Archive for the 'Biotechnology' Category
Sars Research Lab Loses 2,000 Tubes of Killer Virus Fragments
April 15th, 2014Via: International Business Times: A prestigious research institute in France said it had lost thousands of tubes of samples of the deadly Sars coronavirus. A routine inventory check at Paris’ Pasteur Institute revealed that 2,349 tubes containing fragments of the virus responsible for the deaths of 774 people in 2002 were missing, the centre named […]
H5N1 Bird Flu Needs Just 5 Mutations to Spread Easily in People
April 13th, 2014Via: Los Angeles Times: It’s a flu virus so deadly that scientists once halted research on the disease because governments feared it might be used by terrorists to stage a biological attack. Yet despite the fact that the H5N1 avian influenza has killed 60% of the 650 humans known to be infected since it was […]
Voracious Worm Evolves to Eat Biotech Corn Engineered to Kill It
March 18th, 2014Via: Wired: One of agricultural biotechnology’s great success stories may become a cautionary tale of how short-sighted mismanagement can squander the benefits of genetic modification. After years of predicting it would happen — and after years of having their suggestions largely ignored by companies, farmers and regulators — scientists have documented the rapid evolution of […]
New H5N8 Avian Influenza Penetrated Biosecurity Defenses at Korea’s Premier Poultry Research Center
March 5th, 2014Via: Science: A new, deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza penetrated the biosecurity defenses of a National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) campus near Seoul, prompting authorities to cull all of the facility’s 11,000 hens and 5000 ducks. The devastating loss could set back poultry experiments at the NIAS lab for 2 years. “It will […]
Scientists Find Ancient Plague DNA in Teeth
January 27th, 2014Via: AP: Scientists say two of the deadliest pandemics in history were caused by strains of the same plague and warn that new versions of the bacteria could spark future outbreaks. Researchers found tiny bits of DNA in the teeth of two German victims killed by the Justinian plague about 1,500 years ago. With those […]
Britain: Genetically-Modified Purple Tomatoes Heading for Shops
January 24th, 2014Via: BBC: The prospect of genetically modified purple tomatoes reaching the shelves has come a step closer. Their dark pigment is intended to give tomatoes the same potential health benefits as fruit such as blueberries. Developed in Britain, large-scale production is now under way in Canada with the first 1,200 litres of purple tomato juice […]
China: Industrial Scale Pig Cloning
January 18th, 2014…In an old shoe factory. Via: BBC: You hear the squeals of the pigs long before reaching a set of long buildings set in rolling hills in southern China. Feeding time produces a frenzy as the animals strain against the railings around their pens. But this is no ordinary farm. Run by a fast-growing company […]
Nightmare: Australian Farmer Loses Organic Certification After Monsanto’s GM Canola Planted Next Door by Neighbor
January 7th, 2014Ok, I’m visualizing thousands of Cryptogon readers out there sending support to help these guys win this thing. I kicked it off with AU$15. Via: Safe Food Foundation: Steve Marsh lives and farms at Kojonup in Western Australia. In 2010 he lost his organic certification when GM canola from next door jumped the fence and […]
GMO Consumption and Gluten Sensitivity?
December 16th, 2013Via: Institute for Responsible Technology: Gluten-related disorders are commonly accompanied by and possibly triggered by intestinal permeability, which is commonly referred to as “leaky gut.” Leaky gut occurs when gaps form between intestinal cells and large particles from the digestive tract enter the bloodstream, potentially triggering immune or allergic reactions. The Bt-toxin produced by genetically […]
Chinese Pilots Must Learn to Land in Thick Smog
December 12th, 2013Via: Guardian: Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog – the latest missive related to the capital’s heavy air pollution, which the government this week lauded as a beneficial shield against missile attacks. From 1 January pilots […]
