Lucha genética contra la isquemia
Investigadores de Andalucía y California se unen para intentar lograr una terapia con células madre modificadas que evite amputaciones.
La isquemia crítica se ha encontrado con nuevo enemigo: médicos del Hospital Reina Sofía de Córdoba y del California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, radicado en San Francisco, colaborarán en un ensayo clínico para tratar de contrarrestar los efectos de esta dolencia, que en muchas ocasiones acaba en la amputación de las extremidades inferiores. Dos de las tecnologías más prometedoras se darán la mano: las células madre y la modificación genética.
El equipo del Reina Sofía se presentó junto a investigadores de la Universidad de California en Davis a la convocatoria de 2010 de este prestigioso instituto. Tras superar todas las fases, recibió el 26 de julio el visto bueno a esta investigación, que busca regenerar la circulación sanguínea a través de células madre modificadas genéticamente.
En una primera fase los investigadores andaluces probarán su efectividad en animales. Luego, a partir de tercer año, de los cuatro que está previsto que dure el proyecto, la intención es realizar el ensayo clínico en 20 pacientes voluntarios en la Unidad de Terapia Celular del Reina Sofía. A cinco se les “infundirán” células madre sin modificar. A los 15 restantes, células modificadas genéticamente. Natividad Cuende, directora de la Iniciativa Andaluza en Terapias Avanzadas, advirtió ayer de que la terapia que se diseñe —basada en un denominado “vector viral” que se emplea para facilitar la regeneración— deberá contar con el visto bueno de la Agencia Española del Medicamento. Según la consejera andaluza de Salud, María Jesús Montero, será la primera vez que este ente supervisor autorice una investigación de estas características. El California Institute for Regenerative Medicine aportará 11,5 millones. La Junta gastará 1,2 millones, el valor de los recursos profesionales y materiales que se emplearán en la investigación.
Esta enfermedad tiene especial incidencia entre los diabéticos: el 20% de la población isquémica sufre esta dolencia. Además, el 50% de los diagnosticados de isquemia crítica sufren la amputación de un miembro al cabo de un año.
Comentario: En mi opinión la enfermedad de la isquemia se trata de una enfermedad poco conocida en base a su gravedad. La pérdida de un miembro de extremidad debe ser muy dura, por que ésta impide el desarrollo de la vida cotidiana para sujetos infectados. También han de ser duras las dolencias que cause la misma(la imagen es chocante). Por esto me parece extraordinaria la idea de buscar su cura mediante ingeniería genética aplicada a células madre, así como el trabajo llevado a cabo por estos investigadores voluntarios.
Comentario: En mi opinión la enfermedad de la isquemia se trata de una enfermedad poco conocida en base a su gravedad. La pérdida de un miembro de extremidad debe ser muy dura, por que ésta impide el desarrollo de la vida cotidiana para sujetos infectados. También han de ser duras las dolencias que cause la misma(la imagen es chocante). Por esto me parece extraordinaria la idea de buscar su cura mediante ingeniería genética aplicada a células madre, así como el trabajo llevado a cabo por estos investigadores voluntarios.
Fabricada una medusa artificial con células de músculo de rata
Los investigadores quieren estudiar las contracciones para aplicarlas al corazón
Según explica su creador, el biofísico Kit Parker, la idea se le ocurrió al visitar un acuario en Boston. “Vi el tanque de las medusas y me sacudió como un rayo. Pensé: ‘Yo puedo construir eso”. Para ello, reclutó a John Dabiri, un bioingeniero que estudia la propulsion biológica en elCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) de Pasadena. “Le cogí y le dije: ‘John, creo que puedo construir una medusa’. No sabía quién era yo, pero estaba tan nervioso y movía tantos los brazos que creo que tuvo miedo a decirme que no”, relata Parker.
