Sep 09
LORD Winston, the fertility expert and Labour peer, is to begin breeding genetically modified pigs in the hope of providing organs for transplant to humans, it was reported yesterday.
Scientists in London and California have begun experiments to find a solution to record waits for organ transplants. In Britain around 8,000 patients are on waiting lists.
“People needing a new heart or liver are waiting for someone else to die - usually a violent death in a traffic accident,” Lord Winston wrote in a Sunday newspaper.
Lord Winston, who heads the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at London’s Hammersmith Hospital, expects the technique to provide a solution to the shortage of organs within ten years.
The scientists are introducing human genes into the animals to reduce the chances of the organs being rejected by patients’ bodies.
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Tags: genetic, Medicine, Science, Technology
Apr 04
Scientists discovered seeds from certain genetically modified crops can endure soil for at least 10 years in some cases.
A field planted with experimental oilseed rape a decade ago found transgenic specimens were still growing there despite intensive efforts over the years to remove the seeds, according to researchers in Sweden.
This is the first time a genetically modified crop has endured so long and critics say it shows that genetically modified organisms cannot be contained once released.
Tina D’Hertefeldt and a team of researchers from Lund University searched a small field that hosted the GM trial 10 years ago looking for “volunteers” - plants that have sprung up spontaneously from seed in the soil.
“We were surprised, very surprised,” said D’Hertefeldt. “We knew that volunteers had been detected earlier, but we thought they’d all have gone by now.” Continue reading »
Tags: genetic, genetically modified, GM, herbicide, ISAAA, Lund University, organism, Rape, Scientists, seeds, Swedish Board of Agriculture
