“Biotechnology” on The Daily Caller

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – A single treatment with gene therapy, an experimental technique for fixing faulty genes, has been shown to boost output of a vital blood clotting factor, possibly offering a long-term solution for people with hemophilia B. (more)

The Food and Drug Administration has reportedly finished its evaluation of the environmental and health impacts for the first genetically modified animal food source proposed for sale in the U.S. market. (more)

The partially paralyzed young man who became the first person to test a therapy made from human embyonic stem cells is in good spirits and hopeful about recovering, family and friends said. (more)

The White House on Thursday said the controversial field of synthetic biology, or manipulating the DNA of organisms to forge new life forms, poses limited risks and should be allowed to proceed. (more)

“My two dads” is no longer just a lousy TV show. Using induced pluripotent stem cell technology (controversy-free!) scientists have produced male and female mice from two fathers. (more)

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this year to Liu Xiaobo, a prominent Chinese dissident who has spent more than 20 years advocating for a freer society marked by greater civil liberties and an independent judiciary. Unfortunately, the government of the Peoples Republic of China not only prevented him or his representative from attending the ceremony today but pressured other nations to boycott it. (more)

The American health care giant Johnson & Johnson made a formal bid on Wednesday for Crucell, offering to pay 1.75 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for the rest of the Dutch biotechnology company. (more)

During his visit to New Delhi, President Obama gave the finishing touches to a ‘shared vision’ with India with regard to the Central Asia and Asia-Pacific regions. (more)

According to the latest Gallup 2010 Confidence in Institutions poll, the U.S. Congress ranks dead last out of the 16 institutions rated. Only 11% of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in those who populate the institution, down from 17% in 2009 and a percentage point lower than the previous low (2008). (more)

With high unemployment, lagging home sales, slow economic growth, staggering federal deficits, etc., it is no wonder the economy is the main issue concerning voters. Failed macroeconomic policies have created the need for a new paradigm for economic growth. (more)

Former leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin famously said that a single death is a tragedy but a million deaths is just a statistic.  His observation seems to have been proven yet again by the media feeding frenzy over the rescue operation in Chile for 33 copper miners trapped underground for two months. (more)

Americans are nearly equally divided on the issue of whether the government should fund human embryonic stem cell research. Yet the National Institutes of Health (NIH), America’s largest and premiere agency for funding biomedical research, continues to act as if no Americans care about the unethical treatment of the human subjects required by the research. (more)

Scientists reported Thursday they had developed a technique that can quickly create safe alternatives to human embryonic stem cells, a major advance toward developing a less controversial approach for treating for a host of medical problems. (more)

The Food and Drug Administration’s public meetings last week on what may be the first genetically-engineered (GE) animal marketed for human consumption have stimulated a lot of discussion.  People differ on whether the sale of AquAdvantage Salmon — which, due to the addition of a gene from the Chinook salmon, grows to full-size in less than half the time of its non-engineered Atlantic salmon cousins — will be a boon or a bane. (more)

President Obama spent much of a town hall meeting on Monday trying to rebut the charge that he is anti-business.  However, his administration’s treatment of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries gives the lie to those denials. (more)

An op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times about the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by rock singer Bono (yes, you read that right) was naive and misguided.  The minimal successes at improving the health and wealth of the poor he cited have been vastly overshadowed by negative policies and actions by UN agencies. (more)

During post-election analysis, Republican luminaries stumbled badly in discussing Christine O’Donnell on the night of the Delaware senatorial primary. (more)

Media reports have indicated that Democrats may bring legislation to the House floor that allows taxpayer funds to be used to conduct embryonic stem cell research — that is, research on stem cell lines derived from the destruction of human embryos.  This issue has resurfaced in the wake of a district court judge’s decision to suspend federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on the grounds that the President’s executive order allowing this research violates the law prohibiting taxpayer funding from being used in the destruction of human embryos.  Ensuring that the law restricting the use of taxpayer dollars for embryonic stem cell research remains intact is the moral obligation of this Congress. (more)

Kombucha’s most fervent fans have long credited the fermented tea with making their joints more limber, their energy stronger and their eyesight sharper. Now Whole Foods is wondering if the beverage is also making them drunk. (more)

The discovery of anti-infective agents such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, and antibacterials in the 1930s and 1940s represents a transformative moment in human history. They have made an invaluable contribution to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Since their introduction, anti-infectives have revolutionized healthcare and saved millions of lives. Unfortunately, over time, bacterium inevitably develops resistance to existing drugs, making infections difficult if not impossible to treat. (more)