Top research of 2011 in the Middle East

Posted on 29 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

With 2011 nearly over, it is a good time to take a look back at the most interesting research and science stories that we covered at Nature Middle East throughout the year.

Over the next few posts, we will look at each section and highlight the stories that attracted the highest number of readers from around the world and why they are important or interesting.

To start it off, here is a list of the top 5 research highlights published in 2011:

Gene mutations causing primordial dwarfism discovered: This research highlight looked at two Nature Genetics papers that identified the genetic origin of Meier-Gorlin syndrome, a condition that results in slowed growth and smaller body sizes in humans which start taking place prenatal. it involved Saudi Arabian researchers and looked at large consanguineous families in Saudi Arabia to identify four genes responsible for the condition.
Solid materials with liquid properties: In this research, published in Nature Materials, researchers, used a computer to simulate how they can produce a new metamaterial that possesses features of both solids and liquids. Simulating vibrations at certain frequencies would make it behave as a liquid while at others it would behave as a solid, opening the possibility for many uses, such as helmets that can withstand much bigger impacts without transmitting the shock to the head.
A genetic mutation that leads to glaucoma: Researchers from Tunisia, Sweden and the United States identified a genetic mutation that decreases the size of the eye. This makes the iris more likely to obstruct the angle where drainage usually occurs, which can lead to the angle-closure glaucoma, which affects some 16 million people worldwide.
Embryonic development disorders linked to two genes: In this Nature Genetics paper, researchers managed to identify two mutated genes that gave rise to three rare foetal developmental disorders, Carnevale, Mingarelli, Malpuech and Michels, confirming that all three were actually symptoms of one condition dubbed 3MC. These genes encode proteins that may play a role in embyrogensis and in craniofacial development.
High-performance solar-power panels: Researchers from the United States and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, managed to produce new flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators that had an efficiency around seven times higher than the best results produced in the past by similar panels. They used a nanostructured thermoelectric material covered by wavelength-selective solar absorbers and enclosed in a vacuum to produce these results

That’s it for the most exciting research conducted or partly conducted in the Middle East for 2011. Tomorrow we’ll have a list of the top science news stories that affected the region.

What was your favorite research highlight on Nature Middle East in 2011? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!

Awards for Doha and Riyadh health projects

Posted on 20 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

The European Union’s Chaillot Award, which recognizes progress in the field of human rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, has been awarded to three projects mainly dealing with disabilities, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

First place when to the Doha-based Shafallah Centre, for an autism awareness campaign that it ran across Qatar. Autism is one of the least diagnosed childhood disorders in the Arab world. The centre launched its awareness campaign in 2 April 2011, along with the World Autism Awareness Day. The campaign offered a free hotline for parents seeking information about autism, as well as encourage early diagnosis. The centre also offers an education unit which offers a curriculum tailored for the needs of children with autism.

Second place went to the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR). The non-profit centre, based in Riyadh, provides laboratory and field research in disability. Research at the centre ranges from biomedical to social and educational. it also works to raise awareness about the rights of people living with disabilities in the Arab world.

The third prize when to Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Association, also Riyadh-based, which works to improve the quality of life of people living with Alzheimer’s disease by offering them tailored-services, advocating, and raising awareness across the Kingdom. Alzheimer’s is, again, very under-reported in the Arab world and most countries in the region do not have accurate information on prevalence or treatment costs.

Thousands of old manuscripts burned amidst renewed clashes in Cairo

Posted on 19 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

A page from the Description de l'Égypt book.

Renewed clashes near Tahrir square, the epicentre of the Egyptian January revolution, between protesters and army soldiers over the weekend saw fire set to the Institut d’Egypte, or the Academy of Science, which is home to some of Egypt’s oldest manuscripts and books.

According to Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria, commenting on his Twitter account, Egypt’s Academy of Science was the second oldest modern academy outside Europe on the world, after the American Philosophical Society. “Priceless manuscripts and irreplaceable books are lost.”

Nobody is sure who started the fire, but it quickly spread through the building. Firetrucks, which are very close by the academy, did not move to put out the fire. Protesters tried to put it out but it was in vain. Hundreds of protesters tried to rush in and save as many books and manuscripts as possible.

The academy was home to over 200,000 old maps, manuscripts and books. However, the protesters managed to save only 30,000 of those – many in poor condition from the fire.

The academy was originally built by Napoleon Bonaparte and his scientists in 1798 during his campaign to invade Egypt. The most precious book in the academy was the original copy of the Description de l’Égypt, a book compiled by more than 150 of Napoleon’s sicentists and scholars from data gathered between 1809 and 1821, and some 2,000 artists and technicians. They produced 20 volumes of text that offered a detailed peek into Egypt’s contemporary and ancient histories at that time.

Unfortunately, the nine volumes of the book that were in the academy were completely burned down in the fire and lost. There are three other copies that remain, however. The Library of Alexandria has also digitilized all 20 volumes for protection and to make them more accessible to the public.

Serageldin lamented the ongoing clashes and the burning down of the Academy of Science. “Learning and knowledge are additional victims,” he said on Twitter.

Nile University celebrates innovation

Posted on 12 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

Nile University (NU) showcased its latest research, ranging from genetics to nanotechnology to information mining, by hosting the “Celebration of Innovation” event on 12 December, in an effort to highlight the impact the university can have on science research in Egypt.