El medusoide —así lo han llamado— es una especie de estrella de silicona sobre la que se han cultivado células de músculo de rata siguiendo el esquema de un tipo de medusa, la Aurelia aurita. Al sumergirlo en un líquido que transmite impulsos eléctricos, se contrae en un movimiento que imita el de estos animales en la naturaleza.
No se trata solo de un juego de científicos chiflados. La contracción muscular es clave para la vida: es así como se mueve el corazón. La siguiente idea de Parker es precisamente esa: construir un medusoide con células cardiacas humanas.
Comentario: Aparentemente este experimento no tiene utilidad alguna y parece un simple juego de ''cientificos chiflados'' como dice la noticia, pero sin embargo podría ser bastante útil para aplicar dichos tejidos contráctiles a nuestro organo contractil por naturaleza, el corazón. Podría desembocar este experimento en una medida alternativa a marcapasos y trasplantes de corazón para la regeneración artificial de músculos cardíacos que no realizan bien su función por diversos factores.
Comentario: Aparentemente este experimento no tiene utilidad alguna y parece un simple juego de ''cientificos chiflados'' como dice la noticia, pero sin embargo podría ser bastante útil para aplicar dichos tejidos contráctiles a nuestro organo contractil por naturaleza, el corazón. Podría desembocar este experimento en una medida alternativa a marcapasos y trasplantes de corazón para la regeneración artificial de músculos cardíacos que no realizan bien su función por diversos factores.
Un nuevo método permite modificar genes con precisión
La técnica posibilita elegir dónde insertar o cortar el ADN
Cada día se descubre un gen relacionado con alguna
enfermedad. La información es válida, pero puede ser frustrante: de nada sirve
saber qué gen hay que cambiar o eliminar si no se tienen herramientas para
ello. Un nuevo método permite acercarse a este problema con más seguridad,
publica Science.
El sistema, que ha desarrollado el Instituto de
Tecnología de Massachusetts (el prestigioso MIT), es, hasta ahora, el más
certero en estos intentos. Desde sembrar el ADN con genes al azar y esperar que
se integren pasando por usar vectores como virus hasta el uso de medios
físicos, como unas tijeras de zinc, muchos métodos se han intentado. Pero este
tiene la ventaja de que se basa en el conocimiento exacto del ADN. Este está
formado por una secuencia de moléculas encadenadas (las attgccgta…). Cada fila
tiene una secuencia complementaria de ARN, otro tipo de material genético (en
el caso anterior, la uaacggcau) que se ajusta a ella como un molde. Si se sabe
al lado de qué secuencia se quiere cortar el ADN para incluir un gen (que no es
sino otro trozo de ADN) o para eliminarlo, basta con pegar una enzima llamada
nucleasa al final de esa cadena. “Cualquier aplicación que necesite manipular
un organismo puede beneficiarse de esta técnica”, ha dicho Feng Zhang, líder
del equipo investigador.
En principio, el descubrimiento es muy útil para
manipular células individuales o microrganismos como bacterias, pero también
podría usarse en enfermedades causadas por una mutación localizada. Con ello se
evitaría que ocurriera como en algunos ensayos de terapia génica, donde la
imposibilidad de elegir el sitio de inserción del nuevo material hizo que
cayera al lado de un oncogén, con lo que se estimuló su activación y el
resultado fue que en vez de curar de una enfermedad se causó otra.
El método no es, sin embargo, la panacea. Podría
funcionar bien con enfermedades monogenéticas, como la corea de Huntington,
pero no sirve para otras donde hay muchos genes implicados y donde, tan
importante o más que el material genético del individuo, sea la activación de
este, como en la mayoría de los cánceres.
Todo esto, sin embargo, está aún muy lejano: el
sistema solo se ha probado en cultivos de células. Los investigadores quieren
pasar ahora a neuronas.
