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Thursday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› ‘A melting pot for variants.’ U.K., Brazilian, New York COVID strains found in Miami
Taking a deeper look at the types of COVID viruses circulating in some hospital patients, researchers at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine have identified a scattering of genetic footprints, with one viral culprit out-competing the others and surging to become the predominant strain.
› UF scientists sequence genome of the supersweet corn you’ve nibbled for 20-plus years
Sweet corn, a food favorite for many consumers, serves as a major crop for Florida. Earlier research by UF/IFAS scientists led to an even sweeter sweet corn dubbed “supersweet” because it has more sugar than other types of the staple crop. Now, a University of Florida scientist is laying the genetic groundwork for better sweet corn varieties. For the first time, Marcio Resende, a UF/IFAS sweet corn breeder, led a team of researchers to sequence the genome of a type of supersweet corn.
› FlexCold working toward North Jacksonville warehouse
Charleston, South Carolina-based Flexspace Ventures LLC is working toward developing a FlexCold warehouse in North Jacksonville. The company says on its FlexCold.com site the almost 150,000-square-foot cold-storage facility with more than 25,000 pallet positions will open in April 2022. The Jacksonville Planning and Development Department is reviewing plans for the project on 12.06 acres at 11180 Blasius Road at southwest Faye and Blasius roads.
› Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super spreader, officials say
Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super spreader event, Hillsborough County health officials said Wednesday. Fifty-three COVID-19 cases statewide were found to be associated with official Super Bowl events, Michael Wiese, chief epidemiologist at the county health department, said in a live interview. Four were found outside the state.
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