The megadiversity status that Malaysia currently holds, has been given a boost in recent months as more new species have been discovered. A WWF report has revealed that 50 new species have been found during the past year in Borneo forests, including a catfish with protruding teeth and a tree frog with bright green eyes. One the other hand, a group of students from USM has discovered a new species of frog during a five-day expedition to Gunung Jerai in June 2005. The Rana monjerai is a medium-sized frog with stout forelimbs and unwebbed fingers.

In support of this idea, world-renowned American scientist Professor Dr. Robert Inger, Curator Emeritus at Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago will be in Bintulu to discuss the importance of acacia plantations in Sarawak to the conservation of Bornean frogs at a regional conference 'Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Planted Forests in Southeast Asia'. The conference slated January 15th to 17th will be separated into three main sessions, planning and management, community participation and sustainable use, and biodiversity inventory and monitoring.

The Health authorities are on their toes as the Aedes mosquito has been noted to be a possible host for another deadly virus after the dengue fever outbreaks of recent years. The Chikungunya virus, commonly known as the bone-crusher virus for the severe pain it causes in the joints which can be spread to the mosquito, has been observed to be the cause of death in certain Indian states. Chikungunya is a debilitating disease which may be characterized by fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle pains, rashes and joint pains.

The commercialization of biodiesel and the various mergers among plantation companies has been gaining great press around the end of 2006, and such activities have been anticipated to continue through the year. Such optimism is in part due to the search for cheaper alternative sources of fuel as crude oil prices skyrocketed. As plantation giants Golden Hope Plantations Bhd, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd announced their plans for merging towards the end of last year, other companies like PPB Oil Palms with Singaporean Wilmar International have announced their own mergers in a bid to improve the outlook of the production of such commodities.

The Guthrie group on the other hand is offering scholarships in a bid to promote the research culture in the country. The scholarships which will be offered to researchers for postdoctoral studies in palm oil research and is aimed at boosting the country’s fledging palm oil industry. The details are still yet to be finalized, but according to the Guthrie Foundation, the scholarships are expected to be announced this year.

USM has its eyes set on becoming the nation’s top biotech player with its ambitious RM30 million building to house incubation firms and other leading edge biotech companies at its proposed biotechnology park in Bukit Jambul in Penang Island. The proposed building is expected to come into being in the next two years and also support research and commercial activities of the Usains incubates. Current anchor tenants for the premises are Renogenic Sdn Bhd and Info Kinetics Sdn Bhd while possible tenants include Hovid Bhd.