Comentario: El método expuesto no es más que un boceto de lo que realmente puede llegar a ser, como lo es la genética en sí. Aun estamos bastante limitados en ciertos aspectos de la misma como por ejemplo se refleja en la noticia el lugar donde saber colocar dicho material genético. Otro ejemplo de nuestras limitaciones es la afuncionalidad con que calificamos en el pasado al ADN basura pues desconociamos y desconocemos su función exacta, que deberá de ser importante puesto que es el 95% del ADN total que poseemos. Destacar por último la genialidad de la idea, y las múltiples aplicaciones contra enfermedades monogenéticas.
Comentario: El método expuesto no es más que un boceto de lo que realmente puede llegar a ser, como lo es la genética en sí. Aun estamos bastante limitados en ciertos aspectos de la misma como por ejemplo se refleja en la noticia el lugar donde saber colocar dicho material genético. Otro ejemplo de nuestras limitaciones es la afuncionalidad con que calificamos en el pasado al ADN basura pues desconociamos y desconocemos su función exacta, que deberá de ser importante puesto que es el 95% del ADN total que poseemos. Destacar por último la genialidad de la idea, y las múltiples aplicaciones contra enfermedades monogenéticas.
Una vaca modificada genéticamente produce leche hipoalergénica
'Daisy', creada en Nueva Zelanda, elimina la proteína que suele causar reacciones en bebés
Su nombre es Daisy, es una vaca modificada genéticamente y se ha hecho un hueco en la historia de la ciencia al dar leche hipoalergénica. Investigadores del AgResearch, un instituto de investigación dependiente del Gobierno de Nueva Zelanda, anunciaron ayer el desarrollo de este animal trasgénico que recoge en sus páginas la revista Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Los dos problemas más frecuentes ligados al consumo de leche son la intolerancia a la lactosa (un tipo de azúcar) y la alergia a alguna de sus proteínas (que desarrollan entre el 2% y el 3% de los niños menores de un año). A esta segunda cuestión se dirige la tarea desarrollada por el equipo neozelandés. En concreto, los esfuerzos se han centrado en la beta-lactoglobulina (BLG), una proteína con propiedades alergénicas presente en el suero de la leche de vaca y que no se encuentra en la leche materna.
Los investigadores modificaron la estructura genética de Daisy. Introdujeron dos microARN, unas moléculas que, como explica el profesor de genética de la Universitat de València, Manuel Pérez-Alonso, tienen la facultad de inhibir la expresión de un gen, en este caso, del responsable de la producción de la proteína BLG. Como resultado de ello, la leche de Daisy, una vez analizada, “no registró niveles detectables de la proteína BLG”, según los autores del trabajo.
La vaca (aún es una ternera) es demasiado joven como para ser ordeñada, por lo que fue estimulada artificialmente con hormonas para obtener las pequeñas muestras de leche que fueron estudiadas. “Ahora queremos criar y alimentar al animal para, en un tiempo, con lactancia natural, volver a practicar análisis”, indican los investigadores. Otra de las cuestiones pendientes de evaluar con mayor profundidad consiste en determinar por qué Daisy nació sin cola, una malformación muy rara en estos animales.Hasta ahora, la industria láctea ha reducido el potencial alérgico de la leche mediante procesos químicos que, según señala este estudio, "son más caros" y "pueden dejar en la leche un sabor amargo". También existen otras técnicas de manipulación de genes, llamada recombinación homóloga, que elimina la proteína BLG, en vez de reducirla como hace esta nueva técnica. Los investigadores indican que "este sistema no está dando buenos resultados".
