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Natural hydrogel may boost spinal cord healing

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): A jab of biomaterial gel into a spinal cord injury site may significantly improve healing, according to researchers at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

Dr. Mark Preul and Dr. Alyssa Panitch have found in a study that injection of an engineered hydrogel made up mainly of hyaluronic acid (a naturally-occurring body substance) into the spinal cord injury site decreases scarring, and promotes a realignment of the spinal cord fibres around the injury site.

The hyaluronic acid, which forms a scaffold-like configuration may help to structurally stabilize the spinal cord injury site.

The researchers traced cells in the brain stem after injury, and found much higher levels in the hydrogel treated animals as compared to animals that did not receive the treatment, and approached nearly normal levels.

Treated animals had higher functional scores than their non-treated counterparts.

“Spinal cord injury is devastating to civilian and military populations – especially to the young. There has been little progress toward paradigms of regeneration and few results that show real, sustained functional recovery. We’ve been so pre-occupied with regeneration, but that is a highly complicated and difficult to define goal. This project is a synergy of neurosurgeons and bioengineers that attempts repair of the SCI lesion cavity using a tissue-engineering biomaterials approach,” says Preul.

He added that the team aimed at finding ways to structurally allow the body to better heal itself.

“In this project we did not add anything to the hyaluronic acid. It may be that adding growth factors or cells into the gel matrix may allow even better results,” he said.

Preul said that the results show “we may be on a practical path that can give hope to the many people who suffer this sort of injury.”

The work was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Diego where it won the Synthes Prize for Spine Research. (ANI)

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Twitter could help track swine flu spread

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 16 (ANI): People’s updates on popular social networking websites such as Twitter about having coughs and colds could help health officials track early warning signs about flu outbreaks.

The Health Protection Agency annual conference at Warwick University, UK, heard that such websites could indicate an outbreak of flu earlier than conventional disease surveillance methods based on doctor visits.

Combing for messages or “tweets” such as ‘I have flu’ or ‘I’ve got swine flu’ may help provide valuable insight into the spread of infectious diseases, research showed.

Ed de Quincey, a computer scientist at City University London conducted the research and developed the system with his team at the City eHealth Research Centre.

“As UK public health agencies and the NHS are preparing for the approaching flu season amid the H1N1 pandemic, new forms of social interaction via web sites such as Twitter and Facebook can expand the sources used in monitoring such outbreaks,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“The flu pandemic was the perfect opportunity to test this idea and we found that at least 4,000 people reported flu symptoms via Twitter since May 2009.

“We are currently analysing over a million ‘tweets’ that we have collected and exploring the potential of incorporating data from other social networking websites. We hope in the future to expand this approach to investigate other health issues such as drug and substance abuse,” he added. (ANI)

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No toxic substance found in Urumqui’s latest syringe attack victims’ body

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Urumqui, Sep. 14 (ANI): The blood samples of Urimqui’s latest syringe attack victims showed no trace of radioactive, toxic or viral substances, such as AIDS, an expert at a Beijing-based laboratory has said.

However, Director of Disease Control and Biological Security Office with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Qian Jun, has said that the victims have showed signs of depression.

“Although no radioactive or toxic substances were found, some patients showed various levels of anxiety and depression and have been recommended for psychological counselling,” China daily quoted Quian, as saying.

Meanwhile, the first group of syringe attack suspects were prosecuted in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

At least 500 cases of attacks have surfaced in the city since mid-August.

Two men and a woman were given sentences ranging from seven to 15 years in jail for syringe stabbings or robberies in which they threatened their victims with needles.

The court sentenced 19-year-old Yilipan Yilihamu to 15 years in prison for injecting a woman with a hypodermic needle on August 28 at a roadside fruit stall. (ANI)

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Men’s sweat ‘boosts their attractiveness in the eyes of women’

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 11 (ANI): A naturally present chemical in men’s sweat may act as a primitive love potion that increases their attractiveness in women’s eyes, says a new study.

The substance is derived from the male sex hormone testosterone.

To reach the conclusion, Tamsin Saxton of the University of St Andrews studied the influence of androstadienone by dabbling a drop of it on the upper lip of 50 women who took part in the evening trial before they “dated” a series of men.

From analyses, researchers found that women of all ages rated the men slightly higher on a scale of attractiveness when given the substance, compared to water or clove oil, but the effect was greatest in younger women aged between 18 and 22, reports The Independent.

“For some of the women we gave them androstadienone and we put it in clove oil solution so they just smelt clove oil. Some of the women had clove oil alone, and the third group had just water so there was no odour at all,” she told the British Science Festival.

