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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: genetic modification

genetic modification stories: 10 news summaries

 Bad Driving Is in the Genes 

Study says 30% can't help being lousy on the roads

Oct 29, 09 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Certain people—perhaps up to 30% of the population—may be fated by their genetic makeup to be bad drivers, a new study suggests. Researchers tested a small group of people on a driving simulator and found that subjects with a particular gene variant weren't so hot at keeping up... More »

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motorists • genetic modification • brain • genes • driving • multiple sclerosis

FDA Approves Drug Made From Gene-Tweaked Goats

Landmark decision could signal start of large-scale 'pharming' for drugs

Feb 7, 09 7:07 AM CST
(Newser) - An FDA decision to approve a drug made from genetically engineered goats is being called a milestone decision likely to lead to many more "pharm animals," the Boston Globe reports. Biotech firm GTC says the milk from a single genetically modified goat can produce as much of the... More »

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genetic modification • livestock • biotechnology • prescription drugs • pharmaceutical • goats • pharmaceutical industry

 Sensitive Swiss
 Ban Plant Humiliation 

Genetic research must not violate the dignity of wheat

Oct 10, 08 5:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Swiss scientists eager to carry out genetic experiments on plants can’t be rash—they must first consider the how their actions make that tulip feel. Government-backed ethicists studied the effects of such experimentation on plants’ dignity; they found that it was wrong to hurt plants for no reason, or... More »

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ethics • genetic testing • genetic modification • Switzerland • plants • genetic research

Italian Cooks Up Eggplant and Tomato Tree

Hardy hybrid said to yield better produce than nature intended

Jul 11, 08 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Sicilian amateur botanist claims to have developed a plant hybrid that functions as the world’s first tomato/eggplant tree, ANSA reports. Taking advantage of the fact that all three share the same genus, Giuseppe Marino grafted tomato and eggplant tissue onto a devil’s fig shrub, a hardy plant... More »

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trees • science • genetic modification • tomatoes • botany • eggplant

Cheap Malaria Drug Holds Promise for Millions

It's based on 2000-year-old herbal remedy

Jun 4, 08 3:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - The lives of millions of children  may be saved by a new technique for producing a malaria drug at a 10th of the cost of current treatments, making it accessible the world's most impoverished people, reports the Independent.  The technique involves inserting a dozen synthetic genes into yeast cells,... More »

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malaria • genetic modification • artemisinin • UC Berkeley • mosquito • World Health Organization • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • genetic engineering • Chinese medicine • synthetic biology • bioreactor • Artemesia annua • wormwood • Royal Society • Jay Keasling

Environment, Bioethics Under Vatican's Scrutiny

Church updates Catholic morality for  modern, globalized life

Mar 10, 08 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Catholics must guard against "new sins" such as polluting the environment and using genetic modification, the Vatican says. Their church has updated the concept of sin for the contemporary world, paying special attention to the expanding and morally murky world of bioethics, a top official from the Apostolic Penitentiary,... More »

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stem cell research • Pope Benedict XVI • pollution • genetic modification • Vatican • drug trafficking • Catholicism • cloning • Holy See • bioethics • sin

Lab Creates Speedy, Lean Mighty Mouse

Modified critters have voracious appetites but manage to stay thin

Nov 2, 07 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have made speedy super mice by flipping a genetic switch, reports the Guardian. The mice can run 30 times as far as regular mice, and they live longer and breed later. They also eat 60% more food than average mice but manage to stay leaner and possibly more resistant... More »

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genetic modification • mice • biology • lactic acid • bioethics • Case Western Reserve University

"Skinny Gene" Found in Mice

Scientists discover a "volume control" for fat production

Sep 4, 07 9:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - A gene dubbed "adipose," identified more than 50 years ago in fruit flies, has now been found to regulate  thinness, or its opposite, in worms and mice, according to a study in the journal Cell Metabolism.  Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have determined... More »

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genetic modification • weight loss • weight • genes • adipose

Modified Corn Could Be Killing The Bees

 "Built-in pesticides"  linked to disappearing honeybees

Mar 29, 07 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Genetically modified corn is the culprit in the disappearance of honeybees, according to a theory offered by a beekeeping expert, says Salon.  In a German study, the corn itself, which contains built-in pesticides, didn't kill the bees, but it seems to have damaged their intestines, making them vulnerable to... More »

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bees • Germany • genetic modification • corn • honeybees • pesticide

(Newser) - Genetically modified mosquitoes that cannot pass on malaria may help reduce the spread of the disease that now causes a million deaths a year, mostly children. A new study shows that the lab-designed bugs could out-breed their natural competition, eventually driving them out altogether and eliminating the route through which... More »

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evolution • parasites • health • disease • malaria • tropical diseases • genetic modification • research • mosquito

10 Stories


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