Además, existe otro debate relacionado con la explotación industrial de esta tecnología. “Una cosa es el interés científico y otra su posible aplicación”, indica Javier Cañón, catedrático de Genética de la facultad de Veterinaria de la Universidad Complutense. “No parece una técnica económicamente asumible por los sistemas de producción animal actuales”.El trabajo ha cosechado críticas de grupos contrarios a la manipulación genética y ecologistas. Steffan Browning, diputado del Partido Verde neozelandés, considera que la investigación pone en peligro la gran reputación que tiene su país como productor de alimentos ecológicos, que generan 828 millones de dólares anuales (640 millones de euros), principalmente gracias a sus exportaciones. A estas objeciones se unen las de GE Free New Zealand, organización que alarta de que el experimento elimina una proteína necesaria para el desarrollo de la vaca.Comentario: me parece un gran avance experimentalmente, pues podría suponer la posibilidad de ingestión universal de leche en un futuro, sin embargo acuerdo en Steffan Browning en que no se debe expandir todavía este hecho, pero no desacuerdo con una posibilidad futura, en un tiempo en que verdaderamente lo sepamos todo sobre la recombinación genética. Para mí es un principio. Y sí, no se trata de alimentos naturales, pero en dicho momento de conocer al 100% el ADN, la diferencia entre un alimento natural y uno artificial será ninguna en cuanto a aporte de nutrientes y otros factores que proporciona la naturalidad de alimentos. Sin embargo, el señor Browing no se pone en la piel de personas que no pueden ingerir la leche, que aunque son pocas, las hay.
Activar un gen cambia aletas por patas
El descubrimiento explica un paso clave en la evolución
Que el paso de la vida marina a la terrestre fue clave en la evolución no hace falta que nadie nos lo explique: aquí estamos los seres humanos, que salvo gente de la talla Michael Phelps en corto o David Meca en largo, como el chapuzón se prolongue nos defendemos fatal. Y que el cambio de aleta a pata necesita una mutación (o varias) es elemental en genética. Es aquí donde encaja un trabajo del CSIC, que ha descubierto que si se coge un pez cebra y se sobreexpresa un gen del grupo de los Hox, la aleta empieza a osificar como si fuera una extremidad.
Los genes Hox son una de las claves en la evolución animal, y, también en que la mayoría de las especies tengan una estructura similar: cabeza, un cuerpo más o menos complejo y una parte anal terminal. Tienen un papel tan importante, que son intercambiables entre especies: están ahí, listos para expresarse. “El ancestro común de los peces y los tetrápodos tenía un genoma preparado para adquirir progresivamente nuevos elementos reguladores que fueron aumentando los niveles de los genes Hox que permitieron el desarrollo de las manos y los pies”, explica Fernando Casares, del Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (un centro mixto del CSIC y la Universidad Pablo Olavide), uno de los autores del trabajo.
En concreto, el gen implicado se denomina hoxd13. “Nuestros experimentos demuestran por primera vez que, si aumentamos los niveles del gen hoxd13 en aletas de peces cebra, se incrementa la aparición de tejido óseo de carácter distal similar al que genera los dedos en animales con patas como nosotros”, explica el investigador del CSIC José Luis Gómez‐Skarmeta.
Flavour changer: Genome could enhance tomato taste
The successful sequencing of the tomato genome will lead to tastier varieties within five years say scientists.
They believe that the elusive flavour of home grown tomatoes will by then be widely available in supermarkets.
Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers say the genetic information could reduce the need for pesticides.
The authors believe the genome will also boost conventional breeding techniques over genetic modification.
While the sheer numbers and varieties of tomatoes available in UK shops have increased substantially in the past 20 years, many consumers would complain that this growth has been at the expense of flavour.
Scientists like Professor Graham Seymour at the University of Nottingham would tend to agree.
"In the early 1990s what changed the tomato industry was the use of non-ripening mutant genes, genes that came from natural mutations that have been used to extend shelf life in the fruit.
But this has been quite a blunt instrument, because when you slow ripening down you also slow down those other processes like flavour development and colour development."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18253577
Comment: For me, today tomatoes aren't the same as in the past because of the population developement. Business of tomatoes have had to find a way to produce them rapidly. This way is by broshing over hormones, and that harms to the flavour. An that's why the idea is brilliant, if we can make the tomato mature faster, why not will we make it have more flavour?
