Good Morning all,
I have a friend who says that I should change my Masters degree, of which I have only one semester completed anyway, from French to International Relations. I was hard on her, and told her that it would be boring for me, but she insists that it's the perfect match for me. I wonder if she's right. I've been thinking about her comment ever since.
Today I'd like to point out two articles about animals. First is the article about the 13 White Rhino species who are gravely endangered, and who Scotish Scientists think can be saved. Second I'd like to point out the article about the pygmie elephants of Burma. There is now scientific evidence that points to these elephants being the same species as another pygmy species previously thought extinct.
Oh, I'd also like to point out the article about the Staten Island Dine out. I think this is a great idea, and that more communities should embrace similar programs.
I hope you all enjoy today's articles. :) See you tomorrow!
Today's Top 5:
1. Study: Elephants Thought Extinct May Have Survived (Newsvine.com)
2. Today's the Day; Staten Island Dine Out Against Hunger (Staten Island Live)
3. Scots Scientists to Save One of Rarest Animals on the Planet (The Scotsman)
4. Saliva Can Help Diagnose Heart Attack, Study Shows (Science Daily)
5. The New 'Tumour-Busting' Drug that can Shrink Breast Cancer Cells In Just Six Weeks (Daily Mail UK)
Honorable Mentions:
1. Tenfold Boost in Overseas Japanese Language Centers Planned (Japan Times)
2. MySpace Launched in India (Times of India)
Today's Top 5:
1. Study: Elephants Thought Extinct May Have Survived
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/17/1435974-study-elephants-thought-extinct-may-have-survived
Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:46 AM EDT
Two pygmy elephants cross the road in Taliwas forest on Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island in this July 21, 2005 file photo. Borneo's pygmy elephants may be descendants of an extinct Javan elephant race, saved by chance by an 18th century ruler, according to a new study released Thursday, April 17, 2008. The study suggests that a small number of opposite-sex elephants can produce a thriving progeny of thousands if left undisturbed on an island, giving fresh hope to conservationists trying to protect nearly extinct species of large mammals. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
A group of Pygmy elephants cross a road in Taliwas forest in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island in this June 21, 2005 file photo. Borneo's pygmy elephants may be descendants of an extinct Javan elephant race, saved by chance by an 18th century ruler, according to a new study released Thursday, April 17, 2008. The study suggests that a small number of opposite-sex elephants can produce a thriving progeny of thousands if left undisturbed on an island, giving fresh hope to conservationists trying to protect nearly extinct species of large mammals. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)KUALA LUMPUR — Borneo's pygmy elephants may be descendants of an extinct Javan elephant race, saved by chance by an 18th century ruler, according to a new study released Thursday.
The study suggests that a small number of opposite-sex elephants can produce a thriving progeny of thousands if left undisturbed on an island, giving fresh hope to conservationists trying to protect nearly extinct species of large mammals.
"If proven, this fascinating story would demonstrate that very small populations of large mammals can be saved from the brink of extinction (simply by) moving a few individuals, from a seemingly doomed population, to a different and safer habitat," the study published in the Sarawak Museum Journal says.
Study co-author Junaidi Payne said the Sultan of Java in Indonesia in the 18th century likely sent some pygmy elephants as gifts to the Sultan of Sulu in the Philippines. The Sultan of Sulu at some point apparently shipped them to Borneo and abandoned them there for unknown reasons.
"There are a number of historical records of elephants shipped between various places in Asia by rulers as gifts to impress others," Payne told The Associated Press.
Borneo pygmy elephants, which are genetically distinct from other subspecies, grow less than about 8 feet compared to about 10 feet in height of Asian ale elephants.
They also have babyish faces, large ears and longer tails. They are more rotund and less aggressive.
The pygmy elephants in Java were extinct by the end of the 18th century, but the few that were brought to Borneo thrived, the study found.
Historically, Borneo never had any elephants and the origins of pygmy elephants — a distinct subspecies of its mainland Asian cousin — remained shrouded in mystery until now.
Borneo is a large island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei. It is separated by at least 250 miles of sea from Java, the main island in Indonesia. Sulu is much farther to the east.
Payne said just one fertile female and one fertile male elephant, if left undisturbed in enough good habitat, could in theory end up as a population of 2,000 elephants within less than 300 years.
