Archive for the 'Biotechnology' Category
Organic Farmers Win GMO Fight in Jackson County, Oregon
January 11th, 2016Via EcoWatch: Organic farmers are racking up new victories in the fight against “franken-food,” as a growing number of counties line up to bar genetically engineered (GE) crop cultivation throughout the country. A federal judge in Jackson County, Oregon, recently upheld a consent decree that designates the region a “GE-free zone,” a ruling which officially […]
Human-Animal Chimeras Are Gestating on U.S. Research Farms
January 11th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: Braving a funding ban put in place by America’s top health agency, some U.S. research centers are moving ahead with attempts to grow human tissue inside pigs and sheep with the goal of creating hearts, livers, or other organs needed for transplants. … Based on interviews with three teams, two in […]
China ‘Clone Factory’ Scientist Eyes Human Replication
December 1st, 2015Eyes… Via: AFP: The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction. Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to […]
“Gene Drive” Mosquitoes
November 26th, 2015Via: Guardian: Hundreds of genetically modified mosquitoes that are incapable of spreading the malaria parasite to humans have been created in a laboratory as part of a radical approach to combating the disease. The move marks a major step towards the development of a powerful and controversial technology called a “gene drive” that aims to […]
China Opening “The World’s Biggest Animal Cloning Factory”
November 24th, 2015Via: Telegraph: The world’s biggest animal “cloning factory” is due to open in China, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet. … The factory, which will include a 15,000 square metre laboratory, an animal centre, a gene bank and an exhibition hall, is currently being built […]
Genetically Engineered Salmon Approved for Consumption
November 19th, 2015Via: New York Times: Federal regulators on Thursday approved a genetically engineered salmon as fit for consumption, clearing the way for the first genetically altered animal to reach American supermarkets and dinner tables. The approval, by the Food and Drug Administration, comes more than five years after agency reviewers made their initial determination that the […]
‘Designer Cells’ Reverse One-Year-Old’s Cancer
November 8th, 2015Via: BBC: The first person in the world to receive a pioneering genetic therapy has had her cancer reversed, say Great Ormond Street doctors. One-year-old Layla Richards, from London, had incurable aggressive leukaemia only five months ago. Doctors used “designer immune cells” to fight the cancer and say her improvement was “almost a miracle”. It […]
EU Countries Won’t Be Able to Opt Out of Genetically-Modified Food
October 28th, 2015Wow. Via: The Journal: EU LAWMAKERS HAVE rejected a hard-won compromise which would have allowed member states to decide whether or not to import Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for use in food and animal feed. The European Parliament voted 557 to 75 against on a law which took the European Commission years to negotiate amid […]
First Gene-Edited Dogs Reported in China
October 21st, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: Man’s best friend is now his newest genetic engineering project. Scientists in China say they are the first to use gene editing to produce customized dogs. They created a beagle with double the amount of muscle mass by deleting a gene called myostatin. The dogs have “more muscles and are expected […]
Gene Patents Probably Dead Worldwide Following Australian Court Decision
October 9th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Australia’s highest court has ruled unanimously that a version of a gene that is linked to an increased risk for breast cancer cannot be patented. The case was brought by 69-year-old pensioner from Queensland, Yvonne D’Arcy, who had taken the US company Myriad Genetics to court over its patent for mutations in […]
