Taste for oil

As the oil continues to wreak havoc for both BP and the environment in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists in Bangor are working on a remedy. A team of microbiologists at the university believe that marine bacteria could be used to celan-up oil contamination without the need for chemicals and dispersants. Naturally occuring microbes are found in seawater all over the planet and new studies have shown that they can be fertilized to increase their capacity to digest oil.

Stressed-out veg

It might seem a daft idea, but fruit and vegetables can become stressed - and that's bad news for the producers and exporters. Scientists have been studying the gases given off by plant produce when it's under pressure and beginning to spoil. Now a team at IBERS in Aberystwyth are developing a sensor which can detect when produce is stressed, through drought, infection or heat for instance. It has the potential of saving the industry hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Something fishy

Despite our rivers and waterways being cleaner than ever, stocks of certain native fish in Wales are begining to dwindle. Prof Steve Ormerod, of Cardiff University's School of Biosciences talks to Adam about his research into the loss of salmon and trout and what is being done about it.

Gene genie

It takes around 25,000 genes to make a human being - or around 3 billion base pairs of the genetic building block, DNA. Working out the sequence of every one of those 3 billion pairs was a mindboggling challenge, but ten years ago this year the first draft of the human genome was published. To ponder on the implications, Sceince Cafe reporter Jeremy Grange talked to two winners of the Nobel Prize for medicine: John Sulston and Martin Evans.