The rise on international production and demand has created more flexibility in supplying products to the world than ever before, but at the same time concentration of production for particular industries can lead to occasional shortages such as those currently occurring in HDDs.

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"This new funding will enable us to undertake research that will lead to gains in the sector at a time when food production practices must be refined to accommodate the expanding world population, " he added.

BBC: Roslin Institute gets ?23m for animal sciences research