Deodatus Balile

Tanzania’s minister of agriculture has said that genetically modified (GM), nicotine-free tobacco is being grown in the country for research purposes. Yet, Tanzania’s planned regulatory framework for genetically modified crops has still to be debated by Parliament. According to the minister, the genetically modified tobacco has been growing for fewer than three months on a small farm in the area.

Tanzania’s first-ever machine for rapid analysis of multiple DNA samples has been welcomed by scientists, who say it will revolutionise their research. Until now, researchers have had to perform a manual analysis that takes 72 hours for a single sample, take a bus to a neighbouring country, or a plane to a First World country.