DNA modified foods and intestinal bacteria

SO WHAT ARE WE REALLY CREATING?
I TELL MY CELLS WHAT I WANT!
YOU CAN TOO

Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Usually with a nice little creature called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This
actually inserts a portion of its genome into a plant it infects, causing
the cells to become cancerious and, cleverly, to secrete a substance known
as octopine, which very few organisms can use a carbon source. Agrobacterium
is of course one of the few, so it enjoys a monopoly food supply.

By removing the tumour and octopine genes from the transfer DNA, and
inserting a gene of interest, we can genetically engineer plants, with a
certain amount of hassle getting the transformed cells to regenerate into
whole plants.
(If you are wondering how to genetically engineer Agrobacterium, that is
relatively easy. The DNA is on a plasmid which the bacteria can be induced
to take up with minimal hassles, for genetic engineering).

The problem is we don't know how to control the site of integration, and it
may be that DNA which has integrated is less stable than other DNA. Also for
technical reasons the DNA needs an antibiotic resistance marker gene. There
are new protocols for getting these out of the released plants, but they add
cost to the engineering procedure. There is a theoretical possibility of
these antibiotic resistance genes getting into bacteria. However the genes
originally came from the bacterial gene pool anyway, so it is not really a
very serious concern to most scientists, though the media have jumped on it
because genetically engineered superbug make a nice story. "

POWER FOR WHO : sci.bio.evolution

There are hundreds of ways to generate energy and power for our civilizations. However the power/oil monopy is secured all POLITICAL authority, and will continue to profit if no new methods are developed regardless of what science puts together..


Google Groups : sci.bio.evolution: "Scientists have been exploring the microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal
vents - geysers that form along volcanic mid-ocean ridges - using submersible vessels for almost 30 years. Until now, life in this environment was thought to depend on chemotrophic bacteria, although the identification of low-level illumination in the form of 'vent glow' gave a tantalizing hint that photosynthesis was a possibility.

Beatty et al. investigated whether geothermal illumination could support photosynthesis by analysing samples taken from the effluent plume of a type of vent known as a black smoker located at the East Pacific rise. Enrichment culturing yielded a non-motile bacterium that has been named GSB1. Analysis of the absorption and emission spectra of intact GSB1 cells isolated in pure culture - with major peaks at 750 nm and 775 nm, respectively - indicated the presence of light-harvesting bacteriochlorophyll c.

Further analysis by electron microscopy revealed the presence of light-harvesting chlorosomes, structures that are commonly found in green sulphur bacteria. Light energy is transferred to the chlorosome reaction centre through the Fenna?Matthews?Olson (FMO) protein; PCR using FMO-specific primers amplified a 970-bp FMO segment from GSB1, and sequence analysis led the authors to conclude that GSB1 is a green sulphur bacterium related to the Chlorobium and Prosthecochloris genera. For growth, GSB1 requires anaerobic growth conditions, sulphur in the form of elemental sulphur or H2S, CO2 and light."

Pesticide link to autism suspected - Los Angeles Times

"Pesticide link to autism suspected
A state study suggests two farm sprays may raise chances of having a child with the disorder.
By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer
July 30, 2007


Women who live near California farm fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides may be more likely to give birth to children with autism, according to a study by state health officials to be published today.

The rate of autism among the children of 29 women who lived near the fields was extremely high, suggesting that exposure to the insecticides in the womb might have played a role. The study is the first to report a link between pesticides and the neurological disorder, which affects one in every 150 children.

But the state scientists cautioned that their finding is highly preliminary because of the small number of women and children involved and lack of evidence from other studies.

"We want to emphasize that this is exploratory research," said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health. "We have found very preliminary data that there may be an association. We are in no way concluding that there is a causal relationship between pesticide exposure of pregnant women and autism."

The two pesticides implicated are older-generation compounds developed in the 1950s and used to kill mites, primarily on cotton as well as some vegetables and other crops. Their volumes have declined substantially in recent years.

utter nonsense becomes incontrovertible "fact."

This week we're going to take a break from our series on the cardiovascular system and discuss a dairy study released earlier this month. According to the results of the study conducted out of the University of Cardiff in the UK and as promoted in media throughout the world, drinking a pint of milk a day may protect men against diabetes and heart disease.

The Study

The 20-year study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, analyzed how the rates of metabolic syndrome were affected by dairy consumption.

Metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or insulin resistance syndrome) is a cluster of conditions including obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides that increase the risk of heart disease. Metabolic syndrome is said to be the fastest growing disease entity in the world. On the other hand, although it does predict vascular disease and diabetes quite powerfully, it is probably not a true syndrome and should be thought of more as an elaborate risk formula—increasing the risk of death by some 50%.

The background
According to the study, which tracked 2,375 men between the ages of 45 and 59 over a 20 year period, eating dairy products reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome. The more they consumed, the lower the risk. At the start of the study, 15% had metabolic syndrome and had almost double the risk of coronary artery heart disease and four times the risk of diabetes of those without the syndrome. But the researchers found that men were 62% less likely to have the syndrome if they drank a pint or more of milk every day and 56% less likely to have it if they regularly ate other dairy products.

The more dairy products the men consumed, the less likely they were to have the syndrome.

The reality

In fact, although the study tracked a decreased risk of metabolic syndrome with increased dairy consumption, it found little actual correlation between dairy consumption and the incidence of diabetes itself. There were only 7 more cases of diabetes among the lowest consumers of dairy versus the highest. The incidence of heart disease was not tracked.

Also, people who had diabetes at the start of the study were excluded from the results so that we don't know if their condition improved or deteriorated while drinking milk. That would be significant information in determining the overall health value of dairy when it comes to metabolic syndrome.

Why it means nothing

There are a number of problems with the study, but let's start with the two most obvious.

1. What were the non milk drinkers drinking?
2. What does drinking milk say about the overall diet of the participants?

If not milk, what?

The study only references the amount of milk and dairy products people were consuming— nothing else—not, for example, what else they were drinking or eating. The simple fact is that people only drink so much liquid in a day. If they're drinking more milk, they're drinking less of something else. Conversely, if they're drinking less milk, they're drinking more of something else. If that something else is soda pop or sugared energy drinks, that's a problem. Each ounce of soda contains almost a teaspoon of sugar, usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup. That's a major factor in the onset of metabolic syndrome. Tea and coffee drinkers don't necessarily escape scot-free either. Six cups of coffee a day with 2 teaspoons of sugar in each cup still works out to 40 lbs (18.4 K) of sugar a year.

In other words, the so called health benefits attributed to milk in the study may have nothing to do with milk at all. They may instead be a reflection of lowered consumption of more harmful highly-sugared beverages.

Overall diet

A question that occurs to me is: why are men in their forties and fifties drinking milk every day? Is it because they want something to drink with their cookies and cake at lunch like children (probably not), or is it because they are making what they consider to be a conscious health choice (even if misguided)? If so, what does that say about the rest of their diet? We know that people who drink lots of soda pop also tend to be high consumers of fast foods and snack foods. In fact, they're usually sold in tandem, not only in fast food restaurants (KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, for example, are owned by Yum! Brands, a spin-off of PepsiCo) but also in grocery store power aisles. So if the drinking of milk was the result of an attempt by some of the participants to avoid fast foods and sodas, were those men also more likely to have eaten whole grain foods and fresh produce as opposed to fast foods and sugared snacks? We know that fast food diets are more likely to contribute to the onset of metabolic syndrome, and that whole foods are more likely to keep it at bay? It sounds likely that the men drinking milk were eating an overall better diet, but the study doesn't tell us either way. In any case, without that information, the study is meaningless. You could probably come up with the same results (maybe even better) by doing a survey on how much water the men drank— the more water, the lower the incidence of metabolic syndrome.

Heck, why didn't the researchers just cut to the chase and ask about the participant's sugar intake in foods and beverages?

What do we actually know?

When it comes to dairy, we actually know quite a lot. For example:

• Consumption of cow's milk in children has been linked to a threefold increase in Type 1 diabetes.
• Consumption of milk has been associated with insulin-dependent diabetes in numerous studies.
• Milk consumption is repeatedly promoted as lowering the incidence of obesity, and yet numerous studies indicate that it does just the opposite.

Then, of course, all the Cardiff study looked at were the triggers for Metabolic Syndrome. Perhaps milk is implicated in other problems such as cancer, allergies, arthritis, infection, and toxicity. And it is!

In Lessons from the Miracle Doctors, I talk about a number of the health problems associated with dairy consumption. Those are actually only highlights; there's much more. First of all, the following two sites might be of interest.

