A group of senators introduced a bill on July 25, 2017 in the hopes of banning Chlorpyrifos, a toxic pesticide implicated in the poisonings of farm workers. Introduced by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, the bill challenges President Trump’s efforts to loosen environmental regulations. [1]
Researchers at the Google-linked science company Verily are in the process of releasing 20 million sterile mosquitoes into the Fresno County, California, area in an attempt to actually stop the disease-carrying menaces from breeding. [1]
A U.S. health task force said in a May 2017 statement that screening for thyroid cancer is no longer recommended for adults who have “no signs or symptoms.” [1]
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said in the news release that there is no evidence that screenings improve survival and can lead to over-diagnosis and other possible complications.
Task Force member Karina W. Davison, Ph.D., M.A.Sc., said:
There is ample research which should give parents pause when considering whether to let the TV babysit their kids. One study even suggests that too much tube time can lead to poor bone health later on.
I don’t like to bash TV. A decade ago, I worked with teen moms and their babies in a group-home setting, and nothing seemed to calm the little ones quite like Baby Einstein videos. Those videos also had a soothing effect on my nieces and nephews when they were babies.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Sapphire Energy have successfully grown genetically modified algae outdoors for the first time. They claim that the GM algae don’t harm native algae populations and, moreover, can fend off deadly bacteria. [1]
Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide that has the potential to harm both children and farm workers, but the EPA – the same agency that drew these conclusions – says it will not ban the chemical.
On March 26, 2017, EPA chief Scott Pruitt rejected his agency’s own chemical safety experts who, under Barack Obama, had recommended that chlorpyrifos – one of the nation’s most widely used insecticides – be permanently banned from agricultural use nationwide because of the danger it poses to farm workers. [1]
The UK’s fertility regulator has given approval for the “cautious use” of techniques to create a baby using the DNA of 3 people. [1]
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced its “historic” decision December 15 and said that it would begin accepting applications from fertility clinics that wish to become licensed to perform the procedure. The HFEA said 3-parent baby technique, as it is commonly called, will help prevent a small number of children from inheriting potentially fatal diseases from their mothers. [2]
On December 8, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced a lawsuit against Monsanto over toxic PCB chemicals polluting “every waterway in the state.” It marks the first time a state has ever sued the biotech giant. [1]
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been banned in the United States since 1979, but a new study by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that up to 14 million students in 26,000 U.S. public schools may still be exposed to the toxic industrial chemicals. [1
Monsanto announced last week that it licensed the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool from the Broad Institute in Boston for use in seed development. The technology will allow the agritech giant to edit crops’ DNA by “snipping” away undesirable traits – or adding in more desirable ones – of the plants’ genetic codes. Frankenfood? [1]
Source: Business Insider
