Tag Archives: sub-saharan africa

Witchweed Should Haunt Crops no Longer, say U of T Researchers

By Guest PostSeptember 12, 2010Environmentacres of crops, africa, arabidopsis, arable land, asia, australia, parasitic plant, peter mccourt, striga, striga seed, striga-crop interaction, strigolactone, sub-saharan africa, university of toronto, witchweed

Each year, thousands of acres of crops are planted throughout Africa, Asia and Australia only to be laid to waste by a parasitic plant called Striga, also known as witchweed. It is one of the largest challenges to food security in Africa, and a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered chemicals and genes that may break Striga’s stranglehold.

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Some Vitamin Supplements Increase Presence of the HIV Virus in Breast Milk

By Guest PostAugust 27, 2010Healthbeta-carotene, breast milk, breastfeed, eduardo villamor, epidemiologist, hiv, hiv-infected, hiv-positive, mother-to-child transmission, pregnant, sub-saharan africa, vitamin A, women

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Vitamin A and beta-carotene supplements are unsafe for HIV-positive women who breastfeed because they may boost the excretion of HIV in breast milk—thereby increasing the chances of transmitting the infection to the child, a pair of new studies suggest.

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