• The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. www.pcrm.org
• The NotMilk homepage www.notmilk.com

To summarize some of the things that you will find there, there are many, many problems associated with consuming dairy. Many of these are probably conditions you are already noticing in your own body—particularly those that relate to allergies, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders. For example:

• Galactose - Ovarian cancer rates parallel dairy-eating patterns around the world. The culprit seems to be galactose, the simple sugar broken down from the milk sugar lactose.
• Pesticides - concentrate in the milk of both farm animals and humans. A study by the Environmental Defense Fund found widespread pesticide contamination of human breast milk among 1,400 women in forty-six states. The levels of contamination were twice as high among the meat-and-dairy-eating women as among vegetarians.
• Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria - Joseph Beasley, M.D., and Jerry Swift wrote in The Kellogg Report (The Institute of Health Policy and Practice, 1989) that even "moderate use of antibiotics in animal feed can result in the development of antibiotic resistance in animal bacteria - and the subsequent transfer of that resistance to human bacteria."
• Vitamin D Toxicity - Heavy consumption of milk, especially by small children, may result in vitamin D toxicity. Records show that dairies do not carefully regulate how much vitamin D is added to milk. (Milk has been "fortified" with vitamin D ever since deficiencies were found to cause rickets.) A study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine (April 30, 1992) showed that of forty-two milk samples, only 12 percent were within the expected range of vitamin D content. Testing of ten infant formula samples revealed seven with more than twice the vitamin D content reported on the label; one sample had more than four times the label amount.
• Growth Hormones - Recently, cows have started to receive growth hormones to increase their milk production, although the long-term effects on humans are unknown.
• Casein - Perhaps the biggest health problem with cow's milk arises from the proteins in it: Cow's milk proteins damage the human immune system. Repeated exposure to these proteins disrupts normal immune function and may eventually lead to disease. Cow's milk contains many proteins that are poorly digested and harmful to the immune system. Fish and meat proteins are much less damaging, while plant proteins pose the least hazard.

Removing dairy from the diet has been shown to shrink enlarged tonsils and adenoids, indicating relief for the immune system—even more so if you are lactose intolerant.

Similarly, doctors experimenting with dairy-free diets often report a marked reduction in colds, flu's, sinusitis and ear infections. In addition, dairy is a tremendous mucus producer and a burden on the respiratory, digestive and immune systems.

• Colic and Ear Infections - One out of every five infants in the United States suffers bouts of colic. Another common problem among infants receiving dairy, either directly or indirectly, is chronic ear infections. You just don't see this painful condition among infants and children who aren't getting cow's milk into their systems.
• Allergies, Asthma and Sinus Problems - Poorly digested bovine antigens (substances that provoke an immune reaction) like casein become "allergens" in allergic individuals. Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergy, often revealed by diarrhea, constipation and fatigue. Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy. The exclusion of dairy, however, must be complete to see any benefit.
• Arthritis - Antigens in cow's milk may also contribute to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. When antibody-antigen complexes (resulting from an immune response) are deposited in the joints, pain, swelling, redness and stiffness result; these complexes increase in arthritic people who eat dairy products, and the pain fades rapidly after patients eliminate dairy products from their diets.
• Childhood Anemia - Cow's milk causes loss of iron and hemoglobin in infants (one reason the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants not drink cow's milk) by triggering blood loss from the intestinal tract. Some research also shows that iron absorption is blocked by as much as 60 percent when dairy products are consumed in the same meal.
• Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Lung Cancer - A 1989 study in Nutrition and Cancer linked the risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with the consumption of cow's milk and butter. High levels of the cow's milk protein beta-lactoglobulin have also been found in the blood of lung cancer patients, suggesting a link with this cancer as well.

Concluding that dairy is good for you while ignoring these issues hardly makes sense.

Incompletely digested large dairy proteins, such as casein, become antigens (substances that provoke immune reactions) once they enter the bloodstream in individuals who are sensitive to them. Plus, the milk you buy in the store is not raw milk. If you must drink milk, be smart about your choices:

• Raw organic, if you can find it, avoids many of the problems—but presents health issues of its own unless you can be sure of the source.
• Organic pasteurized is better than non-organic, but because of the heat used in pasteurization, it presents significantly higher allergy problems than raw.
  I do not recommend non-organic, pasteurized, homogenized dairy products under any circumstances.
• And while whey eliminates the casein problem, it still contains the two main allergenic proteins, alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactaglobulin— the two most heat sensitive proteins.
• Soy milk, of course, is not an effective alternative, since it is high in allergens itself, blocks the absorption of important minerals such as calcium, and contains high levels of phytoestrogens, which although beneficial in moderate amounts, can be counter-productive in large amounts— particularly for children.