Leiden, The Netherlands, July 16, 2012. Biotech company Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or "the Company") (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) today announces that a randomized, cross-over double blind, placebo controlled study in healthy volunteers has shown that Pharming's recombinant human Lactoferrin (rhLF) is safe, based on the assessment of clinical data, gastro-intestinal tolerance and adverse event reporting.Twenty-four healthy subjects with an age-range of 25 to 49 years participated in the study. These volunteers consumed recombinant human Lactoferrin at a daily dose of 0, 300 or 1000 mg, in combination with 10 grams of skimmed milk powder. Each treatment was consumed for a period of two weeks. There was no difference between treatment and placebo and it was concluded that consumption of rhLF is safe. The study was supported by a grant from the Dutch Food and Nutrition Delta (FND).These results are consistent with a previous clinical study, undertaken by Pharming in 2002 under a pharmaceutical development plan, in which intravenous use of rhLF was tested to a dose of 60 mg/kg in healthy volunteers. Pre-clinical safety studies showed that doses up to 2000 mg/kg/day were safe.
Human Lactoferrin is a natural protein that helps to fight and prevent infections. The protein is present in substantial quantities in mother's milk and plays an important role in the defense system of infants. The protein is also present in various body fluids and continues to play an important role against a wide range of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens in adults.
Out-licensing discussions aimed at finding partners interested in further developing the Lactoferrin franchise are ongoing.
Bruno Giannetti, COO of Pharming said: "With this study in human volunteers we now complete an extensive dossier of safety studies on Pharming's recombinant human Lactoferrin. We conclude that these latest results confirm previous findings and together provide a very good basis to use rhLF as a food ingredient and support for our ongoing discussions with potential partners and buyers for the project."
Comment: The article express the bad part of genetic engineering, the distrust of new substances obtained by new methods like the said. This is a normal ocurrence, because really we don't know the effect of these substances until we see them empirically. Of course the substante is tested by volunteers.This time the experiment had had good results, but in my oppinion it's too important to make it with all new substances, and after the demonstration we can claim victory and take advantage of the transgenic substance benefits which, in this case, is the lactoferrin.
TheU.S.Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.Unlike current flu vaccines, Flublok does not use the influenza virus or eggs in its production. Flublok's novel manufacturing technology allows for production of large quantities of the influenza virus protein, hemagglutinin (HA) – the active ingredient in all inactivated influenza vaccines that is essential for entry of the virus into cells in the body. The majority of antibodies that prevent influenza virus infection are directed against HA. While the technology is new to flu vaccine production, it is used to make vaccines that have been approved by the FDA to prevent other infectious diseases.
"This approval represents a technological advance in the manufacturing of an influenza vaccine," said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "The new technology offers the potential for faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic, because it is not dependent on an egg supply or on availability of the influenza virus."
Each year, the FDA, World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health experts collaborate on the review of influenza disease surveillance and laboratory data collected from around the world in an effort to identify strains that may cause the most illness in the upcoming season. Based on that information and on the recommendations of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA selects the different influenza strains each year that manufacturers should include in their vaccines for the U.S. population for the upcoming influenza season. The closer the match between the circulating strains causing disease and the strains in the vaccine, the better the protection against influenza.
Flublok contains three, full-length, recombinant HA proteins to help protect against two influenza virus A strains, H1N1 and H3N2, and one influenza virus B strain.
Comment: Influenza virus is a very mutant virus. This implies the anual redoing of vaccines against it. The flublock vaccine explained in the article is an another possibility of vaccine against this virus. It's done by genetic engineering and you haven't to be infected of weakened virus to be protected, which is the modus operandi of another influenza vaccines. That's why this new vaccine is so good. Another reason is the rapid way to manufacture because the bacterias which make it are always ''working'' and reproducing, what can allow a faster creation and propagation of the vaccine.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130116/Protein-Sciences-receives-FDA-approval-for-Flublok-vaccine.aspx
GOLDEN rice is still a sticky issue. Just months after publication of a landmark study showing that the genetically engineered food has the potential to prevent childhood blindness, the researchers behind the study face accusations of breaching ethical regulations.
