Genetically improved trees sought PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Most families swarming over Christmas tree lots from Bangor to Malibu have a vision of the kind of tree they want to take home: lush, fragrant, dense. What consumers will not see is the science that goes into producing some of the 35 million live trees they are expected to buy this holiday season. Growers are experimenting with genetic improvements in hopes of producing a faster-growing, more disease-resistant tree. The Maine Christmas Tree Association has two seed farms with parent trees - or phenotypes - deemed by growers to be genetically superior based on color, shape and other characteristics. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557534703-c51 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Swedes told find replacement chimp BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand's Foreign Ministry is urging Swedish animal rights activists to find a replacement chimpanzee for one they want freed from a Bangkok zoo, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday. Swedish activists are threatening to organize a tourism boycott of Thailand because they want Safari World, a privately owned zoo, to release Ola, a 12-year-old male chimpanzee who once performed on stage in Stockholm and is the subject of a children's book. The activists have raised $50,000 to buy Ola and send him to a sanctuary for chimpanzees in Zambia. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557534778-9c3>