"And that may be what happened in practice here," said Payne, who works for the global conservation group World Wildlife Fund.
There are about 1,000 pygmy elephants in the wild in Borneo today, mostly in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
"If they came from Java, this fascinating story demonstrates the value of efforts to save even small populations of certain species, often thought to be doomed," said Christy Williams, coordinator of WWF's Asian elephant and rhino program.
Augustine Tuuga, assistant director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, said the study confirms what many conservationists have long believed — that a small number of animals can flourish into large herds even though they may have multiplied by inbreeding.
"My own feeling is that as long as there is no continous hunting and there is no problem about diseases their numbers will multiply," he said.
2. Today's the Day; Staten Island Dine Out Against Hunger
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/todays_the_day_staten_island_d.htmlby Staten Island Advance Thursday April 17, 2008, 8:33 AM
If you ever needed an excuse to take a night off in the kitchen and go out to enjoy a nice dinner, boy do we have one for you.
Today is the 10th Annual Dine Out Against Hunger on Staten Island, where 129 participating restaurants will donate at least 20 percent of their day's take to Project Hospitality as the organization works to fight hunger here in our borough.
"I really think that every year it brings out a special spirit on Staten Island," Ken Tirado, owner of Killmeyer's Old Bavaria Inn, Charleston, and a member of the planning committee told the Advance yesterday. "People don't just happen to go out to eat that day. They do it for a reason. They do it because they want to help."
Last year, $86,000 was raised for the Port Richmond-based not-for-profit organization, which provides hot meals to the hungry, runs a food pantry, a mobile food truck for the hard-to-reach homeless and offers a complement of other social services for Staten Islanders in need.
"The money we get from Dine Out helps sustain us athroughout the year," the Rev. Jack Ryan of Project Hospitality said.
While $86,000 isn't bad for a day's work, this year the goal is set even higher at $100,000.
So swing by your favorite restaurant (here's a list of who is participating), get a good meal and help a good cause as well.
Dine Out Against Hunger sponsors include the Advance, the borough president's office, Catering by Framboise, Richmond County Savings Bank, Northfield Bank, SI Bank & Trust, SYSCO Food Services of Metro New York, Mindsaw, Time Warner Cable and R & L Press.
3. Scots Scientists to Save One of Rarest Animals on the Planet
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Scots-scientists-to-save-one.3990487.jp
Published date: 17 April 2008
WITH only 13 of the creatures left struggling to survive on the plains of the Congo, the northern white rhinoceros is one of the most threatened species in the world.Plagued by poachers and with its habitat fast disappearing, the magnificent beast is now on the critically endangered list.
But new hope could be on the horizon, as Scottish scientists are hoping to use an innovative technique to save the creatures from extinction. It involves a pioneering genetic process that merges its stem cells with those of its cousin, the southern white rhino, to create a new animal, called a chimera.
It would be the first time the process has been used to try to preserve a species facing extinction in the wild – and, if successful, it could be used to save other endangered animals.
Poachers and loss of habitat in the one place where the northern white rhino still lives, the Garamba National Park in the Congo, has put the species' survival in grave danger.
But Professor Bob Millar, a reproductive biologist and a director of the Medical Research Council Reproductive Sciences Unit at Edinburgh University, thinks he could have hit upon the solution.
He is applying for funding to try out the new technique, which mixes the embryo of the more common southern white rhino with cells from its threatened cousin.
"We have a very ambitious idea to create chimeras, where we use the embryo from the southern white rhino and we introduce cells that we have stored away from the northern white rhino," he told The Scotsman.
This creates rhinos that have a mixture of sperm and eggs from both species. The chimeras are then encouraged to mate with each other in captivity, and they produce both northern and southern white rhinos, which can then be released back into their respective species in the wild.
"We think it's very ambitious. If we succeed in this, it could be a major breakthrough in protecting this species that is disappearing," Prof Millar said.
He has already enlisted the help of Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, the scientist behind the creation of Dolly the sheep, who has expressed an interest in becoming involved.
Prof Millar is hoping to obtain about £250,000 in funding from science bodies, and he said that, although it was always a "roll of the dice" whether such bids were successful, he was feeling enthusiastic.