Critics of the rice, engineered to contain beta-carotene to boost dietary vitamin A, previously said it doesn't contain enough of the stuff to block blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency. Last year's study concluded that just 100 to 150 grams of the rice supplies 60 per cent of the recommended daily intake of the vitamin.
Now, three Chinese researchers have been sacked following an investigation led by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, which says they failed to tell parents of children taking part in a trial that the rice was genetically modified.
Adrian Dubock of the Golden Rice Project, who was not involved in the study, says the language in the consent form matched that in an earlier US trial of the rice.
Comment: This is a conflict between ethics defender people and people in favour of science progress. However, for me, people have the obligation of knowing what they are eating, and in the Chinese's case, there is a crime because they gived food genetically modified, without knowing all the consecuences and the boys family ideology which is completely respectable.
Comment: For me, today tomatoes aren't the same as in the past because of the population developement. Business of tomatoes have had to find a way to produce them rapidly. This way is by broshing over hormones, and that harms to the flavour. An that's why the idea is brilliant, if we can make the tomato mature faster, why not will we make it have more flavour?
Pharming confirms safety profile of recombinant human Lactoferrin in a food safety study in healthy human volunteers
Leiden, The Netherlands, July 16, 2012. Biotech company Pharming Group NV ("Pharming" or "the Company") (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) today announces that a randomized, cross-over double blind, placebo controlled study in healthy volunteers has shown that Pharming's recombinant human Lactoferrin (rhLF) is safe, based on the assessment of clinical data, gastro-intestinal tolerance and adverse event reporting.Twenty-four healthy subjects with an age-range of 25 to 49 years participated in the study. These volunteers consumed recombinant human Lactoferrin at a daily dose of 0, 300 or 1000 mg, in combination with 10 grams of skimmed milk powder. Each treatment was consumed for a period of two weeks. There was no difference between treatment and placebo and it was concluded that consumption of rhLF is safe. The study was supported by a grant from the Dutch Food and Nutrition Delta (FND).These results are consistent with a previous clinical study, undertaken by Pharming in 2002 under a pharmaceutical development plan, in which intravenous use of rhLF was tested to a dose of 60 mg/kg in healthy volunteers. Pre-clinical safety studies showed that doses up to 2000 mg/kg/day were safe.
Human Lactoferrin is a natural protein that helps to fight and prevent infections. The protein is present in substantial quantities in mother's milk and plays an important role in the defense system of infants. The protein is also present in various body fluids and continues to play an important role against a wide range of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens in adults.
Out-licensing discussions aimed at finding partners interested in further developing the Lactoferrin franchise are ongoing.
Bruno Giannetti, COO of Pharming said: "With this study in human volunteers we now complete an extensive dossier of safety studies on Pharming's recombinant human Lactoferrin. We conclude that these latest results confirm previous findings and together provide a very good basis to use rhLF as a food ingredient and support for our ongoing discussions with potential partners and buyers for the project."
Comment: The article express the bad part of genetic engineering, the distrust of new substances obtained by new methods like the said. This is a normal ocurrence, because really we don't know the effect of these substances until we see them empirically. Of course the substante is tested by volunteers.This time the experiment had had good results, but in my oppinion it's too important to make it with all new substances, and after the demonstration we can claim victory and take advantage of the transgenic substance benefits which, in this case, is the lactoferrin.
Protein Sciences receives FDA approval for Flublok vaccine
TheU.S.Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.Unlike current flu vaccines, Flublok does not use the influenza virus or eggs in its production. Flublok's novel manufacturing technology allows for production of large quantities of the influenza virus protein, hemagglutinin (HA) – the active ingredient in all inactivated influenza vaccines that is essential for entry of the virus into cells in the body. The majority of antibodies that prevent influenza virus infection are directed against HA. While the technology is new to flu vaccine production, it is used to make vaccines that have been approved by the FDA to prevent other infectious diseases.