“We got the women to mark how attractive they thought the men were on a one to seven scale after they interacted with each man,” she said.

“We found that the women given androstadienone had given slightly higher ratings of attractiveness to the men. That suggested this constituent of sweat does seem to have some kind of impact on attraction,” she told the festival.

“Some people don’t seem to be able to smell it all, some people say it smells OK or a bit sweaty, whereas others say it smells really awful, like babies’ nappies,” Saxton said.

According to the expert, one hypothesis is that it could be a “pheromone”, or chemical messenger that acts between individuals in much the same way that hormones act as messengers within the body.

“It’s something that people investigate on the topic of pheromones. When you talk of animal pheromones, they are involved in very specific reactions,” Saxton said.

“People do value somebody’s natural skin smell and it’s worth bearing in mind that this may be part of your appeal – how you smell naturally,” she told the festival. (ANI)

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Scientists use bacteria to make radioactive metals inert

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 9 (ANI): A team of scientists is researching the use of sulfate-reducing bacteria to convert toxic radioactive metal to inert substances, a much more economical solution.

The research is being done by Judy Wall, a biochemistry professor at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

The bacteria Wall is studying are bio-corrosives and can change the solubility of heavy metals.

They can take uranium and convert it to uraninite, a nearly insoluble substance that will sink to the bottom of a lake or stream.

Wall is looking into the bacteria’s water cleansing ability and how long the changed material would remain inert.

Wall’s research could also be beneficial to heavy metal pollution from storage tanks and industrial waste.

The bacteria are already present in more than 7,000 heavy metal contaminated sites, but they live in a specific range of oxygen and temperature, making them difficult to control.

“Our research must be done in the absence of air,” Wall said. “Obviously, none but the most committed – and stubborn – will work with them,” she added.

Even if an oxygen-tolerant strain were developed, there are still multiple factors that would make applying the bacteria challenging, and these microbes can contribute to massive iron corrosion.

“Knowledge of the way bacteria live in the environment, in microbial communities, is still in its infancy,” Wall said. “We just don’t know a lot about the communication systems among microbes,” she added.

Wall and researchers from the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in California are investigating the bacterium’s basic genetics and hope to determine its growth limits and activity in natural settings, including how to make its interactions with metals sustainable.

They have already identified a few genes that are critical to converting uranium. (ANI)

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Xinjiang riots: Urumqi party chief, Xinjiang police chief removed

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Urumqi, Sep. 6 (ANI): In the aftermath of Xinjiang riots that erupted on July 5, the party chief of Urumqi and police chief of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been sacked.

According to a decision by the CPC Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee, Li Zhi, secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was replaced by Zhu Hailun.

Xinjiang’s police chief Liu Yaohua was also replaced by Zhu Changjie, party chief of Xinjiang’s Aksu Prefecture, Xinhua reports.

Fresh protests broke out this week after hundreds of Urumqi residents said that they were attacked by syringes. Five people were killed in the following protests.

Local hospitals had dealt with 531 victims of hypodermic syringe stabbings by Thursday, 106 of whom showed obvious signs of needle attacks.

Chinese military medical experts on Saturday ruled out the possibility that radioactive substance, anthrax and toxic chemical were used in recent syringe attacks in Urumqi City.

“According to the preliminary test results, such possibilities can be ruled out,” said Qian Jun, director of Disease Control and Biological Security Office with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

Samples had been sent to Beijing for further test, he added.

Xinjiang police has captured 25 suspects amid the syringe scare. (ANI)

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‘Master switch’ gene may help control obesity

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 4 (ANI): Scientists from University of Michigan claim to have discovered a gene, which when switched off, can control obesity in mice and help them remain thin.

According to Alan Saltiel, the Mary Sue Coleman Director of the U-M Life Sciences Institute, deleting the gene, called IKKE, appears to protect mice against conditions that, in humans, lead to Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity.

He said that if follow-up studies confirm IKKE is tied to obesity in humans, the gene and the protein it will be prime targets for the development of drugs to treat obesity and diabetes.

“We’ve studied other genes associated with obesity – we call them ‘obesogenes’ – but this is the first one we’ve found that, when deleted, stops the animal from gaining weight,” said Saltiel, senior author of a paper.

“The fact that you can disrupt all the effects of a high-fat diet by deleting this one gene in mice is pretty interesting and surprising,” Saltiel added.

During the study, the high-fat-diet mice were fed a lard-like substance with 45 percent of its calories from fat. Control mice were fed standard chow with 4.5 percent of its calories from fat.

