Archive for the 'Biotechnology' Category
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 […]
Over Half of E.U. Countries Are Opting Out of GMOs
October 4th, 2015Via: Time: Sixteen countries have alerted the European Union that they want to opt out of E.U.-approved GM crops. Members of the economic bloc have until Oct. 3 to let the E.U. know if they were requesting to opt out of growing GMO produce from major companies like Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta and Pioneer, and according […]
Pesticides in Paradise: Hawaii’s Spike in Birth Defects Puts Focus on GM Crops
August 24th, 2015Via: Guardian: Pediatrician Carla Nelson remembers catching sight of the unusually pale newborn, then hearing an abnormal heartbeat through the stethoscope and thinking that something was terribly wrong. The baby was born minutes before with a severe heart malformation that would require complex surgery. What worried her as she waited for the ambulance plane to […]
GMO: “Independent Expert” Was Actually Paid $25,000 by Monsanto
August 24th, 2015Via: GM Watch: In what appears to be an exercise in damage limitation, an article in the journal Nature has disclosed that Kevin Folta, a plant scientist at the University of Florida, received a US$25,000 grant last year from Monsanto. Monsanto noted that the money “may be used at your discretion in support of your […]
Secret Sanctions Revealed Against University Hosting $1.25 Billion Bio Lab
August 8th, 2015Via: USA Today: Kansas State University — where a controversial $1.25 billion biosecurity lab facility is under construction — secretly faced federal sanctions last year after repeatedly violating safety regulations during its research with bioterror pathogens, records obtained by USA TODAY show. Kansas State’s “history of non-compliance” during four consecutive inspections over two years shows […]
“Gene Drive” Technology
August 3rd, 2015Via: Independent: A powerful new technique for generating “supercharged” genetically modified organisms that can spread rapidly in the wild has caused alarm among scientists who fear that it may be misused, accidentally or deliberately, and cause a health emergency or environmental disaster.
