The effort to win federal approval of genetically engineered salmon received a major boost Friday when the Food and Drug Administration released an analysis that deemed the fish safe to eat and unlikely to harm the environment.
AquaBounty Technologies Inc. of Waltham, Mass., has invested more than 14 years and nearly $60 million developing and seeking approval of its AquAdvantage salmon. The company says its fish look and taste like non-engineered North Atlantic salmon, consume up to 25% less food, and reach market weight in half the time.
Genetically modified salmon safe to eat, FDA report says
New Mars tests find possible life ingredients
Thirty-four years after NASA's Viking missions to Mars sent back results interpreted to mean there was no organic material - and consequently no life - on the planet, new research has concluded that organic material was found after all.
The finding does not bring scientists closer to discovering life on Mars, researchers say, but it does open the door to a greater likelihood that life exists, or once existed, on the planet.
U.S. to temper stance on Afghan corruption
U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are developing a strategy that would tolerate some corruption in the country but target the most corrosive abuses by more tightly regulating U.S. contracting procedures, according to senior defense officials.
American officials here have not spoken publicly about countenancing potentially corrupt local power brokers. Such a stance would run somewhat against the grain of a counterinsurgency doctrine that preaches the importance of building competent governance.
Chemical basis for first life theorized
It's a chicken-and-the-egg puzzle: How could the basic biochemicals like amino acids and nucleotides have come about when there were no catalysts, like proteins or ribosomes, around to create them? Now scientists propose that a third type of catalyst could have jumpstarted metabolism and life itself, deep in hydrothermal ocean vents, an article in The Biological Bulletin says.
The scientists' theory says molecular structures involving transition metal elements -- iron, copper, nickel, etc. -- and ligands -- small organic molecules -- could have catalyzed the synthesis of basic biochemicals, monomers, that acted as building blocks for more complex molecules, leading ultimately to the origin of life.
AP Editor Memo: 'Combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is'
Colleagues: Many AP staffers are producing content that refers to the situation in Iraq. It might be a local story about Iraq veterans, an international diplomatic story that mentions the Iraqi conflict or coverage on the ground in Iraq itself.
Whatever the subject, we should be correct and consistent in our description of what the situation in Iraq is. This guidance summarizes the situation and suggests wording to use and avoid.
Breitbart: 'We are at war with the mainstream media'
Conservative blogger and activist Andrew Breitbart told a North Texas Tea Party crowd Thursday night that the biggest enemies of conservatives are not President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"It's George Stephanopoulos. It's Diane Sawyer. It's Charlie Gibson, and, my God, it's Katie Couric," Breitbart said. "They are the problem." More than 500 people attended the event sponsored by the Dallas Tea Party and described by organizers as a fundraiser, symposium and election-season kickoff. Attendees paid between $5 and $20.
BP Says Limits on Drilling Imperil Oil Spill Payouts
BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support.
BP executives insist that they have not backed away from their commitment to the White House to set aside $20 billion in an escrow fund over the next four years to pay damage claims and government penalties stemming from the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The explosion killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the gulf.
Employers Push Costs for Health on Workers
As health care costs continue their relentless climb, companies are increasingly passing on higher premium costs to workers. The shift is occurring, policy analysts and others say, as employers feel more pressure from the weak economy and the threat of even more expensive coverage under the new health care law.
In contrast to past practices of absorbing higher prices, some companies chose this year to keep their costs the same by passing the entire increase in premiums for family coverage onto their workers, according to a new survey released on Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group.
Osteoporosis drug 'doubles cancer risk'
A drug taken by more than a million people with osteoporosis could double their risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus, according to a study published today. Those who have taken oral bisphosphonates for five years or more are twice as likely to develop the cancer than those who have not, the analysis of medical records found.
Every year almost 8,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus, or gullet cancer, and about 7,500 people die from it.
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