The gene IKKE produces a protein kinase also known as IKKE. The IKKE protein kinase appears to target proteins, which, in turn, control genes that regulate the mouse metabolism.

When the high-fat diet is fed to a normal mouse, IKKE protein-kinase levels rise, the metabolic rate slows, and the animal gains weight. In that situation, the IKKE protein kinase acts as a brake on the metabolism.

The new study showed that knockout mice placed on the high-fat diet did not gain weight, apparently because deleting the IKKE gene releases the metabolic brake, allowing it to speed up and burn more calories, instead of storing those calories as fat.

The new study is published in the journal Cell. (ANI)

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Milla Jovovich once ate curdled camel’s cheese!

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 2 (ANI): Actress Milla Jovovich has confessed that she ate curdled camel’s cheese when she visited Mongolia.

“I had to try curdled camel’s cheese and it was pretty disgusting, but I was in Mongolia,” Contactmusic quoted her as telling Empire magazine.

The ‘Resident Evil’ star added that she did not wish to offend the locals who offered her the “disgusting” snack.

She said: “You have to be polite and take a bite of it because it’s all they have, and they want to share it with you because they’re generous people.”

And it isn’t the first occasion the beauty has eaten something unusual.

When she was pregnant in 2007, she searched all of Paris for “the leg of a cow”.

She said: “I was craving bone marrow one day, and I scoured the whole of Paris searching for the leg of a cow.

“When I finally found what I was looking for, I cut it in half, digging out the yellowish substance, slathering it all over bread.” (ANI)

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Punjab police seize four kilograms of heroin

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Amritsar, Sep 1 (ANI): Sleuths of Special Operation Cell (SOC) of Punjab have seized on Monday four kilograms of heroin estimated to be worth around rupees 200 million rupees in the international market and also arrested five men.

This was disclosed by P K Rai, Senior Superintendent of Police, Special Operation Cell, (SOC), Punjab.

Acting on a tip off, the police arrested Amanpreet Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Jarnail Singh and Tehal Singh when they were going to deliver the consignment of heroin to a drug runner.owever, one of their accomplices Gulsaab Singh managed to give a slip to the raiding posse of policemen.

P K Rai revealed that apart from heroin, they also recovered a Maruti Alto and Splendour motorcycle from them.

The Special Operation Cell also registered a case under sections 21/25/29/61/85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic (NDPS) Act of 1985 and filed FIR (First Information Report) vis-à-vis the seizure.

Drug seizures are often reported from Punjab, bordering Pakistan, and narcotics agencies say the border state is a major route for drug supply to the West from Afghanistan-Pakistan region.eroin is derived from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. It usually appears as a white or brown powder. (ANI)

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Swedish snuff doesn’t increase multiple sclerosis risk

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 1 (ANI): Unlike cigarettes, Swedish snuff doesn’t increase a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), finds a new study.

“While tobacco cigarettes increased a person’s risk of developing MS, our research found that using Swedish snuff was not associated with an elevated risk for MS,” said study author Dr Anna Hedstrom, of the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

“These results could mean that nicotine is not the substance responsible for the increased risk of MS among smokers,” she added.

During the study, the researchers examined 902 people diagnosed with MS and 1,855 people without MS in Sweden between the ages of 16 and 70.

It showed that in women who smoked, the risk for developing MS was nearly one and a half times higher than in women who did not smoke.

In men, the risk was nearly two times higher in those who smoked compared to those who did not smoke.

This was the case even in people who only smoked moderately.

However, those who used Swedish snuff for more than 15 years were 70 percent less likely to develop MS than those who had never used any type of tobacco.

There was no significant effect of snuff-taking for less than 15 years, a period during which other adverse consequences of taking snuff, including head-and-neck cancer, would become evident.

“Taking snuff, however, may have other harmful effects, and our findings should not be interpreted to mean that Swedish snuff is recommended to prevent disease,” said Hedstrom.

“More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the findings.

“Theories are that smoking may raise the risk of MS by increasing the frequency and persistence of respiratory infections, or by causing autoimmune reactions in genetically susceptible people,” she added.

The study appears in journal Neurology(r), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)

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Ahmedabad victims died of drinking chemical not hooch: Police

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Aug 29(ANI): Ahmedabad Police on Saturday clarified that two people who died on Friday, died due to consumption of drinks having chemical content.

Police has dismissed assumption that they were victims of country-made liquor known as ‘hooch’, and said that the Forensic Science Laboratory report confirmed that they took a substance having chemicals.

“I don’t know what they thought of it while drinking the substance. We don’t want to defend them, but those two people who died and those who were admitted to hospital not because they drank poisonous alcohol but they consumed chemical,” said Shabbir Hussain Khandwawala, Director General of Police (DGP) of Gujarat.