With so few of the precious animals left in the wild, he said the whole group of 13 could be wiped out very easily by poaching or disease. By creating chimeric animals in captivity, he thinks this could guarantee their survival.
"By creating these chimeras, we are trapping the genetic material in other animals and we can breed out the northern white rhinos," he said.
"The important thing is that we have trapped the genetics in an animal that is going to live for a long time."
In contrast to the northern species, there are more than 11,000 southern white rhinos in the wild, mainly in South Africa. Some are in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, and the chimeric embryos would be transplanted into female southern white rhinos there, which would, hopefully, give birth to chimeric animals.
Once the chimeras breed, producing northern white rhinos, Prof Millar would aim to release them into the wild as soon as possible.
"The sooner that we can put these animals back into the wild the better," he said.
The chimera technique has been used successfully in mice, but never before in wild animals, or to try to help save a species facing extinction.
If it is successful, Prof Millar thinks it could be used to help other animals that are facing a similar plight.
"This has never been done before, and it's much more likely to be done than cloning," he said.
He hopes that, if his team is granted funding, he could be putting the technique to use within the next few years, as the technology for the process is already well developed.
He said desperate measures could be necessary when a species is so close to extinction.
"Sometimes when it gets desperate, like with the northern white rhino, you have got to go for broke," he said.
But Dr Sue Lieberman, director of the species programme at the conservation organisation WWF International, is not convinced. She said: "The reason the northern white rhino is on the verge of extinction is because of poaching and the loss of habitat. If we breed new ones, there will still be nowhere to put them in the wild, so what is the point?"
She thinks it is not the best way to use the limited money, time and energy available to try to save the rhinos, and instead says efforts need to be made to work in the Democratic Republic of Congo to try to save the animals' habitat and put a stop to poaching.
"We need to put our energy and our precious resources into protecting these species in the wild," she said. "This sounds very innovative and very 21st century, but I think the most important thing to do is work with the rhino species on the ground."
But Professor Paul De Sousa, the group leader at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh, was more optimistic.
"I think it's a tremendous opportunity," he said. "It is most definitely the first time this would have been done."
He said a similar technique had already been carried out successfully in mice. "It has not been accomplished in another species (except mice], and maybe it's quite presumptuous to say it can now be done in a rhinoceros," he said. "But I'm pretty confident that, if we have the capacity to culture rhino skin cells, which we do, then there's nothing to stop us."
Unlike Dr Lieberman, he thinks both scientific progress and conservation techniques are required to save species.
"I think we should engage in multiple parallel endeavours to address the whole of the problem," he said. "I wouldn't for a minute say that this, above all else, is the solution.
"Nor do I think that investment in habitat alone is the solution."
Professor Mike Bruford, an expert in endangered species at Cardiff University, said: "It's certainly the first time I have heard if this being done in rhinos."
He has reservations about how easy the process would be to carry out in practice, and said: "Instinctively, I think it's going to be far more tricky than this professor is saying."
Prof Bruford added: "The northern white rhino is doomed to extinction unless something dramatic is done."
A technique already being used by colleagues of Prof Millar in Berlin to try to save northern white rhinos is artificial insemination – normally used to help women become pregnant.
Scientists fly over wild rhinos in helicopters and shoot them with darts to incapacitate them. Then an electrical ejaculator is used to obtain a sample of semen.
That is inseminated into female northern white rhinos in zoos in Europe, in an attempt to encourage them to reproduce and to increase the size of the gene pool.
Time running out as poachers slaughter the few survivors
MANY years ago, northern white rhinos ranged across Uganda, Chad, Sudan and the Congo.
Today, their numbers are heavily depleted with confirmed sightings limited to just one part of the Congo plains.
Poachers trading in the animals' precious horns are responsible for slashing the population from 500 to 15 in the 1970s and 1980s.
Rhino horns are treasured for medicinal purposes in some parts of the world and can fetch thousands of pounds on the black market.
Although their numbers started to recover in the 1990s after a vigilant anti-poaching campaign, illegal killing has intensified in the past decade and now there are just a handful of the creatures left.
Unless urgent action is taken to protect the remaining northern white rhinos, conservationists say they could be wiped out within years.
In the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the remaining 13 northern white rhinos continue their struggle to survive.
The civil war that has crippled the Congo for much of the past 40 years has taken its toll on the park's wildlife.
