Marine biologists at National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) have identified a gene, called “ScDSP,” that can control cell death in algae, sources at Keelung City university said.
Researchers said the findings could help predict declines in algae populations, which could help the fishing industry.
In addition, by manipulating the expression of the gene, scientists might be able to trigger the death of the carbon-absorbing organisms, which could reduce greenhouse gases in a given area by causing them to sink.
The team, led by Chang Jeng (張正) of the Institute of Marine Biology, first reported the discovery of ScDSP in a diatom — Skeletonema costatum — in the December 2005 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Another paper to be published soon by the journal explains the team’s work on an ScDSP-based molecular probe that can predict cell death, or apoptosis, in algae, Chang said on Thursday.
Chang said the research could help the aquaculture industry predict mass die-offs of algae, which are a food source for fish. If large-scale losses of algae could be predicted, measures could be taken to stem the effects, he said.
In addition, scientists have been developing a method to deploy algae to capture greenhouse gases, Chang said. If the ScDSP gene can be manipulated, it would allow for controlled death in the algae, causing them to sink to the seabed along with carbon particles.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
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