The complexity of the ever-shifting humanitarian landscape in the Middle East region –where the effects of perennial conflict and instability have rarely been contained within one country – is a major preoccupation for humanitarian organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). As fighting continues in Syria, unprecedented levels of displacement and destruction have res...

Barley is a model species for the investigation of the evolution, adaptation and spread of the world's important crops. In this article, we describe the first application of an oligonucleotide pool assay single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) platform to assess the evolution of barley in a portion of the Fertile Crescent, a key region in the development of farming. A large collection of >1000 gen...

Randomized clinical trail for the evaluation of non-pharmacological smoking cessation interventions in Syria Smoking cessation interventions are still not widely available to all smokers, and in many developing countries there are no tested smoking cessation programs that suit the local culture and specificities of smokers. One of the main aims of the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies (SCTS) is...

This commentary examines the incursion on the neutrality of medical personnel now taking place as part of the human rights crises in Bahrain and Syria, and the ethical dilemmas which these incursions place not only in front of physicians practicing in those nations, but in front of the international community as a whole.In Bahrain, physicians have recently received harsh prison terms, apparentl...

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the rich archaeological heritage of Syria and northern Iraq has faced severe threats, including looting, combat-related damage, and intentional demolition of monuments. However, the inaccessibility of the conflict zone to archaeologists or cultural heritage specialists has made it difficult to produce accurate damage assessments, impeding efforts...