"This approval represents a technological advance in the manufacturing of an influenza vaccine," said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "The new technology offers the potential for faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic, because it is not dependent on an egg supply or on availability of the influenza virus."
Each year, the FDA, World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health experts collaborate on the review of influenza disease surveillance and laboratory data collected from around the world in an effort to identify strains that may cause the most illness in the upcoming season. Based on that information and on the recommendations of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA selects the different influenza strains each year that manufacturers should include in their vaccines for the U.S. population for the upcoming influenza season. The closer the match between the circulating strains causing disease and the strains in the vaccine, the better the protection against influenza.
Flublok contains three, full-length, recombinant HA proteins to help protect against two influenza virus A strains, H1N1 and H3N2, and one influenza virus B strain.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130116/Protein-Sciences-receives-FDA-approval-for-Flublok-vaccine.aspx
Golden rice trial caught up in ethical tangle
GOLDEN rice is still a sticky issue. Just months after publication of a landmark study showing that the genetically engineered food has the potential to prevent childhood blindness, the researchers behind the study face accusations of breaching ethical regulations.
Critics of the rice, engineered to contain beta-carotene to boost dietary vitamin A, previously said it doesn't contain enough of the stuff to block blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency. Last year's study concluded that just 100 to 150 grams of the rice supplies 60 per cent of the recommended daily intake of the vitamin.
Now, three Chinese researchers have been sacked following an investigation led by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, which says they failed to tell parents of children taking part in a trial that the rice was genetically modified.
Adrian Dubock of the Golden Rice Project, who was not involved in the study, says the language in the consent form matched that in an earlier US trial of the rice.
Comment: This is a conflict between ethics defender people and people in favour of science progress. However, for me, people have the obligation of knowing what they are eating, and in the Chinese's case, there is a crime because they gived food genetically modified, without knowing all the consecuences and the boys family ideology which is completely respectable.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21728983.500-golden-rice-trial-caught-up-in-ethical-tangle.html
(NaturalNews) Besides what we already know about the dangers of consuming genetically modified foods, these "frankenfoods" now appear to play a key role in the current obesity pandemic. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the number of Americans now classified as overweight has doubled in the last 20 years - the same amount of time that GM foods have been on the market, paving the way too for the increased spraying of pesticides and herbicides.
Through food, beverages and drinking water alone, the average American consumes between 10 and 13 different pesticides every single day. And with nine of the 10 most common pesticides being known endocrine disruptors, the origins of this fatter, sicker population may be less of a mystery than conventional spin doctors might like us to think.
A person experiencing weight gain in conjunction with any of the following lifestyle patterns or behaviors can be sure the destructive forces of GMOs are hard at work in their own bodies:
Comment: this article make a very hard critic to genetic modified organisms (GMOs). For me it he is right in some aspects but a beat strict in some others. Until now I have expressed support to science progress, but we cannot forget natural life. For me genetic engineering can be a very good way of developing new ways of medicine and healthy and now it is in developement, what implies that some new trangenic organisms could not be healthy and thats why is obligatory to have empiric aprobation by doing experiments. However, that does not say that we forget natural way of life like eating natural food or a natural way of life. Personally science must have ethical delimitations in order to not losing our greatest asset, nature.
http://www.naturalnews.com/038237_GMOs_making_you_fat_processed_foods.html
Four ways to know if GMOs are making you fatter
(NaturalNews) Besides what we already know about the dangers of consuming genetically modified foods, these "frankenfoods" now appear to play a key role in the current obesity pandemic. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the number of Americans now classified as overweight has doubled in the last 20 years - the same amount of time that GM foods have been on the market, paving the way too for the increased spraying of pesticides and herbicides.
Through food, beverages and drinking water alone, the average American consumes between 10 and 13 different pesticides every single day. And with nine of the 10 most common pesticides being known endocrine disruptors, the origins of this fatter, sicker population may be less of a mystery than conventional spin doctors might like us to think.