There are also about 10 northern white rhinos in zoos, many in Eastern Europe. This, according to Professor Bob Millar, is because Ugandan dictator Idi Amin exchanged them for arms with some Eastern European countries in the 1970s.
Garamba, in the north-east of the Congo, was established in 1938 and is one of the oldest national parks in Africa.
It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In January 2005, the government approved a two-part plan to save the northern white rhinos. The first step was to relocate the animals to a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya– which is yet to happen.
The second part of the plan commits the government in Congo to step up conservation efforts so that the rhinos in captivity can be returned once it is safe.
The grasslands of Garamba are also home to about 6,000 elephants and 100 Congo giraffes – also the last remaining in the world.
Huge numbers of elephants have also been discovered dead by conservationists, slaughtered for their ivory tusks.
Some conservationists say more than 1,000 elephants have been killed in the past year.
About 150 park guards patrol Garamba but they lack the resources to combat the poachers, and there is no military presence to provide support.
Human and animal reproduction experts join forces
THE team behind the ambitious bid to save the northern white rhino has been set up to bring together a mix of specialists in human and animal reproductive science.
Professor Bob Millar is director of the Medical Research Council's human reproductive sciences unit in Edinburgh – made up of 100 researchers and attracting about £5 million of funding each year.
Now, in an effort to extend his focus to the survival of endangered species, he has created the Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals.
The institute, which will be officially launched tonight at Edinburgh Zoo, is uniquely made up of a mix of human reproductive scientists and experts in wild mammal conservation.
The team is working to find out more on the reproductive behaviour of Africa's most threatened species.
4. Saliva Can Help Diagnose Heart Attack, Study Shows
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416111556.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2008) —
Early diagnosis of a heart attack may now be possible using only a few drops of saliva and a new nano-bio-chip, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin reported at a recent meeting of the American Association for Dental Research.
The nano-bio-chip assay could some day be used to analyze a patient's saliva on board an ambulance, at the dentist's office or at a neighborhood drugstore, helping save lives and prevent damage from cardiac disease. The device is the size of a credit card and can produce results in as little as 15 minutes.
"Many heart attack victims, especially women, experience nonspecific symptoms and secure medical help too late after permanent damage to the cardiac tissue has occurred," says John T. McDevitt, principal investigator and designer of the nano-bio-chip. "Our tests promise to dramatically improve the accuracy and speed of cardiac diagnosis."
McDevitt, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, collaborated with scientists and clinicians at the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
McDevitt and his collaborators took advantage of the recent identification of a number of blood serum proteins that are significant contributors to, and thus indicators of, cardiac disease.
Leveraging microelectronics components and microfabrication developed initially for the electronic industry, they developed a series of compact nano-bio-chip sensor devices that are biochemically-programmed to detect sets of these proteins in saliva.
Researchers from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry tested saliva from 56 people who had a heart attack and 59 healthy subjects for 32 proteins associated with atherosclerosis, thrombosis and acute coronary syndrome. They found these proteins were in higher concentrations in saliva of heart attack victims, and that specific salivary proteins were as accurate in the diagnosis of heart attack as those found in blood serum using current testing methods.
"These are truly exciting findings, since use of these tests could lead to more rapid diagnosis and faster entry of patients into treatment scenarios that can save lives," said Dr. Craig S. Miller, of the Kentucky team.
The test can reveal that a patient is currently having a heart attack necessitating quick treatment. It can also tell a patient that they are at high risk of having a future heart attack.
The new diagnostic test works like this: A patient spits into a tube and the saliva is then transferred to a credit card-sized lab card that holds the nano-bio-chip. The loaded card is inserted like an ATM card into an analyzer that manipulates the sample and analyses the patient's cardiac status on the spot.
"What's novel here is our ability to measure all such proteins in one setting and to use a noninvasive saliva sample, where low protein levels make such tests difficult even with large and expensive lab instruments," McDevitt says.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries, including the United States. In 2008, an estimated 770,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack, and about 430,000 will have a recurrent attack.
"There is certainly a strong need for more effective early diagnosis of cardiac disease," says McDevitt.
