Armenia: GMO free zone

Today at the usual Cabinet session the RA Minister of Nature Protection Aram Hartutyunyan presented to the Cabinet the project about the Genetically Modified Organism for an approval. Minister noted that the law has passed a long way. According to the suggested law the RA is recognized as GMO free zone. By the law, it is allowed to carry out activities only in isolated systems, for laboratory experiments only.

View the original article here: Armenia: GMO free zone – Aysor

Rethinking GM, conventional, and organic food safety

fruits and vegetables

The debate of the labeling of foods with genetically modified substances has stirred a provocative rethinking of notions of food safety. As Gerhard Adam argues, any pronouncement of “safety” is a qualified assessment and subject to being wrong depending on the individual exposed. As a result, we should be cognizant of the fact that whenever food is modified in any form, we may well change the profile of the “risk” for certain individuals. But although the changes may result from genetic modification–such as the insertion of new DNA proteins–the process itself does not necessarily increase food risk.
View the original article here: Rethinking GM, conventional, and organic food safety

Human brains: Could we transfer the mind to other devices?

brain smart

We may be on the brink of fundamentally surpassing our supposed limits. There is no reason why the complex information processing at the core of human experience should continue to be unique to one biological implementation, the human brain. Neuroscientists believe that moving the functions of minds from brains to other types of materials to become substrate-independent minds (SIMs) might be feasible.
View the original article here: Human brains: Could we transfer the mind to other devices?

Center for Genetics and Society escalates attack on life-saving gene therapy

gene therapy chromosome
CGS, a “progressive” but uber conservative-minded advocacy group that opposes many medical technology innovations is continuing its campaign against gene therapy on the grounds that changing a person’s DNA coding is a ‘violation’ of ethical principles, claiming it should be “off limits”. It’s a classic precautionary argument rooted in an almost pre-genetic understanding of science.
View the original article here: Center for Genetics and Society escalates attack on life-saving gene therapy

Prop 37: An initiative in need of its own warning label

caliprop
Even for shoppers wishing to single out genetically engineered foods, Prop 37 doesn’t deliver what it promises. Cheeses made with a genetically engineered clotting agent? Beer and wine fermented with genetically engineered yeasts? Milk from cows injected with an engineered growth hormone? They’re all exempt, but corn or soybean oil from genetically engineered crops – which contain no DNA from the plants themselves – would be captured. Such inconsistencies make it clear that Prop 37 isn’t about giving consumers the information they need to make informed choices; it’s about rewarding politically connected interest groups and punishing others.

California Shakedown: Prop 37 could open floodgates to consumer suits

Prop
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, under Prop 37, any Californian would be able to sue any seller or manufacturer of a product that contained even minute traces of genetically modified ingredients even if the manufacturer did not know this and had no reasonable expectation that it did.  It’s an extension of a provision enacted in a 2004 state ballot measure that opened the floodgates to individual citizens becoming professional litigants–in many cases, they didn’t have to sue companies but just had to threaten them to collect sizable shakedowns.

Stem cells show promise for treating infertility in cancer patients

db x

A promising stem-cell-based approach for treating infertility has been successfully demonstrated in non-human primates, as reported in a study published by Cell Press in the November issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. The preclinical study represents an important milestone for translating this strategy to the clinic, particularly for cancer survivors who have been rendered infertile by chemotherapy they received before reaching sexual maturity.

View the original article here: Stem cells show promise for treating infertility in cancer patients – Science Codex

Prop 37: An initiative in need of its own warning label? Pro-GM supporter says no to Prop 37

Like much that transpires in politics, most of the anti-genetic engineering campaigns we’ve seen over the past 30 years are not what they seem; they are more propaganda than populism. An example is this year’s Proposition 37 on the California ballot, which would require the labeling of certain “genetically engineered” foods. Several aspects of this initiative are important to Californians. For a start, as public policy it fails dismally. Prop 37 flunks every test: scientific, economic, legal and common sense. Genetically engineered foods are not in any way a meaningful “category,” which makes any choice of what to include wholly arbitrary. Nor are they unsafe or any less “natural” than thousands of other common foods. Therefore, as federal regulators have said, a mandatory label erroneously implies a meaningful difference where none exists.

View the original article here: Prop 37: An Initiative in Need of Its Own Warning Label

Stem cell face lift: Does it work?

Doctors and researchers have long said that stem cell therapy has the potential to change the face of human disease. But what if stem cells could be used to reverse the aging process as well? Plastic surgeons say they can use stem cells to make women look years younger without the pain of an invasive surgery.

“I lost weight, loss of volume in face, I looked gaunt and I said, so I said, ‘okay what do we do to fix this?'” said Sarah, a patient. The fix for this was a stem-cell face lift. Dr. Steve Szczerba of Chicago Aesthetic Surgery Institute recommended that Sarah undergo a procedure, where he’d use her own adult stem cells to turn back the clock.

View the original article here: Stem cell face lift: Does it work? – Fox News

UK: Row erupts over GM ‘agenda setting’ claims

Anti-GM lobby groups Genewatch UK and GM Freeze have published information which they believe shows GM companies such as Monsanto, Bayer and BASF are ‘setting the agenda’ for agricultural research in the UK. They also claim the UK Government has done a ‘secret deal to promote GM in Britain and abroad’ and is supporting a move to ‘push Monsanto propaganda in schools’. Defra said the claims were ‘completely inaccurate and any accusation to the contrary is totally unfounded’.

View the original article here: Row erupts over GM ‘agenda setting’ claims – Farmers Guardian

Researchers discover how tiny sugars regulate stem cells

Embryonic stem cells hold great promise as a potential cell-based therapy for a myriad of serious diseases, but there is still much to learn before they become a regular part of the doctor’s toolkit. Scientists do not yet fully understand the complex processes that take place during the earliest stages of development when stem cells in the embryo begin to transform into specialized cells that can be used to regenerate bones, tissues and nerves.

View the original article here: Researchers discover how tiny sugars regulate stem cells – Phys.Org

Arthur R. Jensen, who sparked debate about the genetics of IQ, dies

jensen
Arthur R. Jensen, an educational psychologist at the University of California Berkeley who argued that the gap in intelligence-test scores between black and whites was largely due to genetic differences and not cultural or environmental factors, died at the age of 89. While reviled by some–his explosive thesis was first published in 1969 at the height of the civil rights movement–his fundamental view that intelligence is largely rooted in genetics and that population based factors play a significant role in shaping human intelligence have become mainstream. James R. Flynn, an authority on IQ tests who gained prominence with his discovery of the worldwide cultural and environmental influences on IQ, known as the “Flynn effect,” noted that Jensen made “landmark contributions” to psychology, most of which had nothing to do with questions of race.
 
Additional Resources:
glp menu logo outlined

Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required
Email Lists