“I don’t know whether they drank it thinking it was alcohol, it’s a matter of investigation,” he added.

Three others, who fell ill after consuming the drink, were being treated in a hospital. (ANI)

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‘Laughing gas’ leaves ozone layer in splits

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 28 (ANI): A new study has determined that nitrous dioxide, popularly known as ‘laughing gas’, has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century.

The study was authored by A.R. Ravishankara, J.S. Daniel and Robert W. Portmann of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) chemical sciences division.

For the first time, this study has evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer.

As chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been phased out by international agreement, ebb in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide will remain a significant ozone-destroyer, the study found.

Today, nitrous oxide emissions from human activities are more than twice as high as the next leading ozone-depleting gas.

Nitrous oxide is emitted from natural sources and as a byproduct of agricultural fertilization and other industrial processes.

Calculating the effect on the ozone layer now and in the future, NOAA researchers found that emissions of nitrous oxide from human activities erode the ozone layer and will continue to do so for many decades.

ESRL tracks the thickness of the ozone layer, as well as the burden of ozone-depleting compounds in the atmosphere. It maintains a large portion of the world air sampling and measurement network.

NOAA scientists also conduct fundamental studies of the atmosphere and atmospheric processes to improve understanding of ozone depletion and of the potential for recovery the ozone layer.

“The dramatic reduction in CFCs over the last 20 years is an environmental success story. But manmade nitrous oxide is now the elephant in the room among ozone-depleting substances,” said Ravishankara, lead author of the study and director of the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colorado.

The ozone layer serves to shield plants, animals and people from excessive ultraviolet light from the sun.

Thinning of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet light to reach the Earth’s surface where it can damage crops and aquatic life and harm human health.

Though the role of nitrous oxide in ozone depletion has been known for several decades, the new study is the first to explicitly calculate that role using the same measures that have been applied to CFCs, halons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing ozone-depleting substances.

According to scientists, nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas, so reducing its emission from manmade sources would be good for both the ozone layer and climate. (ANI)

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Large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate arsenic from body

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 27 (ANI): A new study has shown that large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate potentially toxic substance arsenic from the body.

In the study, Kevin Francesconi and colleagues found that some people eliminate more than 90 percent of the arsenic consumed in the diet while others store arsenic in their bodies, where it can have harmful effects.

Health effects from chronic arsenic exposure include skin and internal cancers, cardiovascular disease, and possibly diabetes.

Researchers say that drinking water in many parts of the world, including some regions of the United States, contain amounts of arsenic that exceed the World Health Organization’s maximum acceptable levels.

The study also found that consumption of seafood is another major source of arsenic contamination.

The scientists describe monitoring arsenic excretion in the urine of human volunteers.

They found that ability to eliminate arsenic from the body varied greatly, with some participants excreting up to 95 percent of the ingested arsenic but others eliminating as little as four percent.

“This observed individual variability in handling [arsenic] exposure has considerable implications for the risk assessment of arsenic ingestion,” the study states.

It adds that further study is needed to assess potential risks to humans consuming seafood products.

“The data presented here suggest that the long held view that seafood arsenic is harmless because it is present mainly as organoarsenic compounds needs to be reassessed,” the study states.

The research is scheduled for the Sept. 21 issue of ACS’s Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal. (ANI)

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Mohammad Asif vows never to repeat his past mistakes

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.26 (ANI): Tainted Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has vowed not to repeat his past mistakes which saw him being banned from international cricket for a year.

In an interview with PakPassion.net, Asif expressed happiness over his selection in the 15 member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy and said he would justify the selectors’ decision through his performance.

“There will be no mistakes this time around. I am extremely happy and grateful that I am back in the Pakistan team and I want to work hard and justify the decision by the selectors,” Asif said.

“I don’t want to let anyone down, especially myself and the fans and I will do my utmost to help Pakistan perform well in South Africa,” he added.

Asif was banned from international cricket for one year after failing a dope test. His ban expires on September 22, the day Champions Trophy is scheduled to begin in South Africa.

Asif’s career had plummeted after he failed a dope test during the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) inaugural season.

He was also detained at the Dubai airport for 19 days for carrying an illegal substance (opium) while returning from India.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had also slapped a fine of one million rupees on Asif for his Dubai ‘misadventure’. (ANI)

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Junk food cholesterol may pose the greatest heart disease risk

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 21 (ANI): Health freaks know that high levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attacks. Now, scientists have discovered a little-known type of cholesterol which may prove to be the most lethal of all.

