Monsanto buys sugarcane breeding firm Monsanto has made arrangements to purchase Brazil's Aly Participacoes Ltda. for US$290 million in cash. Aly own CanaVialis, the world's largest private sugarcane breeding company, and Alellyx, an applied genomics company focused on developing biotech traits primarily for sugarcane. Aly is currently controlled by the Votorantim Group, a Brazilian industrial conglomerate. More†

Syngenta to acquire Bulgarian assets Syngenta has announced that it will take over certain assets of AgroStar AD, a leading company in import and distribution of crop protection products and vegetable seeds in Bulgaria. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2008, pending regulatory approvals. AgroStar has successfully distributed Syngenta products in Bulgaria since 1994, and reported sales of approximately US$19 million in 2007. After closing of the transaction, the acquired assets will be integrated in a newly established company, Syngenta Bulgaria EOOD. It will be based in Sofia and is expected to start operations as of January 1, 2009. More†

Sci/Tech

New view of protein-RNA interactions DNA alone cannot explain the huge differences in complexity between a human and a worm -- even though each has about 25,000 genes. Forced to look elsewhere, scientists turned to RNA, a direct yet more complex transcript of DNA. Even so, problems with available methods made it difficult to determine the role of RNA with reasonable precision. More†

Potpourri

Scientists in the kitchen/Cooks in the lab Only recently in print, The Hungry Scientist Handbook shows how to bring the latest, greatest technology available to bear upon the culinary arts. It compiles the most mouthwatering projects created by a mechanical engineer and his band of intrepid techie friends (like Robin Hood, but without the tights). Their mission: the pursuit of projects possessing varying degrees of whimsy and utility, and this book is a chronicle of their success. In no time, you'll be donning lab goggles in the kitchen and kitchen goggles in the lab - just make sure to label your ingredients (don't want you drinking acid by accident). More†

The Money Tree! According to the developers of a GM tree, "It was only supposed to be an eco project!". In the end, they got more than they had bargained for -- a tree that produces US currency. They claim you can buy one for yourself for US$30. More†