Archive for the 'Biotechnology' Category
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 […]
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 […]