Raw Milk

• Are there any health benefits to drinking raw milk? According to the FDA, no. And if all you measure are protein and fat content and added vitamin D, they are correct. But if you consider that pasteurization involves heating milk to approximately 1450 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or longer and therefore kills all enzymes and beneficial bacteria in the process, then the answer is not so obvious. Heating the milk to pasteurize it "denatures" dairy proteins making some of them much more allergenic than they are in their natural state. Consider that many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved, and even eliminated, by simply cutting out dairy. And if you toss in the fact that pasteurization makes calcium insoluble and unavailable to the body (a key reason countries with the highest pasteurized dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world), the health benefits swing decidedly in favor of raw milk.
• Can raw milk become contaminated? Yes, absolutely—but not often. Most raw milk dairies tend to run extremely clean operations because of the liability issues. And keep in mind that in this recent outbreak only 8 illnesses were reported. We see far more E. coli contamination in meat each year than in raw dairy—even as a percentage of users. And in fact, we regularly see contamination of pasteurized dairy too, but the FDA never seems to propose that people stop eating meat and pasteurized dairy. It seems raw milk just doesn't have a big enough lobby supporting it.

So am I advocating drinking raw milk?

Not necessarily. I still have issues with some of the proteins in dairy that tend to trigger allergic reactions, whether that dairy is raw or pasteurized. But if you are going to drink milk, raw organic milk is a healthier option than the pasteurized, homogenized moo-cow juice you find in the supermarkets.

Conclusion

I know that peer reviewed studies are the sine qua non of the medical world, but in reality many of them are so much less than they appear. As I have repeatedly pointed out in the past, you can get a study to prove any point you want—even contradictory points. And once a flawed study is published, it's then cited by other studies over and over again, until utter nonsense becomes incontrovertible "fact." Here are some examples.

• Echinacea
• Antioxidants
• Dairy and Weight Loss
• Echinacea again

Bottom line, when it comes to the current dairy study, pay no attention; it's decidedly flawed.

Take Control of Your Life

Neil Fiore, PhD, Tells How to Take Control of Your Life

I f you have ever sabotaged your own chances of success... felt your emotions control your reasoning... or been unable to get yourself to do things that you told yourself you must do, then your 'executive' brain wasn't playing its proper leadership role. The executive brain regulates the primitive reactions and impulses we all experience. Here's how to put it in charge...

PUT A PROBLEM IN ITS PLACE

Start by viewing negative habits, impulses and thoughts simply as parts of your larger self. When you do this, you'll realize that you can observe these old 'default' reactions and exercise your executive brain's unique ability to consciously choose how to act.

Example: If you're struggling to quit smoking, notice the part of you that says, 'I want a cigarette,' and think, Yes, a part of me wants a cigarette. I, as the leader of my life, have a responsibility to protect the parts of me that are vulnerable to addiction. I have a commitment to keep my body and brain healthy. I can choose to find a healthy alternative to deal with stress.

LET YOUR HIGHER SELF RULE

The executive part of your brain is in charge of organizing the primitive parts into a cohesive team that serves your goals and challenges.

Example: Let's say you need a root canal. Fear of pain is a natural primitive response. Tell the fearful part of your brain, "Yes, that could hurt and you're afraid. I'm not asking you to face this fear alone. I will take the proper action to save the tooth and promote health."

STAY IN THE MOMENT

Focus your attention on what you can do now. Dwelling on the past or anticipating the future can lead to anxiety and self-doubt. Don't wait until you feel confident or motivated before you start a project. With your executive brain in charge, the other parts of you will follow the leader.

Example: A part of you doubts that you have prepared enough to give a presentation at an important sales meeting. You recognize your old habit of perfectionism. Say to your primitive brain, "Yes, there's the old habit again. I realize that no amount of preparation will feel like enough, so I choose to do the presentation with what I know now."