The new technology is still in the clinical testing phase, but it is a strong candidate for further commercial development through the Austin, Texas company LabNow, Inc., a start-up venture that licensed the lab-on-a-chip technologies from The University of Texas at Austin. LabNow's first lab-on-a-chip product, now in development, targets HIV immune function testing and can be used in resource poor settings like Africa.
This research is supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health.
5. The New 'Tumour-Busting' Drug that can Shrink Breast Cancer Cells In Just Six Weeks
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=560218&in_page_id=1770
Last updated at 14:14pm on 17th April 2008
A new breast cancer drug can shrink tumours before surgery - making some 'disappear' in just six weeks - which may improve the chances of women surviving the disease, claim researchers.
Using lapatinib led to an average cut of 60 per cent in the size of the tumour and a fall in the number of stem cells that may help the cancer to spread.
Doctors hope the results mean there is less chance of recurrence in those women eligible to use lapatinib, around one in five of those struck by breast cancer including Jane Tomlinson, who died in September aged 43.
Findings from a US study released today led to calls for greater use of chemotherapy drugs in advance of breast cancer surgery, as well as afterwards.
Jane Tomlinson (centre) died last September after a long fight against cancer
By 'downsizing' the lump, some women can avoid having mastectomies while doctors gain valuable clues about the effectiveness of different types of chemotherapy in individual women.
In the latest study 45 women were treated with lapatinib before having surgery on large-sized lumps.
After six weeks of treatment, the tumours had gone into complete or near remission in two-thirds of women evaluated compared with one-quarter of women on standard chemotherapy.
But unlike standard treatment, lapatinib destroyed more stem cells with the capacity to self-renew which might protect women from the cancer coming back.
When a tumour goes into remission and 'disappears', surgeons still have to operate but they remove a much smaller area of tissue to check on whether the cancer cells have gone.
Further treatment such as chemo and radiotherapy is still necessary to deal with cells that may have already spread around the body.
Dr Angel Rodriguez, from the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who led the study, said the drug worked in the 20 per cent of women diagnosed with HER2 positive cancer - an aggressive form which can also be treated with Herceptin.
He said 'We saw significant tumour regression after six weeks of lapatinib.'
He said the drug reduced the ability of tumour-causing stem cells to replicate whereas conventional chemotherapy appeared to increase these cells.
He said 'We were excited to see that the results with lapatinib were different.
'Rather than the broad brush approach, in which cells are killed indiscriminately, targeting the stem cells may be more effective and also prevent some of the unpleasant side effects associated with conventional chemotherapy treatment.' Dr Rodriguez said it was too early to say whether the drug, also called Tykerb, might eventually be used to treat the majority of women whose cancers are not HER2 positive.
'International studies are currently underway looking at the effect of lapatinib in lung, colon, head and neck, gastric, oesophageal, and bladder cancer and lymphoma, among others' he added. The results were released at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Berlin.
Professor Emiel Rutgers, a leading Dutch breast cancer surgeon, said the findings should encourage more surgeons to use 'up-front' chemotherapy to reduce the size of tumours before operating.
He said 'This type of treatment is under-utilised yet it not only means a better cosmetic result from surgery but also shows the response of the patient to chemotherapy.'
Previous studies show lapatinib can halve the speed of growth of cancer, giving women precious extra months of life.
It is licensed in the US and is going through licensing procedures in Europe, where the drug safety body will next week look at new data on possible liver side effects before deciding whether to confirm its 'positive opinion' on the drug.
The final stage of approval will be given by the European Commission.
In the UK the Government's 'rationing' body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will have to decide whether the NHS can afford the £6,800 price tag.
Despite being fast-tracked, this process could still take four to five months and until then doctors have to win funding for individual patients from local primary care trusts.
Mrs Tomlinson lost her seven-year battle with cancer after raising more than £1.75 million for charity in gruelling endurance events, including three London Marathons.
She had to travel from her home in Leeds to Nottingham to receive lapatinib because Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had not taken part in an expanded access programme for the treatment.
The programme made the drug available before licensing, with drug costs paid by the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline.
A GSK spokesman said its own safety review resulted in data showing a 'rare' incidence of 0.4 per cent of liver problems in users, which were picked up by routine monitoring and resolved after patients stopped taking the drug.
A spokesman for NICE said lapatinib was being fast-tracked through its review process.
