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Biomedical subjects

D Normile

Publications and source records attributed to D Normile.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Japan. Human cloning ban allows some research.

TOKYO--Japanese legislators last week approved a ban on human cloning that leaves room for the use of certain techniques in basic research. The action comes at the same time officials in two other countries--China and France--aired similar proposals that would prohibit so-called reproductive cloning while recognizing the possible importance of the technology in combating disease and improving human health.

Bioethics↗
PubMed2000

Marine ecology. Warmer waters more deadly to coral reefs than pollution.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, warmer ocean waters are a greater threat to coral reefs than local environmental insults. That assessment comes from a new scientific report released this week that documents a sudden and steep jump in damage stemming from the 1997-98 El Niño-La Niña event.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Agrobiotechnology. Asia gets a taste of genetic food fights.

Despite the need to feed growing populations in Asia, controversy over genetically modified foods is putting a damper on efforts to develop and test new crops. The signs of opposition are scattered and vary from country to country. But they are enough to be worrisome to the region's leaders.

Asia↗
PubMed2000

Biotechnology. Perseverance leads to cloned pig in Japan.

Low success rates and unpredictable results have plagued cloning researchers, particularly those trying to clone pigs. Now, on page 1188, Japanese researchers offer the first scientific report of a cloned pig, named Xena, raising hopes that pigs could one day provide an unlimited supply of organs for transplantation thanks to their close physiological relationship to humans. But this week those hopes were dealt a blow by more evidence suggesting that pig retroviruses can infect human cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Agricultural biotechnology. Monsanto donates its share of golden rice.

Monsanto Co. has agreed to provide royalty-free licenses to speed up work on a genetically modified rice that could alleviate vitamin A deficiency around the world. Researchers welcomed last week's announcement, but warn that a thicket of intellectual property claims surrounds the technology and that significant legal hurdles remain before the rice can become widely available to farmers in developing countries.

Biotechnology↗
PubMed2000

Infectious diseases. China awakens to fight projected AIDS crisis.

Official tallies count only 670 confirmed AIDS cases and 18,143 confirmed HIV-infected people among China's 1.2 billion population. Now changing social mores, including an increase in drug use and a boom in commercial sex, combined with a tainted blood supply, have led China to the brink of an AIDS explosion. But its historic isolation also gives the country an advantage in testing the latest vaccines, as the different strains of HIV have not yet commingled there; China's well-developed public health infrastructure could also help facilitate clinical trials.

AIDS Vaccines↗
PubMed2000

Paleontology. New feathered dino firms up bird links.

Last week, Chinese scientists presented evidence from a new specimen dug up in Liaoning Province that they say strengthens the case for the bird-dinosaur link. The finding, one of several fossils displayed at a meeting here, is the third known specimen of a strange creature known as Caudipteryx which, unlike any other known dinosaur fossil, shows the unmistakable imprints of feathers. The researcher who described the new specimen at the meeting has identified 16 characteristics of the new fossil that are more similar to dinosaurs than to early birds, reinforcing the views of most Western scientists.

Animals↗