A person experiencing weight gain in conjunction with any of the following lifestyle patterns or behaviors can be sure the destructive forces of GMOs are hard at work in their own bodies:
You eat mostly non-organic, processed foods
If you don't know you're not eating organic, GMO-free foods, then you likely consume them often and have been for years. Still, even if you've not yet manifested symptoms related to the many health complications associated with GMO consumption, your body is probably already under their influence. Foreign materials - in this case, genetic foreign materials - cause the immune system to have to work harder than usual to keep you from experiencing the inevitable consequences, which can be as serious as organ damage, diabetes, infertility, cancer and death. Studies so far suggest it's really only a matter of time before something goes terribly awry. Even healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente has encouraged readers of its newsletters to steer clear of non-organic GM foods. The reason, presumably, is that executives there understand that, if enough of its members make this important lifestyle change, it would actually save the company millions in future healthcare costs. Unfortunately, most corn, soy (as in the dairy-alternative milk, tofu, etc. much beloved by vegans), wheat and canola produced these days are genetically modified and it would probably be best to avoid them altogether. You'll know your foods are GMO-free if they bear either a label reading "100% organic" or the "Non-GMO Verified" logo.You eat conventional meats or dairy
If the meats and dairy you purchase are not 100 percent organic, grass-fed or bug-fed (as with chickens), or at least given a grain feed that is 100 percent organic, you can bet your life (and you are) that they contain harmful GMOs guaranteed to pass into your system upon consumption. A study in the International Journal of Obesity involving researchers from 10 different universities indicated that hormones used in conventional meat production might also be a direct contributor to the recent rise in obesity rates, as fat-soluble pesticides are attracted to the body's fat stores. If you purchase these foods locally, simply ask the farmer to tell you how they raise the animals, or better yet, take some time to go and view their operation yourself. If you have no idea where the meats and dairy come from and cannot find out easily, then avoid them altogether.You feel hungry frequently or experience low energy
The tendency to overeat may actually have more to do with poor nourishment than with lack of self-control or an inactive lifestyle. While balance and some activity are certainly important, food (assisted, perhaps, by carefully chosen food-based supplements) is ultimately how the body acquires the essential nutrients and minerals it needs. When a person lacks a diet rich in these life-giving properties, the body - overweight though it may be already - is actually starving. But thanks to the genius of the brain which knows better than to think it's been properly nourished by a diet of empty foods, the person still feels hungry. For this reason, as often as possible, it is important to choose fresh, organic foods in their whole, unprocessed form.You suffer from insulin resistance, diabetes or impaired kidney or liver function
Unlike some sugars, fructose (as in High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is made from GM corn and shows up in all kinds of processed foods like soft drinks, candy, beer, preserved meats, canned fruits and vegetables, breads, and even pharmaceuticals, postage stamps and sealable envelopes) is not bound to glucose and therefore goes directly to the liver for processing. Once there, it is converted to fat and is deposited throughout the body, a metabolizing process that elevates uric acid levels, leading to increased blood pressure and kidney damage. Fructose also disrupts the liver's hormone production, eventually resulting in insulin resistance and diabetes. Over time, such continued demands placed on the liver can overburden it, impairing its ability to filter out toxins from the body and leading to infections, congestion or cancerous tumors, to name a few.Comment: this article make a very hard critic to genetic modified organisms (GMOs). For me it he is right in some aspects but a beat strict in some others. Until now I have expressed support to science progress, but we cannot forget natural life. For me genetic engineering can be a very good way of developing new ways of medicine and healthy and now it is in developement, what implies that some new trangenic organisms could not be healthy and thats why is obligatory to have empiric aprobation by doing experiments. However, that does not say that we forget natural way of life like eating natural food or a natural way of life. Personally science must have ethical delimitations in order to not losing our greatest asset, nature.
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