She said 'We have gone as far as we can before the drug gets a licence but we may be able to issue a recommendation within a month subject to appeal.
'The quickest we can complete the process is four to five months' she added.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Tenfold Boost in Overseas Japanese Language Centers Planned
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20080417f3.html
Thursday, April 17, 2008Kyodo News
The government will expand the number of official Japanese-language education facilities overseas to about 100 from 10 in the next three years to cope with rising demand for courses and to counter the spread of Chinese language and culture abroad.
According to a survey by the Japan Foundation, 2.98 million people studied Japanese overseas in 2006, compared with 730,000 in 1988, 2.1 million in 1998 and 2.36 million in 2003.
The number of young people interested in Japanese is rising globally because of the growing popularity of "manga" (comics) and pop culture, and the number of people seeking jobs at Japanese companies abroad is rising, foundation officials said.
The foundation is an independent administrative corporation overseen by the Foreign Ministry.
South Korea has the largest number of Japanese-language learners, with 910,000, followed by China with 680,000 and Australia with 370,000. Next on the list come Indonesia, Taiwan and other countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region.
But some fear that interest in learning Japanese will slow in the future.
"Junior high and high schools in the United States are increasingly switching foreign-language classes from Japanese to Chinese," a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
France is the most enthusiastic promoter of its language overseas.
There were as many as 950 educational facilities affiliated with the French government in 2007. By comparison, the Confucius Institute, which China inaugurated in 2004, has established more than 200 locations worldwide.
Also famous are the British Council, which has facilities in 126 locations around the world, and Germany's Goethe Institute, which has facilities in 101 locations. On the other hand, there are only 10 locations where the Japan Foundation maintains facilities.
"Compared with other countries, Japan has not been positive about language education, which is fundamental for international understanding," the Foreign Ministry official said.
Instead of establishing new schools, the Foreign Ministry is trying to use a franchise formula in which teaching materials are provided and Japanese-language teachers sent to overseas universities and private language schools offering Japanese-language classes.
2. MySpace Launched in India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
17 Apr 2008, 1425 hrs IST
SAN FRANCISCO: MySpace officially launched in India, as the world's most popular social networking website strives to fend off fast-growing rival Facebook in the international arena.
MySpace India is an online community tailored to that country's culture and boasts industry alliances including a partnership with Star TV.
"We're thrilled today to launch MySpace in one of the world's most vibrant cultures," said the News Corporation-owned firm's international managing director Travis Katz.
"We will be providing the people of India the tools they need to live their lives online and ... a launch pad for Indian creators, from developers to musicians to filmmakers, to showcase their talents on the global stage."
A national college talent search programme called "Campus Star" is broadcast on Star TV and features judging by celebrities and members of a MySpace audience.
MySpace is celebrating the formal launch of the website, which was online previously in a "beta" testing mode, with a concert in Mumbai headlining rock bands Pentagram, Super Fuzz, and Them Clones.
MySpace will host an event in Bangalore on April 21 for local software developers it wants to inspire to create hip, useful or fun applications for people to use on website profile pages.
MySpace has hosted similar local "devJam" or developer jam events in China, Japan, Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States.
The unveiling of MySpace India comes two days after the US firm launched a locally customised South Korea version of the website.
MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe was optimistic while kicking off the South Korea social networking website, saying it took lessons from Internet firms that had trouble getting traction in that country.
MySpace first went international by moving into Europe in 2006 and now has websites serving 25 countries including France, Russia, Australia and Japan.
MySpace rival Facebook has set out to boost its global popularity by making itself available in different languages, launching French, Spanish and German websites since the start of the year.
MySpace and its roster of approximately 110 million users still dominates the US market but fresh data from industry-tracker comScore indicates Facebook is closing the gap with MySpace when it comes to international visitors.
A majority of Facebook users live outside the United States, with a third based in Europe. France has the sixth largest community after United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey and Australia, the site says.
ComScore listed Facebook among the websites with the fastest rising number of visitors in 2007. Facebook has been steadily gaining on MySpace, which was founded in 2003 and snapped up two years later by Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
Facebook's 23-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest ever self-made billionaire according to Forbes magazine.
The site's value has been estimated at as much as $15 billion (9.75 billion euros), based on Microsoft paying $240 million for a 1.6 per cent stake in the company last year.
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