The star of the exhibition was the young NU researcher Haytham Desouky, who recently won first place in the largest science competition in the Arab world, the “Stars of Science” show in Doha, which is sponsored by Qatar Foundation. Desouky beat 7,000 other researchers to win first place in the competition, receiving the grand prize of US$300,000. His invention is a sticker that can be attached to the back of any surface to transform it into a touchscreen to interact with.

“There are thousands of applications for this. For example, you can browse the menu at a restaurant and just touch your order and it will be sent directly to the kitchen without the need for waiters. You can have sliders to choose how spicy the food is or even options to rate your meal after you eat,” says Desouky. “It can replace buttons for light control in the bathroom to eliminate the danger of electric shock if water touches the electric buttons we currently have in bathrooms and that’s just the start.”

Other researchers in the exhibition area also presented posters and actual models of their research and innovations.

Tarek Khalil, the president of NU, presented Haytham Desouky with the NU Award for his invention and contribution to research in Egypt.

“This is our way of saying that, even though we had a revolution in Egypt and are going through a tough transitional stage, we are still working and producing. We are not standing by idle – we have already started moving forward,” said Hatem Doweidar, CEO of Vodafone Egypt who was one of the main sponsors of the event.

“This is not just an application, this is a new technology that is making it’s way out of the Arab world to the rest of the world,” added Desouky.

Following the 25 January revolution in Egypt, the future of NU has been in turmoil. The close ties of past prime minister Ahmed Nazif to the project threw allegations of corruption. The government has allocated the university’s new campus, which students were supposed to move into this year, to another major project, the Zewail City of Science and Technology.

The uncertain future of the university has nearly brought its funding to a drizzle and the professors and management are now fighting to secure more funding. They are hopeful that showcasing the science research taking place in the university could help secure its future, especially since the students enrolled now are uncertain what will happen to them should the university close down.

The event attracted several high profile people, ranging from politicians running for parliament to presidency, along with the newly appointed minister of scientific research.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia slip in the Climate Change Performance Index

Posted on 11 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

In an assessment report of what 61 countries are doing to counter climate change released during the COP17 in Durban, South Africa, the only two Arab states featured seemed to have slipped since last year.

The report, Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), prepared by Germanwatch, CAN-Europe, and IndyACT, looks at emission levels, emission trends and climate policies of the countries reviewed.

Egypt’s overall ranking this year is 21, having slipped four places from a ranking of 17 last year. While emissions were increasing, Egypt’s commitment to both national and international climate policies increased its ranking considerably. Lama El-Hatow, the climate change researcher who gathered the data from Egypt, suggests its ranking slipped this year due to the revolution which took place in early 2011 which might have disrupted or put on hold several domestic programmes that were supposed to address issues related to the country’s climate policy.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, received the worst ranking, taking the 61st place in the list. The report criticizes the country’s “extremely high emissions levels and trends as well as lack of positive policy approaches” for the low scoring. It stresses that the country, which is one of the richest in the world, can play a leading positive role worldwide by producing solar and hydrogen-based energy rather than relying on fossil fuels.

The lowest ranking three countries were Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kazakhstan. The highest ranking were Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany – even though the first three places in the rankings were left empty because, according to the report, no country has done enough effort to curb carbon dioxide emissions to warrant these rankings.

Egyptian scientists to make diabetes drug out of bitter fruit

Posted on 04 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

The National Research Centre (NRC) in Cairo, Egypt, has signed a deal with a local pharmaceutical company to start producing a diabetes drug from the fruit bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), reports SciDev.Net.

The lead researcher, Souad El Gengaihi, professor of medicinal and aromatic plants at the NRC, told SciDev.Net that bitter gourd, alternatively known as balsam pear, was already used traditionally in Asian medicine.

The plant traditionally grows in hot, sandy areas, which makes it ideal for Middle Eastern countries.

The researchers at NRC are hopeful they can extract the active constituent in balsam pear and use it as an oral alternative to insulin shots. Insulin is normally digested in the stomach, which is why it must be given as injections. However, Moushira Abd Al Salam, a researcher in the NRC’s Medical Research Division, contends that the active constituent in balsam pear has a special coating which protects it from digestion by stomach enzymes.

The research remains, so far, unpublished. While there are many websites selling alternative medicine products based on balsam pear extracts, science research consensus has so far not proven that the fruit can be used in treatment of diabetes.

Study shows speed camera bring road deaths down significantly in Doha

Posted on 01 Dec 2011 by Mohammed Yahia

Ravinder Mamtani

In the first such study in Qatar, researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) suggests that installing speed cameras in the growing capital has dramatically brought down the number of fatal car accidents and injuries.

The research, which was published in Injury Prevention, looked at the number of fatal car accidents from 2000 to 2010. They found a dramatic decrease in motor vehicles accidents after 2007. This was the year when the majority of the speed cameras were installed across the streets of Doha. Traffic death rates dropped from 26 per 100,000 down to 15 per 100,000 after 2007.

This is still much higher than averages in Western Europe and the Untied States, which range from 5 to 10 per 100,000. Until 2007, nearly two-thirds of all trauma-related deaths in Qatar were caused by car accidents with three quarters of the victims being under the age of 50.

The study also found that, while non-fatal severe injuries also decreased, mild injuries actually increased after the installment of the speed cameras.

“Our study shows that the traffic enforcement measures such as speed cameras have helped improve the safety of our roads in Qatar, but more measures are needed to continue to enhance road safety because there is room for improvement,” said Ravinder Mamtani, associate dean for global and public health at WCMC-Q and one of the authors of the study.

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