Millers and Bakers Want in on Engineering New Wheat
In the past, U.S. bakers and millers have been resistant to genetically modified wheat. That resistance appears to be turning into support, but under the condition that the bakers and millers can be more involved in the seed designing process.
Genetically modified wheat is now seen by many as inevitable and the leading baking and milling companies want to make sure the biotech wheat is something they can sell their customers on. “We’re not one hundred percent convinced that our customers will go for a GMO wheat unless it has enhanced characteristics,” says Hayden Wands, director of procurement at Sara Lee Corp. It is thought that if, in addition to yield improvements, nutritional improvements are built into the seed, then the GMO wheat will be an easier sell to a resistant market place.
The miller’s and baker’s shift from opposition to conditional support should be a big win for Monsanto who has been aiming to restart its effort to develop and sell GMO wheat. Monsanto in the past has seen their efforts to expand their influence into wheat hampered by strong public opposition to their herbicide-tolerant, “Roundup Ready” GMO wheat.
For more on millers and bakers yielding to the push for genetically altered wheat, see the report at Reuters.
For more on Monsanto, see the documentary previously posted at Knosha.
Also of interest is Michael Specter making his case for GMO’s at a TED.
Washing Away Sins – Whether You Know it or Not
I am intrigued by the pervasive practice of baptism and ritual purity throughout religious history, around the world.
Before the Christian baptism that remains popular in Western culture there were ancient Babylonian and Egyptian baptism practices. The Greek Mystery religions included baptismal rites. For Judaism and Islam ritual cleansing has historically been of great importance as is the case with Hindu praxis as well. A new study, however, appears to demonstrate that the psychological benefits of washing can effect an individual even when they are not consciously performing a ritual cleansing.
Spike W. S. Lee, a psychology researcher at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and his partner Norbert Schwarz devised a test in which they lead individuals participating in the study to make a decision the participant would not be happy with. Following the decision some of the subjects washed their hands, while others did not. The majority of those who washed their hands exhibited behavior that suggested they were at peace with having chosen something they did not like, whereas those who did not wash exhibited the expected behavior of justifying their negative choice.
The researchers admit that there are a lot of questions still to be explored in the study, but the initial results suggest that even when the cleansing is not done as a conscious act of washing away mistakes, people enjoy the psychological benefit of the ritual.
For more details on the study, check out Nell Greenfieldboyce’s report at NPR.org.
Believing Is Seeing
Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer and colleagues have reported research that demonstrates a notable improvement in what test subjects were able to see without the use of spectacles, contact lenses, or any physical changes to the subjects eyes.
The method of improving vision was no more than using suggestion to make the subject believe they were able to see more than they previously could. Participants in the study who were predisposed to believing their vision could be enhanced showed particularly strong improvement in what they were able to see.
Another study conducted at MIT demonstrated similar results.
For more on the psychology of vision, see wired.com’s article.
From Guantanamo to Palau
This video is not new but I’ve only just been introduced to it thanks to my friendship with folks from Witness Against Torture who, among other things, do advocacy and demonstrations on behalf of Guantanamo detainees. This segment from a British news show, Dateline, addresses the temporary resettlement in Palau of several Uighur men who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo for the last eight years. There are interviews with the men, shots of their first opportunity to cook, discussion of the pressure from China that keeps these men from reaching their hoped for destination (Australia), etc. I found the account is particularly poignant when watched in light of the following words from an attorney, “These men have never committed any terrorist acts…never had any terrorist training…”
Beyond The 6 Million Dollar Man – Nano Technology and the Future of the Human Race
We are a strange creature, us humans. Rather than wait around for natural selection to weed out a defective trait, we have learned to use our tool making abilities to fashion some bit of technology that will correct the defect. Eyes aren’t working well? No need to let that diminish your fitness, we’ll just make glasses and you’re good as new. Irregular heartbeat? We’ll make you a pacemaker and you’re back in business.
Thus far there has been little outcry about the ethical implications of glasses, pacemakers, prosthetics and other restorative technology. Our species has, however, reached a new threshold. Through advances in genetic engineering and nano technology, we are entering the territory of not mere human restoration, but human enhancement. We have moved beyond short circuiting our evolution, and now have begun exploring designing the human of the future.
Why Stop At 2 When You Could Have 3 Biological Parents?
From wired.com:
Researchers have produced human embryos containing DNA from three people, a biotechnological proof-of-principle with profound medical and ethical implications.
To accomplish this, chromosomes were taken from one zygote — the single cell formed when sperm and egg fuse — and put into a zygote stripped of its original chromosomes, but left with its original mitochondria, which provide each human cell with energy.
… Mitochondrial swapping might seem less controversial than regular genetic engineering, because it involves metabolism rather than obvious physical traits. “On the other hand, when embryo manipulations for heritable changes start being done, even with the best intentions, we’re on slippery ground,” said Darnovsky.
“I think this strategy for handling mitochondrial disease is fascinating, important and ethical, but it certainly crosses the line of engineering genes,” said Art Caplan, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics. “It’s a quiet intrusion, but it crosses a line that a lot of people said shouldn’t be crossed.”
Read more at www.wired.com.
Your Thoughts & Wants Are Not Your Own
Duke University did an interesting study on the effectiveness of subliminal marketing. What they found was that the result of subliminal marketing appears to be a notable effect not only on ones awareness and interest in a marketed brand, but an influence toward the behavior associated with the brand. The BBC reported on a similar study and offers interesting insights into theories related to subliminal manipulation.
Interview With An Insurgent
The Institute For War & Peace Reporting has posted an essay by a former member of al-Qaeda. The one time insurgent briefly describes his motives for fighting the occupying American forces, his disaffection with al-Qaeda and why he now is not so sure he wants the American troops to leave.
A reported insider account naturally must be taken with a grain of salt, since it is easy to fabricate and difficult to verify. That said, I am not aware of any indications that the account is fraudulent, nor are any of the claims extraordinary. If genuine, it is an interesting peek inside a world the American public is well insulated from.
Thanks to Current Intelligence for alerting me to the essay.
Want To Do More and Do It Better? Take a Nap!
Health.com reported that not only does a good night’s sleep help improve ones performance on memory tests, but a short power nap in the afternoon can result in a significant enhancement of ones ability to store and process data. There is a catch though – you have to dream during your nap. The reported on study is that of Robert Stickgold, PhD, director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition. You may not be surprised to learn that Radiolab reported on related research in a 2007 episode titled Memory and Forgetting.
The research reported on by Radiolab and the complimentary research of Robert Stickgold suggest that, during one’s dreams, the brain is recreating the experiences of the day, even mixing and matching data, looking for connections that may have initially gone unnoticed.
Subjects in Sickgold’s research who had a short, dreaming nap demonstrated as much as a ten fold improvement in their ability to navigate a maze they were memorizing. Those who at first struggled with the test demonstrated the strongest improvement. It would seem that the initial difficulty of the task signals the brain that this is something it needs to work on while sleeping. The brain’s processing of the information, manifests itself as a seemingly random series of bizarre dreams.
This is a strong argument for the siesta! I’ve always suspected there was wisdom in the custom of afternoon naps.
Thanks to Abeo at the Derren Brown blog for alerting me to the Health.com report.
