ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Revolutionary naming system for all life on earth proposed: Based on the genetic sequence of organisms
• Seed-filled buoys may help restore diverse sea meadows in San Francisco Bay
• Baby food puree could be made even safer with new processing technique
• Studies show how traceability can work across entire food supply chain
• Sauces and marinades address consumers' desire for ethnic flavors
• Chemical transport in plants likened to that of humans
• Genetic screening can identify men with advanced prostate cancer
• Peru's Manu National Park sets new biodiversity record

Revolutionary naming system for all life on earth proposed: Based on the genetic sequence of organisms Posted: 21 Feb 2014 03:48 PM PST A new naming structure proposed by an American researcher moves beyond the Linnaeus system to one based on the genetic sequence of each individual organism. This creates a more robust, precise, and informative name for any organism, be it a bacterium, fungus, plant, or animal. Coded names could be permanent, as opposed to the shifting of names typical in the current biological classification system. Codes could also be assigned without the current lengthy process that is required by analyzing one organism's physical traits compared to another's. Lastly, the sequence could be assigned to viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals and would provide a standardized naming system for all life on Earth.

Seed-filled buoys may help restore diverse sea meadows in San Francisco Bay Posted: 21 Feb 2014 03:47 PM PST Placing seedpods in a pearl net, tethered by a rope but allowed to sway with the tides, may be an especially effective way of restoring eelgrass meadows. The resulting crop of eelgrass grown for this study was as genetically diverse as the beds from which the seeds were harvested, which researchers say can make restoration efforts more likely to succeed. The emphasis on genetic diversity is a relatively new concern in ecosystem restoration projects, where there has been an understandable urgency to move plants and animals back into an area as quickly as possible.

Baby food puree could be made even safer with new processing technique Posted: 21 Feb 2014 03:45 PM PST Although levels of furan—a carcinogen resulting from heat treatment techniques, such as canning and jarring—are far below of what would cause harmful effect as determined by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), a team of food scientists found that treatment of baby food puree with high pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) instead of conventional thermal processing showed a reduction of furan.

Studies show how traceability can work across entire food supply chain Posted: 21 Feb 2014 03:45 PM PST Recent developments across the globe have put an increasing focus on the traceability of foods. Complicated supply chains of hundreds of ingredients that are used to make a food product make food product tracing a daunting task. In an effort to better protect public health from foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls, governments across the world are in the process of implementing new regulations around food traceability.

Sauces and marinades address consumers' desire for ethnic flavors Posted: 21 Feb 2014 03:45 PM PST Sauces and marinades are an easy way for consumers cooking at home to infuse distinctive flavors into all kinds of different foods. New consumer trends and a growing interest in international/ethnic flavor preferences regarding sauces and marinades are the subject of a new article.

Chemical transport in plants likened to that of humans Posted: 21 Feb 2014 12:04 PM PST Plant roots and certain human membrane systems resist chemical transport in much the same way, say researchers. This similarity could make it easier to assess chemical risks for both people and plants, and may even lead to a new approach to testing medications. "A plant's root is similar to the blood-brain barrier and intestine of humans," say the researchers. "It's amazing when you think about it -- plants and animals evolved separately but somehow developed comparable structures to control transport of water and dissolved chemicals."

Genetic screening can identify men with advanced prostate cancer Posted: 20 Feb 2014 04:35 PM PST Screening men with a family history of prostate cancer for a range of gene mutations can identify those who are at high risk of aggressive forms of the disease and in need of lifelong monitoring, a new study has shown. The findings are important because they demonstrate not only that some men have a genetic profile that puts them at higher risk of prostate cancer, but that particular genetic profiles match to a higher risk of advanced, invasive disease. A big challenge facing prostate cancer researchers is to find ways of predicting which men will have life-threatening forms of the disease, to allow treatment to be tailored more effectively.

Peru's Manu National Park sets new biodiversity record Posted: 20 Feb 2014 06:50 AM PST When it comes to amphibian and reptile biodiversity, the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains in South America stand out. A new survey of 'herps' in and around Manu National Park in Peru recorded a greater biodiversity -- 287 species, some new to science -- than any other protected area in the world, including the previous leader in Ecuador. Since its creation 41 years ago, Manu National Park has become recognized as globally irreplaceable: it was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Preserve in 1977 and a World Heritage Site in 1987.

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