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POPSFreakiest (Lab) Animals The last one is Humanzee: It reads "Ok, so this one doesn't actually exist." But could have... The one I find most intriguing is The spider/goats: A private biotechnology company in Canada has managed to breed goats whose milk contains spider silk, the same things the eight-legged insects use to make webs and considered one of the strongest fibers occurring in nature. The silk is compatible with the human body and can be used to repair tissues and create replacement ligaments. No word on whether the goats are able to climb buildings or rescue damsels-in-distress. About the smart mice: Scientists managed to implant a few of the little rodents with human brain cells amounting to about one percent of their total grey matter. The same group has plans to produce mice with one hundred percent human brain cells, which they have permission to do unless the mice start exhibiting human traits. What, like banding together to escape?
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POPSThe Latest Conflicted Researcher Sen. Charles Grassley has been digging up a lot of these. Gardiner Harris at NYT really manages to pull out some of the larger trends at work, especially toward the end of this piece.
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POPSMcCain Equates Embryos and Fetuses in Stem Cell Statement "In scientific terms, embryos and fetuses are different and mutually exclusive entities. Equating them fits within a pro-life framework defining abortion at any stage as murder. "If you call the creation of an embryo for research 'fetal farming,' that clearly conflates embryos, at whatever stage, with fetuses," said Thomas Murray, director of the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics think tank. "It would seem to equate a five-day-old embryo with a fetus one day before delivery.""
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POPSSeven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture Fatal Harvest is the basis for the Organic & Beyond campaign, which seeks to reestablish our relationship with nature, the farmer, and the land. The campaign helps us to stop being mere food "consumers" and teaches us to be "creators," and truly see and understand that each action we take in deciding which foods to buy, grow, or eat creates a very different future for ourselves and the earth. Please join us in this unprecedented campaign and become a creator of a new food future. (via http://www.fatalharvest.org/)
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POPSFuture for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution For humans now there is the tantalising possibility of tweaking the photosynthetic reactions of cyanobacteria to produce fuels we want such as hydrogen, alcohols or even hydrocarbons, rather than carbohydrates. Progress at the research level has been rapid, boosting prospects of harnessing photosynthesis not just for energy but also for manufacturing valuable compounds for the chemical and biotechnology industries. Such research is running on two tracks, one aimed at genetically engineering real plants and cyanobacteria to yield the products we want, and the other to mimic their processes in artificial photosynthetic systems built with human-made components. Both approaches hold great promise and will be pursued in parallel, as was discussed at a recent workshop focusing on the photosynthetic reaction centres of cyanobacteria, organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF).
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POPSSweet edge on waterproof paper. You can't recycle waxed boxes. The wax interferes with the paper making process. I hadn't thought of that, but it make sense, wax being waterproof because it's 'oily' The number of boxes that are coated for use with foods is unimaginable. They've had success with a spray on version of this recyclable waterproof coating . There were few details as a result of 'Commercial Confidentiality' which means they must be on to something
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POPSEPA Refuses to Cut Ethanol Requirements "Response to the decision fell along predictable lines: The Environmental Working Group's director of government affairs, Sandra Schubert, called the mandate "misguided" and said it was "forcing farmers to plow up marginal land and wildlife habitat while increasing global warming and dumping toxic fertilizers and pesticides into our precious water sources." "America should be focusing on viable clean energy solutions like conservation, solar and wind," she said. The president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Jim Greenwood, said the decision sent "a strong message that we must continue moving forward toward sustainable production of advanced biofuels" to cut dependence on important oil and to increase biofuel production from non-food sources. His organization represents biotech companies, among others involved in expanding the use of biofuels.""
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POPSDrug tries to offset 10,000 years of evolution Gene therapies, expected some time between 2015 and 2020, promise to correct this genetic problem caused by nature, but many obese people do not want to wait. They are hoping that Nastech’s new nasal spray can provide a solution now. Within 20 to 35 minutes after taking a whiff, this new drug moves quickly through the nasal lining and into the bloodstream, sending a message to the brain that our tummy is full. So far the drug has had no negative side effects. PYY is undergoing clinical trials now, and is expected to be in drug stores by 2009 or 2010. Obesity is the 2nd leading cause of preventable death in America, so this drug offers a great chance for more people to improve their health and get ready to enjoy our “magical future”.
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POPSIcahn Wins? Bristol Bids For ImClone The market is already valuing ImClone at above the offer price. But why would the bid price go up? Who would want to own a share of a drug that Bristol already essentially controls?
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POPSHybrid Medical's Videos Some examples of high end 3D medical and scientific animations for the pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare, and biotechnology industries provided by the Minneapolis based Hybrid Medical Animation studeo.
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POPS Scientists: Humans and machines will merge in future The end result would be a new form of "posthuman" life with beings that possess qualities and skills so exceedingly advanced they no longer can be classified simply as humans. Bostrom declined to predict an exact time frame when this revolutionary biotechnological metamorphosis might occur. "Maybe it will take eight years or 200 years," he said. "It is very hard to predict."
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POPSProtect Our Food "These "pharma crops" have been grown outdoors in 35 states. They threaten to mix with food crops and contaminate our food supply, with serious implications for public health, farmers, and food producers."
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