Asian beetle poses the biggest threat to woodlands since Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s

Asian long-horn beetles pose a mortal danger to English

woodland. Government scientists have discovered the beetle breeding in Britain for the first time

A Chinese beetle is threatening to wreak havoc on Britain’s trees on a scale not seen since the devastation of Dutch Elm Disease 40 years ago.

If unchecked, the Asian long-horn beetle threatens to lay waste to millions of poplar and willow trees as well as maple, sycamore, elm, horse chestnut, apple, pear and cherry species.

Government scientists have discovered the beetle breeding in Britain for the first time. They now fear young beetles will soon mature into adults and spread around the country.

Experts say a nightmare scenario could happen from May – and they are now in a race against time to prevent the spread of the beetle before then.

They are inspecting every tree within a mile radius of the outbreak, in Paddock Wood, Kent, using binoculars to scan the bark for tell-tale holes less than an inch in diameter in which beetles lay eggs. Read More

Can malaria be stopped by British-bred genetically modified mosquitoes?.....Or are we Making it Worse?

This tiny insect has just feasted on human blood and one bite from it can infect you with malaria, the disease that kills 650,000 people every year. So why are British scientists playing God by breeding genetically modified mosquitoes? And are we prepared for the consequences?

It’s the middle of the day and the genetically modified mosquitoes are feeding.

The females of the species are ingesting what is known in mosquito parlance as their ‘blood meal’.

The tiny-winged insects cluster in their thousands on the small plastic dispensers of sugar solution, or hang upside down from a thin layer of transparent plastic attached to the top of their cage.

The plastic is designed to simulate human or animal skin, and trapped behind it is a film of horse blood.

There are hundreds of thousands of the insects in the small white plastic cages on the laboratory shelves in a south Oxfordshire industrial park.

The air in the laboratory is warm and there’s a smell of chemicals.

In plastic and glass containers thousands more mosquitoes are hatching in water that has a yellowish tint to it: they swarm together and move with the light every time a hand is passed over the surface of the container.

On strips of brown paper curled around inside plastic beakers and Tupperware-like boxes, there are hundreds of thousands of minuscule black dots stuck together: these are mosquito eggs.

‘This is our mosquito factory,’ says Hadyn Parry. ‘Here we practise birth control for mosquitoes.’

Parry is chief executive officer of Oxitec, a British bio-research company that pioneers innovative methods of controlling insects that damage crops and spread diseases.

Standing with Parry is zoologist Dr Luke Alphey. They are working on a new method of fighting one of the deadliest killers mankind has ever known: malaria. Read More

Peter Kurmann Killed by Great White whilst diving about 1600m off Stratham Beach in Geographe Bay, Australia

A FATHER-OF-TWO became Western Australia's latest fatal shark attack victim yesterday after a morning dive with his brother ended in tragedy.

Peter Kurmann, 32, from Vasse in the south-west, was diving about 1600m off Stratham Beach in Geographe Bay, when he was attacked by a 4m shark -- believed to be a great white pointer.

His heartbroken brother Gian said: "Our family has suffered a terrible loss. We have lost a son, a brother, a husband and a wonderful father. Words cannot express how we feel at this time, we are in mourning and wish you to respect our privacy."

He leaves behind his wife Debra, a respected Busselton councillor, and two young sons, Felix, 4, and Nicholas, 2.

A dark cloud has fallen over the tight-knit community, left reeling from the state's fourth fatal attack since September. Read More

Man vs. Canada Goose