McD's Contribution to a Heathier You

[j_b]

Hitler loved science.

 

well, I love science too but ignoring some of the evidence isn't science.

[tvashtarkatena]

"Science is but a dung heap, Rob, and I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow.” - j_b

[KaskadskyjKozak]

"Science is but a dung heap, Rob, and I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow.” - j_b

 

Liar!

[Off_White]

Hitler loved science.

 

well, I love science too but ignoring some of the evidence isn't science.

 

 

Another way to to make use of set theory: Hitler also loved women you know, and he had a mustache.

[ivan]

Hitler loved science.

he also was a real healthy eater

[prole]

Which is why I support Chris Christie.

[prole]

Not literally support him, I'd be crushed to death.

[rob]

I can't wait until we start modifying the human genome. Imagine if cigarettes weren't bad for you and alcohol didn't destroy your liver? WINNING.

[Jim]

Science is cool, jb. It's what makes humans awesome.

 

You do know I am a scientist. Right?

 

I'm resigning from SCB and NAS.

[j_b]

obviously no great loss considering the logic and ethics of your posts

[tvashtarkatena]

Yeah, when I think of shaky ethics and poor logic, Jim's the first guy that pops into my mind.

[tvashtarkatena]

Hitler loved science.

he also was a real healthy eater

 

And a (man made) dog lover.

[j_b]

Yeah, when I think of shaky ethics and poor logic, Jim's the first guy that pops into my mind.

 

as if you were a reference for anything beside your self-aggrandizement.

[tvashtarkatena]

A man's gotta be good an sumthin.

[rob]

ready? FIGHT!

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Not literally support him, I'd be crushed to death.

 

He's already supported by a tax funded chopper, you know, when he needs to make a T ball game or something, so no worries.

 

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY!

[prole]

For me, it wasn't that he took the chopper to the game, it was that he took a limo the hundred yards from the landing zone to the ball-field.

[rob]

100 yards???? My landing zone is much closer to my ball-field.

[Jim]

A man's gotta be good an sumthin.

 

If you're not outraged you're not paying attention. Dammit!

[KaskadskyjKozak]

100 yards???? My landing zone is much closer to my ball-field.

 

But could you identify your ball field from a photo?

[ivan]

I can't wait until we start modifying the human genome. Imagine if cigarettes weren't bad for you and alcohol didn't destroy your liver? WINNING.

this is as grand a plan as the "more fat guys, less fat chicks" one!

[j_b]

Fresh doubts have arisen about the safety of genetically modified crops, with a new study reporting presence of Bt toxin, used widely in GM crops, in human blood for the first time.

 

Genetically modified crops include genes extracted from bacteria to make them resistant to pest attacks.

 

These genes make crops toxic to pests but are claimed to pose no danger to the environment and human health. Genetically modified brinjal, whose commercial release was stopped a year ago, has a toxin derived from a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt).

 

Till now, scientists and multinational corporations promoting GM crops have maintained that Bt toxin poses no danger to human health as the protein breaks down in the human gut. But the presence of this toxin in human blood shows that this does not happen.

 

Scientists from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, have detected the insecticidal protein, Cry1Ab, circulating in the blood of pregnant as well as non-pregnant women.

 

They have also detected the toxin in fetal blood, implying it could pass on to the next generation. The research paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal Reproductive Toxicology. The study covered 30 pregnant women and 39 women who had come for tubectomy at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) in Quebec.

 

None of them had worked or lived with a spouse working in contact with pesticides.

 

They were all consuming typical Canadian diet that included GM foods such as soybeans, corn and potatoes. Blood samples were taken before delivery for pregnant women and at tubal ligation for non-pregnant women. Umbilical cord blood sampling was done after birth.

 

Cry1Ab toxin was detected in 93 per cent and 80 per cent of maternal and fetal blood samples, respectively and in 69 per cent of tested blood samples from non-pregnant women. Earlier studies had found trace amounts of the Cry1Ab toxin in gastrointestinal contents of livestock fed on GM corn. This gave rise to fears that the toxins may not be effectively eliminated in humans and there may be a high risk of exposure through consumption of contaminated meat.

 

"Generated data will help regulatory agencies responsible for the protection of human health to make better decisions", noted researchers Aziz Aris and Samuel Leblanc.

 

Given the potential toxicity of these environmental pollutants and the fragility of the foetus, more studies are needed, particularly those using the placental transfer approach, they added Experts have warned of serious implications for India. Cottonseed oil is made from seeds of genetically modified cotton and thus Bt toxin may have already entered the food chain in India.

 

"Indian regulators should be immediately called for detailed toxicological studies to know the extent of contamination of the human blood with Bt toxins coming from cottonseed oil, and also ascertain its long term health impacts," said Devinder Sharma, an anti-GM activist.

Toxin from GM crops found in human blood

[tvashtarkatena]

I can't wait until we start modifying the human genome. Imagine if cigarettes weren't bad for you and alcohol didn't destroy your liver? WINNING.

this is as grand a plan as the "more fat guys, less fat chicks" one!

 

We need to seize power.

[tvashtarkatena]

Just finished weeding me veggie beds. What would a Vicetopian Victory garden look like?

 

[j_b]

A study by an Indiana University environmental science professor and several colleagues suggests a widely planted variety of genetically modified corn has the potential to harm aquatic ecosystems. The study is being published by the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS).

 

Researchers, including Todd V. Royer, an assistant professor in the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, established that pollen and other plant parts containing toxins from genetically modified Bt corn are washing into streams near cornfields.

 

They also conducted laboratory trials that found consumption of Bt corn byproducts produced increased mortality and reduced growth in caddisflies, aquatic insects that are related to the pests targeted by the toxin in Bt corn.

Caddisflies, Royer said, “are a food resource for higher organisms like fish and amphibians. And, if our goal is to have healthy, functioning ecosystems, we need to protect all the parts. Water resources are something we depend on greatly.”

 

Other principal investigators for the study, titled “Toxins in transgenic crop byproducts may affect headwater stream ecosystems,” were Emma Rosi-Marshall of Loyola University Chicago, Jennifer Tank of the University of Notre Dame and Matt Whiles of Southern Illinois University. It was funded by the National Science Foundation.

 

Bt corn is engineered to include a gene from the micro-organism Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces a toxin that protects the crop from pests, in particular the European corn borer. It was licensed for use in 1996 and quickly gained popularity. In 2006, around 35 percent of corn acreage planted in the U.S. was genetically modified, the study says, citing U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

 

Before licensing Bt corn, the US Environmental Protection Agency conducted trials to test its impact on water biota. But it used Daphnia, a crustacean commonly used for toxicity tests, and not insects that are more closely related to the target pests, Royer said.

[..]

Their research, conducted in 2005 and 2006 in an intensely farmed region of northern Indiana, measured inputs of Bt corn pollen and corn byproducts (e.g., leaves and cobs) in 12 headwater streams, using litter traps to collect the materials. They also found corn pollen in the guts of certain caddisflies, showing they were feeding on corn pollen.

 

In laboratory trials, the researchers found that caddisflies fed leaves from Bt corn had growth rates that were less than half those of caddisflies fed non-Bt corn litter. They also found that a different type of caddisfly had significantly increased mortality rates when exposed to Bt corn pollen at concentrations between two and three times the maximum found in the test sites.

Study shows GM corn could harm aquatic ecosystems