Cholesterol called oxycholesterol is virtually unknown to the public and may be the most serious cardiovascular health threat of all.

Fried and processed food, particularly fast food, contains high amounts of oxycholesterol.

Scientists from China presented one of the first studies on the cholesterol-boosting effects of oxycholesterol at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The researchers hope their findings raise public awareness about oxycholesterol, including foods with the highest levels of the substance and other foods that can combat oxycholesterol’s effects.

“Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and the heart-healthy high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) are still important health issues,” says study leader Zhen-Yu Chen, Ph.D., of Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“But the public should recognize that oxycholesterol is also important and cannot be ignored. Our work demonstrated that oxycholesterol boosts total cholesterol levels and promotes atherosclerosis ["hardening of the arteries"] more than non-oxidized cholesterol,” the expert added.

In the study, Chen’s group measured the effects of a diet high in oxycholesterol on hamsters, often used as surrogates for humans in such research. Blood cholesterol in hamsters fed oxycholesterol rose up to 22 percent more than hamsters eating non-oxidized cholesterol. The oxycholesterol group showed greater deposition of cholesterol in the lining of their arteries and a tendency to develop larger deposits of cholesterol. These fatty deposits, called atherosclerotic plaques, increase the risk for heart attack and stroke.

Most importantly, according to Chen, oxycholesterol had undesirable effects on “artery function.” Oxycholesterol reduced the elasticity of arteries, impairing their ability to expand and carry more blood. That expansion can allow more blood to flow through arteries that are partially blocked by plaques, potentially reducing the risk that a clot will form and cause a heart attack or stroke.

But a healthy diet rich in antioxidants can counter these effects, Chen said, noting that these substances may block the oxidation process that forms oxycholesterol. (ANI)

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Heroin seized near India-Pakistan border in Punjab

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ferozepur (Punjab), Aug 21 (ANI): Border Security Force (BSF) personnel guarding the international border with Pakistan seized two kilograms of heroin from smugglers near India-Pakistan border.

The drug runners were trying to smuggle the narcotic substance into India.his was disclosed by Rajesh Gupta, Deputy Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF) Ferozepur on Thursday.

“We have arrested smugglers who had come from Pakistan and they have been handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau in Chandigarh,” he added.

He also mentioned that on receiving a tip-off, the BSF personnel laid a trap and rounded up four smugglers, 300 yards inside the Indian border.

Two packets of heroin valued at millions of rupees were recovered from them.

Presently, sustained interrogating to ascertain their network and other links is being carried out by the sleuths of NCB (Narcotics Control Board).

As for the records this year, the BSF has seized 36.5 kilograms of heroin from being smuggled through India. (ANI)

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Evidence points towards methane seeping from Arctic sea bed

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, August 19 (ANI): A team of scientists has said that they have evidence that the powerful greenhouse gas methane is escaping from the Arctic sea bed.

According to a report by BBC News, researchers said this could be evidence of a predicted positive feedback effect of climate change.

As temperatures rise, the sea bed grows warmer and frozen water crystals in the sediment break down, allowing methane trapped inside them to escape.

The research team found that more than 250 plumes of methane bubbles are rising from the sea bed off Norway.

The joint British and German research team detected the bubbles using a type of sonar normally used to search for shoals of fish.

Once detected, the bubbles were sampled and tested for methane at a range of depths.

The team said that the methane was rising from an area of sea bed off West Spitsbergen, from depths between 150 and 400m.

The gas is normally trapped as “methane hydrate” in sediment under the ocean floor.

“Methane hydrate” is an ice-like substance composed of water and methane which is stable under conditions of high pressure and low temperature.

As temperatures rise, the hydrate breaks down. So, this new evidence shows that methane is stable at water depths greater than 400m off Spitsbergen.

However data collected over 30 years shows it was then stable at water depths as shallow as 360m.

Temperature records show that this area of the ocean has warmed by 1 degree Celsius during the same period.

According to the research team, this is the first time that this loss of stability associated with temperature rise has been observed during the current geological period.

Professor Tim Minshull of the National Oceanography Centre at Southampton told BBC News, “We already knew there was some methane hydrate in the ocean off Spitsbergen and that’s an area where climate change is happening rather faster than just about anywhere else in the world.” ethane gas rises from the sea bed in plumes of bubbles, with most of it dissolving before reaching the surface.

So far, scientists haven’t detected methane breaking the ocean surface, but they don’t rule out the possibility.

“There’s been an idea for a long time that if the oceans warm, methane might be released from hydrate beneath the sea floor and generate a positive greenhouse effect,” said Minshull. (ANI)

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