A strain of corn called B73 may prove to be a textbook of how genes work, said Patrick Schnable, a geneticist at Iowa State University, where the strain was developed in the 1970s.

“Corn is a good model for biology in general,” Schnable said Thursday.

The genome sequencing of corn, funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, could play an important role in determining how genes interact, the university said in a release.

Corn’s 32,000 genes and 2.3 billion letters of DNA also could provide clues to how plants have evolved over millions of years.

Researchers sequenced the genome of rice, the world’s most widely eaten plant, several years ago and have begun sequencing the genome of tomato, potato, sorghum, pepper and soybean.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Zoo spokesman Ron Magill said Palenque the jaguar died Wednesday, The Miami Herald reported Friday.

A necropsy was performed but results were pending.

Magill said the 129-pound male jaguar was kept separate from Miami MetroZoo’s other jaguar, Reina, because jaguars are solitary animals that traditionally take time to adjust to one another.

“If you try to introduce two jaguars at the wrong time, one can kill the other,” Magill said.

Magill told the Herald that Palenque exhibited symptoms of gastrointestinal problems as well as inconsistent eating difficulties since first arriving at the zoo in August 2007.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

The program, to be released next year, would let so-called armchair detectives report their findings to an agency monitoring whether countries were meeting their commitments to reduce deforestation, The Times of London reported Friday.

Countries allowing illegal deforestation would lose their share of a new $30 billion global fund established to pay nations for leaving forests standing. The fund — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation — is to be approved at the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, said Google executive Philipp Schindler.

Schindler spoke Thursday at a seminar on deforestation in London attended by Britain’s Prince Charles and leaders of several rainforest countries, including Guyana and Brazil.

Frequently updated satellite photos in the Google program will allow comparisons with historical images and let those viewing the images spot rainforest destruction almost as soon as it happens, Schindler said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Emergency crews fought scores of fires in the populous state of New South Wales, some on the outskirts of Sydney, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

“There is quite a deal of fire burning in the state,” said Rob Rogers, assistant commissioner of the Rural Fire Service.

Rogers said cooler weather wasn’t expected until Sunday.

“We still have two days of pretty severe fire weather,” he said.

Planes and helicopters were sent to fly over bushland where lightning strikes were spotted.

The government was allowing aircraft battling the numerous bushfires to use a Royal Australian Air Force base.

In the South Australian town of Port Lincoln, schools cancelled bus service and prepared to keep children overnight if their parents were unable to pick them up, The Australian reported.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Garbis told Old Carolina Farm and owner Francis Roderick to establish a record-keeping system to keep tabs on the drugs.

Old Carolina Farm has a history of selling dairy cows and certain veal calves that contain illegal residues of new animal drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a release Wednesday. The amounts of drug residues were above established tolerance levels for human food and pose a serious public health hazard, the agency said.

Inspectors visited Old Carolina Farm several times during the past 10 years, the FDA said. During the most recent inspections, the defendants admitted they sold animals for slaughter for use as human food before drug withdrawal times expired, resulting in illegal drug residues. They also admitted they didn’t maintain records for animal medical treatment or drug inventory.

Terms of the judge’s consent decree for permanent injunction said the defendants can’t sell adulterated animals or use drugs in animals in which such drugs are expressly forbidden, the FDA said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This NASA photo taken by STS-129 astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis shows Astronaut Robert L. Satcher Jr., STS-129 mission specialist, as he works on the flight deck of Atlantis during flight day two activities, November 17, 2009. UPI/NASA

Date Taken: November 19, 2009

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks on the health care reform bill at a health care rally in Washington on November 19, 2009. Reid said that the Senate would hold a health care test vote this Saturday. Reid was joined by Sen. Chrid Dodd (D-CT). UPI/Kevin Dietsch

Date Taken: November 19, 2009

Sen. Charles Shumer (D-NY) speaks on the health care reform bill at a health care rally in Washington on November 19, 2009. Senate Majority Leader Reid said that the Senate would hold a health care test vote this Saturday. Schumer was joined by Sen. Chrid Dodd (D-CT) (2nd-L), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) (2nd-R) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). UPI/Kevin Dietsch

Date Taken: November 19, 2009

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) speaks on the health care reform bill at a health care rally in Washington on November 19, 2009. Senate Majority Leader Reid said that the Senate would hold a health care test vote this Saturday. Harkin was joined by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) (L), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) (2nd-L) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). UPI/Kevin Dietsch

Date Taken: November 19, 2009

This NASA photo taken by STS-129 astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis shows the International Space Station as the two approach each other during rendezvous and docking activities on flight day three, November 18, 2009. UPI/NASA

Date Taken: November 19, 2009