Indian subcontinent deduced from sequence analysis of the phycocyanin operon (cpcb-IGS-cpcA) and 16S-23S ITS region.

Molecular characterization of ten marine cyanobacterial isolates belonging to the order Oscillatoriales was carried out using the phycocyanin locus (cpcBA-IGS) and the 16S-23S internally transcribed spacer region. DNA sequences from the phycocyanin operon discriminated ten genotypes, which corresponded to seven morphotypes identified by traditional microscopic analysis. The cpcB coding region revealed 17 % nucleotide variation, while cpcA exhibited 29 % variation across the studied species.