GNTIS on Christmas break
The GNTIS will be away from the office until the 11 January 2010.
Be prepared for a few changes in 2010. Things are being finalised and all will be revealed in January.
Enjoy the festive season
Jason
Critique no. 3 of GM corn safety research
Critique no. 3 from Food Standards Australia New Zealand: FSANZ remains confident that the changes reported in these studies are neither sex- nor dose-related and are primarily due to chance alone.
FSANZ response to Seraliniet al.(2009), A comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health,Int. J. Biol. Sci. 5(7): 706-726
Critique no. 3 from Food Standards Australia New Zealand: FSANZ remains confident that the changes reported in these studies are neither sex- nor dose-related and are primarily due to chance alone.
Jason
Bionic eye ‘sees’ daylight
The development of a bionic eye that will restore vision to someone who is completely blind is a step closer.
SciNews: http://scinews.com.au/releases/359/view
The project is led by Associate Professor Michael Ibbotson from The Vision Centre, and The Australian National University.
Novel nanotechnology heals abscesses caused by resistant staph bacteria
Nanoparticles carrying nitric oxide have helped heal skin abscesses caused by bacteria resistant to most antibiotics.
Nanowerk: http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=14161.php
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study appears in the journal PLoS One (“Nitric Oxide Releasing Nanoparticles Are Therapeutic for Staphylococcus aureus Abscesses in a Murine Model of Infection”).
Identical twins reveal epigenetics may play role in disease
Identical twins studies investigating the disease lupus have revealed how environmental factors can influence the activity of specific genes and could cause disease in one sibling and not the other.
Eurekalert: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/cshl-goi121609.php
Journal of Clinical Investigation: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/36666?key=c1d002c27e68d71c8c88
Critique of 3 GM corn safety research cont…
Critique no. 2 of the French research findings safety concerns with 3 GM corn.
As promised in a previous GNTIS blog on this topic, as I found relevant critiques of the recent French paper about the safety of three GM corns, I would post them
Critique no. 2 (first was FSANZ)
This is one from David Tribe posted on his blog, GMO Pundit
Essentially he criticises the statistical methods used by the research group, a method they used in a 2007 paper and which was criticised by the European Food Safety Organisation (EFSA). Food Standards Australia New Zealand also analysed this 2007 paper and came to the same conclusions – see first GNTIS post on this.
Jason
Stem cells regenerate damaged pancreas
Preclinical trial results in mice show that a proprietary adult stem cell platform could be an effective treatment for diabetes.
Mesoblast: http://www.mesoblast.com.au/mediareleases/134.pdf
Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB) In the study at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, in collaboration with Mesoblast’s United States-based associate company Angioblast Systems Inc., a single dose of the patented human Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) injected into mice with diabetes resulted in a significant increase in blood insulin levels and sustained reduction in blood glucose levels for the entire three week period of follow-up.
Opinion special: Gene patenting
Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, and Trevor Davies, of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia, debate the merits and dangers of gene patents.
Australian Life Scientist: http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/329879/opinion_special_gene_patenting?eid=-2
Research suggests GM corn danger
Three types of Monsanto’s GM corn do have toxic effects on rats, according to recent research, but it remains to be seen if it holds up any better than previous studies.
Apparently three types of Monsanto’s GM corn do have toxic effects on rats, according to recent research, but it remains to be seen if it holds up any better than previous studies.
In the media
The rural paper, Stock and Land, published a piece on it and the research paper is in the latest International Journal of Biological Sciences. At least this research made it to a peer-reviewed journal. Doubtless, though, the debate will remain he says-she says. I have already seen some evidence of this.
It is too early to provide any critical analysis of the paper – mainly because I rely on people more expert in statistical analysis than me to help. But I will report back on this post as I become more enlightened.
First report back: The authors of this report have put out previous papers (both were criticised, it seems). FSANZ has analysed these papers and responded to them on their web site at this link
Jason
Nanotechnology and the future of food
The Institute of Food Technologists released three review articles that provide greater detail on nanotechnology science and its application to food.
Nanowerk: http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=14073.php
Articles were released in the Journal of Food Science that were presented at the IFT Annual Meeting in 2009.
The review articles cover the following:
Nanocomposites in Food Packaging
Design of Nano-Laminated Coatings to Control Bioavailability of Lipophilic Food Components
Bioavailability and Delivery of Nutraceuticals Using Nanotechnology