The new eugenics movement

“The ultimate ideal sought,” wrote Harvey Ernest Jordan in 1912, “is a perfect society constituted of perfect individuals.” Jordan, who would later be dean of medicine at the University of Virginia, was speaking to the importance of eugenics in medicine—­a subject that might seem tasteless and obsolete today. Yet nearly a century later, in 2008, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the biomedical research institute on Long Island’s north shore, published a book titled Davenport’s Dream, which shows that eugenic visions persist. Charles Davenport, ­a colleague and friend of Jordan’s, ­had directed Cold Spring Harbor for the first third of the 20th century, turning it from a sleepy, summertime marine-biology laboratory into a center for genetics research­—and the epicenter of American eugenics.

View the original article here: The Eugenic Impulse

“Oprah’s Farm” to capitalize on organic food craze?

On Monday, the New York Post unearthed a handful of applications to the US Patent and Trademark Organization for Oprah-branded organic food and health products. A search of the office’s records shows seven in total under the names “Oprah’s Organics”, “Oprah’s Harvest” and “Oprah’s Farm”.

If Winfrey does end up taking her food and beauty line national, she’s chosen the right time. “Organic is the hottest growth segment in the supermarket industry,” said Robert Vosburgh, responsible for all things health-related at Supermarket News, including natural, gluten-free and non-GMO food. “The market is still growing at around 10% a year so there’s room for new products in all categories.”

View the original article here: Oprah Moves Into Organic Food: Would You Buy The Talk Show Billionaire’s Frozen Vegetables?

Organic farming may be less energy intensive

A few weeks ago, after a major study  showed that organically grown food offers little or no nutritional benefit over the cheaper, conventionally grown equivalent, I began investigating the other major reason people buy organic: saving the environment. The environmental impact of a product is too complex to cover comprehensively in a few hundred words, so I began with one aspect of it, land use, and looked at how recently released data shows that conventional farming produces more food on less land than organic farming.

The Rodale Institute , which promotes organic farming, has been investigating this question for more than 30 years. It grows organic and conventional corn, wheat and soy side by side on test plots and measures the energy inputs for each. According to the nonprofit organization’s numbers, farming one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of organic corn requires 10,150 megajoules of energy. (That’s the approximate amount of energy in 78 gallons of gasoline .) By contrast, one hectare of conventionally grown corn requires 17,372 megajoules, 71 percent more than the organic crop.

View the original article here: Organic vs. conventional farming: Which uses less energy?

What’s in store for food reform in Obama’s second term?

When Obama was first elected, food reformers dreamt big. As Michael Pollan wrote just after the 2008 election in his “open letter to the next Farmer-in-Chief,” Obama had an opportunity to make agriculture less fossil-fuel dependent, re-localize food systems, and rebuild America’s food culture. But those pleasant dreams dissolved in January 2009’s cold winter light. Fast forward to today — November 2012. Daley resigned from the White House almost a year ago and re-election is no longer on the presidential to-do list. How much will things change? 

In her latest column, Maureen Dowd observed that in 2008 “Obama lifted up the base with his message of hope and change.” This time, she added, “the base lifted up Obama, with the hope he will change.” The President has a pile of food-related rules, regulations and initiatives that have spent the last year sitting on desks awaiting action. As I see it, it won’t take long for him to show us whether he will.

View the original article here: Will Obama’s second term bring food system wins — or more of the same?

North Dakota protects “modern” agriculture

Voters in heavily agriculture-dependent North Dakota became the first to enshrine the right to farm in their state constitution, a move that some say could have far-reaching effects on genetic modification, land use, and the way animals are raised.

The amendment approved last week guarantees the right of farmers to engage in “modern” agriculture and bars any law limiting their right “to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices.

View the original article here: N.D. OK’s ‘modern’ agriculture

Food movement loses battles but will win war

An election that saw great strides for women, gay men and lesbians  and even pot smokers  left the nascent food movement scratching its collective head. We’re going to see marijuana legalized before we see a simple change in food labeling that’s favored by more than 90 percent of Americans? Or a tax on soda, a likely contributor to the obesity problem?

Money, lies and mistakes crushed the forward-thinking votes in California, but these are battles lost in a war that will be won. The notions that we need to know what’s in our food and that food should not be harmful have not been defeated. It’s a question of finding the right strategy.

View the original article here: The Food Movement Takes a Beating

Australia grapples with GM wheat

Last month, a group of Australian scientists published a warning to the citizens of the country and of the world who collectively gobble up some $34 billion annually of its agricultural exports. The warning concerned the safety of a new type of wheat. 

As Australia’s number-one export, a $6-billion annual industry, and the most-consumed grain locally, wheat is of the utmost importance to the country. A serious safety risk from wheat – amad wheat disease of sorts – would have disastrous effects for the country and for its customers.

View the original article here: How Dangerous Is Genetically Modified Food?

Mutations that accelerate neural development linked to autism spectrum disorder

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders are marked by mutations that impair signaling between neurons. These mutations cause key brain circuits involved in learning and memory to develop too quickly, leading to long-lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, according to a study published by Cell Press in the November 9th issue of the journal Cell. The findings could pave the way to new treatment strategies for severe forms of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Geneticist suggests human species is on an intellectual decline

Professor Gerald Crabtree, who heads a genetics laboratory at Stanford University in California, has put forward the iconoclastic idea that rather than getting cleverer, human intelligence peaked several thousand years ago and from then on there has been a slow decline in our intellectual and emotional abilities.

His argument is based on the fact that for more than 99 per cent of human evolutionary history, we have lived as hunter-gatherer communities surviving on our wits, leading to big-brained humans. Since the invention of agriculture and cities, however, natural selection on our intellect has effective stopped and mutations have accumulated in the critical “intelligence” genes.

View the original article here: Controversial study suggests human intelligence peaked several thousand years ago and we’ve been on an intellectual and emotional decline ever since

Storing cancer data in the ‘cloud’

Storing music and photos on distant computers via “cloud” technology is nothing new. But Johns Hopkins researchers are now using this tactic to collect detailed information from thousands of cancer cell samples. The goal is to help doctors make better predictions about how a patient’s illness will progress and what type of treatment will be most effective.

View the original article here: Cancer Data in the ‘Cloud’ Could Lead to More Effective Treatment

Stem cell wins and losses in the 2012 elections

2012 was a banner year for the cause of cure. First among our stem cell electoral victories was the re-election of President Barack Obama. The impact of a pro-science president cannot be overestimated. In Obama we have both a man who can reason with facts (instead of blind ideology), but who also has the strength to stand by a decision. Obama took his stand on stem cells before the 2008 election — and has never wavered in that support.

View the original post here: A Brighter Day: Stem Cell Elections in 2012

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