TAIPEI (Reuters) - Fancy an unusual new pet? Perhaps a tiny shrimp that glows turquoise and commands prices higher than that of a gram of gold is just the ticket.
Or maybe a fairy mermaid fish with a human-like face and long tail.
Both are among the new generation of aqua pets, expensive new breeds of shrimp and fish, set to star at a Taiwan aquarium expo opening later this week.
The "Blue Velvet shrimp," featuring a turquoise glow, was developed from the popular Rili shrimp, which has a transparent body and a red head.
"We discovered the blue-colour genes in these transparent Rili shrimps, so we tried to stabilise the gene," said Lee Chi-tai, the breeder.
"After a year the blue colour is showing up very well, but of course there is still room for improvement."
Another new breed that Lee developed is the "Chocolate shrimp," which is a cross between a Tiger shrimp, Bee shrimp and an aboriginal Taiwan shrimp species from the mountains.
Brown colours appear on shrimp, but they usually don't stay It took six to seven years to stabilise the genes to produce the tiny, dark-brown coloured animal, Lee said.
Also on offer at the exhibition will be tiny fluorescent fish, genetically modified by inserting the genes of jelly fish and coral.
"They only grow up to two centimetres, but their bodies glow very brightly when they are only one centimetre long," said Lin Yu-ho of Jy Lin Trading Co Ltd, who developed the fish.
"They are especially suitable for small aquariums for children."
Taiwan exports more than 80 percent of its aqua pets overseas, and the Taiwan fisheries agency has been encouraging breeding of the shrimp because farms take up only small plots of land and generate little pollution.
The payoff is not small.
The genotypes of the two shrimps were auctioned for up to 16,000 Taiwan dollars ($525) online, and while each shrimp weighs less than a gram, the centimetre-long creatures are more expensive than a gram of gold -- which on Wednesday was going for roughly $1,640 an ounce (28 grams).
(Reporting by Christine Lu; editing by Elaine Lies)
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Eating chocolate linked to reduced heart disease risk
By Karen Sprey
Chocolate lovers are unlikely ever to need encouragement to indulge, but just in case, here's some good news: researchers have found that higher levels of chocolate consumption have been associated with a 37% reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, 31% reduction in diabetes and a 29% reduction for stroke.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK analyzed the results of seven studies involving more than 114,000 participants. The studies looked at consumption of both dark and milk chocolate and included chocolate bars, chocolate drinks and chocolate snacks.
Previous research has shown that cocoa and cacao products appear to have a positive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect on heart health. The Cambridge analysis found a significant association between increased consumption of these products and reduced risk for any cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death worldwide and according to World Health Organisation estimates will kill nearly 23.6 million people by 2030. Metabolic syndrome, associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, affects about one fifth of the world's adult population.
However, these diseases are largely preventable through lifestyle changes including diet, and chocolate may provide a convenient and popular way of helping prevent these illnesses when more is understood about its effect on our health. Chocolate may also be a valuable preventive in the developing world which is experiencing epidemics of cardiometabolic diseases, especially as most cacao production takes place in these countries but the processed product is not readily available.
Of course, most commercially available chocolate contains high levels of sugar and fat which can contribute to weight gain, hypertension, diabetes and other diseases. Ways of reducing these unhealthy elements, while retaining an acceptable taste, need to be explored to make chocolate healthier.
So to the inevitable caveat ... until there are guidelines on how much chocolate should be consumed, how often and in what form, moderation is still recommended.
The research was presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Paris and has been published in the British Medical Journal.
Source
Chocolate lovers are unlikely ever to need encouragement to indulge, but just in case, here's some good news: researchers have found that higher levels of chocolate consumption have been associated with a 37% reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, 31% reduction in diabetes and a 29% reduction for stroke.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK analyzed the results of seven studies involving more than 114,000 participants. The studies looked at consumption of both dark and milk chocolate and included chocolate bars, chocolate drinks and chocolate snacks.
Previous research has shown that cocoa and cacao products appear to have a positive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect on heart health. The Cambridge analysis found a significant association between increased consumption of these products and reduced risk for any cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death worldwide and according to World Health Organisation estimates will kill nearly 23.6 million people by 2030. Metabolic syndrome, associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, affects about one fifth of the world's adult population.
However, these diseases are largely preventable through lifestyle changes including diet, and chocolate may provide a convenient and popular way of helping prevent these illnesses when more is understood about its effect on our health. Chocolate may also be a valuable preventive in the developing world which is experiencing epidemics of cardiometabolic diseases, especially as most cacao production takes place in these countries but the processed product is not readily available.
Of course, most commercially available chocolate contains high levels of sugar and fat which can contribute to weight gain, hypertension, diabetes and other diseases. Ways of reducing these unhealthy elements, while retaining an acceptable taste, need to be explored to make chocolate healthier.
So to the inevitable caveat ... until there are guidelines on how much chocolate should be consumed, how often and in what form, moderation is still recommended.
The research was presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Paris and has been published in the British Medical Journal.
Source
Pain Relief World Summit 2011
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