Archive for the 'Biotechnology' Category
Europe’s Robots Would Become ‘Electronic Persons’ Under Draft Plan
June 22nd, 2016Good luck with that. What about the rest of the world, where automation is rolling out without restriction? Chinese corporations will shit themselves laughing at this one as tens of thousands of human workers are being replaced by robots. My guess is that the controllers have two options as we head into the automated machine […]
Scientists Growing Human Organs in Pigs: “We Think There Is Very Low Potential for a Human Brain to Grow”
June 6th, 2016Via: BBC: The main concern is that the human cells might migrate to the developing pig’s brain and make it, in some way, more human. Pablo Ross says this is unlikely but is a key reason why the research is proceeding with such caution: “We think there is very low potential for a human brain […]
‘If you have pigs with partly human brains…’
May 18th, 2016Am I reading the news, or the new D&D Monster Manual? — Also, as my sons reminded me: Minecraft Zombie Pigman: Via: NPR: “If you have pigs with partly human brains you would have animals that might actually have consciousness like a human,” Newman says. “It might have human-type needs. We don’t really know.” That […]
Here Come the Unregulated GMOs
April 18th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: People are arguing about whether genetically modified foods should carry labels. But the next generation of GMOs might not only be unlabeled—they might be unregulated. Over at Scientific American you can read a 6,000-word story about how one such plant, a GM mushroom, was created. The short version is that a […]
Top U.S. Intelligence Official Calls Gene Editing a WMD Threat
February 10th, 2016…scientists have previously speculated about whether CRISPR could be used to make “killer mosquitoes.” Your what hurts? Via: MIT Technology Review: Genome editing is a weapon of mass destruction. That’s according to James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, who on Tuesday, in the annual worldwide threat assessment report of the U.S. intelligence community, added […]
Zika: Gene Drive
February 8th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: A controversial genetic technology able to wipe out the mosquito carrying the Zika virus will be available within months, scientists say. The technology, called a “gene drive,” was demonstrated only last year in yeast cells, fruit flies, and a species of mosquito that transmits malaria. It uses the gene-snipping technology CRISPR […]
UK Approves Genetic Editing of Healthy Human Embryos
February 1st, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: It’s a world first: a U.K. government panel has given the go-ahead for researchers, led by Kathy Niakan at the Francis Crick Institute in London, to edit healthy human embryos. This isn’t the ethical morass it might at first appear to be. The researchers will use the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, […]
And Now: “Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Join The Fight To Stop Zika Virus”
January 28th, 2016Here’s what happened in Brazil, where Oxitec has been conducting massive experiments with genetically modified mosquitoes. The chart below is from, Zika Virus, Explained in 6 Charts and Maps: Also, from 2012: Brazil Rolls Out GM Mosquito Farms: Brazil has opened its first-ever, large-scale genetically modified mosquito farm in an effort to reduce the incidence […]
More Babies Are Being Born with Organs Outside Their Bodies, and Experts Have No Idea Why
January 25th, 2016Related? Pesticides in Paradise: Hawaii’s Spike in Birth Defects Puts Focus on GM Crops: At a Starbucks just outside Honolulu, Sidney Johnson, a pediatric surgeon at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children who oversees all children born in Hawaii with major birth defects and operates on many, says he’s been thinking about pesticides […]
Taiwan Bans GMOs in Schools, Mandates Strict Label Laws
January 13th, 2016Via: EcoWatch: Taiwan has banned schools across the nation from serving GMOs to students, citing health and safety concerns. On Dec. 14, 2015, Taiwanese legislature passed amendments to the School Health Act to stamp out raw genetically modified ingredients as well as processed food containing GMOs. The ban affects cafeterias and food stands in every […]