How MS Patients Can Beat Fatigue

How MS Patients Can Beat Fatigue

Fatigue is a common problem for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). My friend who was diagnosed five years ago is able to continue having an active life, but she tells me there are days she is too tired to move -- so it may be startling to learn that researchers have recently concluded that regular exercise is one of the few things that may help her feel better.

Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, recently did a review to coalesce findings of 162 studies on this subject from a period of 20 years. The studies reviewed were mostly small, but they consistently demonstrated that aerobic exercise, such as walking, cycling and jogging, may help people with MS beat fatigue. It may also be helpful for people with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus too -- both also autoimmune disorders. Optimally, the exercise regimens should include both aerobic and resistance training, and occur at least three times weekly, for 15 to 30 minutes as tolerated. Exercise program intensity should be low initially and gradually increase.

I called Aaron Miller, MD, medical director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, to get his advice on this topic. It's important for all MS patients, at every stage of the disease, to participate in some kind of exercise program because it has been consistently shown to reduce fatigue, he told me. Physical activity in general helps to stabilize blood sugar, reducing inflammation. It also gives patients a psychological boost, and increases endorphins and other brain chemicals that may affect fatigue. He agrees that aerobic exercise should be primary (and says even running is fine for many people), but that resistance exercise and other types are also worthwhile. For patients in more advanced stages, with limited mobility, exercise works to strengthen the muscles that still function, thereby easing the body's overall work load. Although there is no evidence (at present, anyway) that exercise makes any difference in the course of the illness, it may help the patient to tolerate some symptoms better.

Dr. Miller offers one cautionary note: Exercise elevates body temperature, which is problematic for some people with MS. Dr. Miller says the increase in body temperature does nothing to worsen the disease, but it can exacerbate uncomfortable symptoms. However, this can be considered an annoyance, and not dangerous, and is not a reason to stop. My friend often wears a cooling neckpiece during tennis for just that reason. Other options might include setting up fans in front of your treadmill, or limiting workouts to air-conditioned environments. (For information from the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America about such devices, go to http://www.msaa.com/programs/cooling.html.)

Change Your Mind -- Change Your Body

Change Your Mind -- Change Your Body

"Thinking doth make it so," wrote Shakespeare, poetic words to be sure, but also a perfect description of the placebo effect. In clinical studies, people in "the placebo group" unknowingly take a fake form of the item being tested (often a sugar pill), usually having been told it is real medicine that will make them better -- and often, they do indeed get better. Some consider it one of science's many mysteries, but I think it is a powerful statement of our ability to heal ourselves. Now, that's taken to a whole different level in research that involved hotel housekeepers and weight loss.

In a study involving 84 female housekeepers, ages 18 to 55, psychologist Ellen J. Langer, PhD, a professor at Harvard, told half the women that their regular work -- cleaning about 15 rooms a day, for 20 to 30 minutes each -- was enough to meet the guidelines for healthy exercise. She said nothing about this to the other women, although their workload was identical to the first group.

The results just four weeks later were fairly amazing. The control group -- which, remember, had heard nothing that equated their work with exercise -- did not show any physical changes. The women in the informed group, though, had lost an average of two pounds... their systolic blood pressure (the top number) had dropped by 10%... they had decreased body fat by 0.5%... and reduced their body mass index number by .35% of a point. You might argue that these are not dazzling drops or changes -- until you consider the fact that these women did nothing different from the other group -- and did not change their habits at all -- and yet they achieved results.

When I spoke with Dr. Langer, I asked if the women might have brought new vigor to their work, thinking if it was so good for them they'd add some extra zip. But no, she told me, she investigated that possibility and found it not to be true. She attributes the physical changes in the women strictly to alterations in their thought process -- simply that they thought they were achieving healthy exercise patterns, and so they did. Our thoughts are part of our physiology, she says, not at all separate from our bodies. To illustrate, she describes how some people flinch visibly at the sight of a snake or other situation they fear or find loathsome. How would the body know to do that, other than because of the mind's action on it?

This study was one in a series Dr. Langer has undertaken on mindfulness -- which she defines as "actively noticing new things that keeps us in the present." The mind and body are not separate entities, she says, and her expectation is that these experiments will help show that. In the meantime, she says, all of us can accrue additional health benefits by being mindful about how each and every physical motion, not just formal exercise, helps us be healthier.

Source(s):

Ellen J. Langer, PhD, professor of psychology, Harvard University, Boston.