Tag Archives | genetic engineering

Totgespritzt

Es steckt im Tierfutter, im Brot, in der Milch: Das Pestizid Glyphosat belastet seit Jahrzehnten die Umwelt, weltweit. Forscher warnen vor Missbildungen und Krebs. Wie gefährlich ist der Stoff wirklich? Von Philip Bethge – DER SPIEGEL 24/2015 Das Unheil kam langsam über den Hof von Helge Voss. Zuerst gaben die Kühe weniger Milch, ihr Kot war […]

Continue Reading 0
Dhanshakti Pearl Millet

Miracle Crop: India’s Quest to End World Hunger

Over one third of humanity is undernourished. Now a group of scientists are experimenting with specially-bred crops, and hoping to launch a new Green Revolution — but controversy is brewing. By Philip Bethge It may not make his family wealthy, but Devran Mankar is still grateful for the pearl millet variety called Dhanshakti (meaning “prosperity and strength”) he […]

Continue Reading 0
Ben Novak

The Second Cooing: Raising Passenger Pigeons from the Dead

The world has been without passenger pigeons since 1914. Now, scientists want to bring them back. Geneticist Ben Novak has embarked on the project and has begun collecting passenger pigeon DNA from natural history museums. His “de-extinction” efforts are not without critics. By Philip Bethge The eye sockets of the slender pigeon are filled with […]

Continue Reading 1

SPIEGEL Blog: Surrogate Mother (Not Yet) Sought for Neanderthal

An interview published last week by SPIEGEL with American genetic scientist George Church has sparked frenetic media speculation about a supposed plan to bring the Neanderthal back from the dead. Church feels his remarks were mistranslated, but it was other media outlets that twisted his words. “Wanted: Surrogate Mother For Neanderthal,” screamed an article in […]

Continue Reading 0

Interview with George Church: Can Neanderthals Be Brought Back from the Dead?

In a SPIEGEL interview, synthetic biology expert George Church of Harvard University explains how DNA will become the building material of the future — one that can help create virus-resistant human beings and possibly bring back lost species like the Neanderthal. –> Update: The Interview has sparked frenetic media speculation about a supposed plan to […]

Continue Reading 0

Oozing Biofuel: Algae Could Solve World’s Fuel Crisis

Genetically modified blue and green algae could be the answer to the world’s fuel problems. Bioengineers have already developed algae that produce ethanol, oil and even diesel — and the only things the organisms need are sunlight, CO2 and seawater. Biochemist Dan Robertson’s living gas stations have the dark-green shimmer of oak leaves and are […]

Continue Reading 1