Great Britain is now the first country in the world to approve genetically modified children with DNA from three parents.
The vote in the House of Commons was 328 in favor and 128 against the process that scientists say would stop genetic diseases from being passed from a mother to the child. The pro-genetic modification crowd said it was a “light at the end of a dark tunnel” for many families.
The bill now moves to the House of Lords for approval. If the House of Lords approve the measure the first genetically modified babies could be born in 2016. Estimates say 150 modified babies could be born each year.
Prime Minister David Cameron tried to quell criticism of the process.
“We’re not playing god here, we’re just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one,” the PM said.
Critics were quick to point out no one can know the future of this process.
“This will be passed down generations, the implications of this simply cannot be predicted,” MP Fiona Bruce said. “But one thing is for sure, once this alteration has taken place, as someone has said, once the gene is out of the bottle, once these procedures that we’re asked to authorize today go ahead, there will be no going back for society.”
A British doctor is claiming that he has created the ability to edit DNA at the moment of conception in mice that makes human DNA editing a realistic possibility.
He says this discovery along with others in the last two years mean that scientists can seriously began to pursue creation of “designer babies” which specific hair color, eye color and other features.
“We used a pair of molecular scissors and a molecular sat-nav that tells the scissors where to cut,” Dr. Tony Perry told the BBC. “It is approaching 100% efficiency already, it’s a case of ‘you shoot you score’.”
He says that science fiction is no longer necessarily fiction.
“There’s much speculation here, but it’s not completely fanciful, this is not HG Wells, you can imagine people doing this soon [in animals],” Dr. Perry said. “At that time the HFEA [the UK’s fertility regulator] will need to be prepared because they’re going to have to deal with this issue.”
Dr. Perry says that his science exists in a wider scientific community and that society as a whole should decide what is acceptable when it comes to DNA mutation.
An asteroid about 1/3 of a mile in width will rush past earth on January 26th and mark the closest an asteroid of its size will come to Earth until 2027.
The asteroid, 2004 BL86, will pass the planet at a range of 745,000 miles, or three times the distance between the Earth and the moon. That will be the closest this asteroid will come to Earth in our lifetime according to NASA.
“While 2004 BL86 poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it’s a relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us a unique opportunity to observe and learn more,” Don Yeomans, of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.
NASA will track the asteroid from the Deep Space Network in Goldstone, California and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
The asteroid was first detected January 30, 2004 in New Mexico by the LINEAR telescope. NASA says it should be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with small telescopes and strong binoculars.
The current weather front in the northern part of the U.S. may have many residents signing up for a mission to Mars.
The high temperature on the red planet on Thursday was 17.6 degrees, warmer than the high temperatures in 14 northern U.S. states.
Residents of northern states have been fighting bitter cold and wind chills that have caused major outbreaks of frostbite. Hospitals have been reporting people coming in for treatment who didn’t realize how bad the bitter cold would impact their bodies.
Winter Storm Gorgon is moving off the U.S. east coast this weekend and warmer temperatures are expected to cover the northern states. However, the resulting front could bring massive amounts of snow to the Great Lakes region with some models showing up to three feet of snow in some areas.
Wind chill readings of below zero were reported as far south as Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina.
Many school districts around the nation cancelled their classes Thursday because of the dangerous cold. Detroit reported a high of 3 degrees. Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Packers are to play a playoff football game this weekend, had a high of 6 degrees. International Falls, historically one of the coldest spots in the continental U.S., reached a high of -1.
Critics say that America has lost their first cyberwar after Sony Pictures pulled the movie “The Interview” after repeated cyber attacks by North Korean hackers.
“No one should kid themselves. With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich said after Sony’s announcement.
Sony pulled the film…a comedy film about two bumbling reporters that assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il…even though it was due to open in theaters in just over a week.
The hackers had threatened to have “9/11 style attacks” on theaters in the U.S. that showed the movie. The threats caused the five biggest movie chains in the country to say they were not going to show the film because of fears of incidents.
President Obama addressed the matter in a Wednesday interview.
“The cyber attack is very serious. We’re investigating, we’re taking it seriously,” Obama said during the interview. “We’ll be vigilant, if we see something that we think is serious and credible, then we’ll alert the public. But for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.”
The Department of Homeland Security says there is no credible threat against any movie theater in the U.S.
Officials are praising the fact only four people lost their lives from Typhoon Hagupit.
Over a million residents of the Philippines were evacuated ahead of the storm as officials put into place protocols created after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.
“We saw that with preparation and being alert we prevented tragedy and harm, we took our countrymen away from harm,” added Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas. “It is sad to hear news of deaths, but this is very low, way below what the potential was.”
Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said that it’s obvious people learned lessons and put them into practice.
Over 7,300 people were confirmed dead or are still missing from 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan.
Jipapad mayor Delia Monleon revealed that floodwaters are preventing people from getting to their homes.
“Our problem is power, food is a problem because boats cannot leave,” Monleon told Christian Post. “It was flooded yesterday so we can’t leave to look for food.”
Scientists have used the cells from aborted babies to create a mouse that has a brain that is “half human.”
“Researchers took the immature glial cells from donated human fetuses and injected them into mouse pups,” the New Scientist reports. “The cells developed into star-shaped glial cells known as astrocytes. 300,000 human cells were injected into each mouse, but 12 months later that number had increased to 12 million. The mouse’s own glial cells had been driven out by human astrocytes which are up to 20 times larger than those in mice.”
The scientists would not confirm that the tissue used came from aborted children.
The reports say that the “half human” mice showed significantly higher intelligence than their all mouse counterparts.
The scientists said they had considered using monkeys for the tests but stayed with mice “due to ethical concerns.”
A new study shows vaccines that come from human fetal cell lines can contribute to autism.
The study uses data from the U.S., U.K., Denmark and Australia. It was complied by the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute.
“Not only are the human fetal contaminated vaccines associated with autistic disorder throughout the world, but also with epidemic childhood leukemia and lymphomas,” said Dr. Theresa Deisher of SCPI.
The study showed that in most cases, the amount of fetal DNA in the vaccines was significantly above the levels considered safe. No more than 10ng should be in a dose, yet in some cases the levels were as high at 2000ng per dose.
“There are a large number of publications about the presence of HERV (human endogenous retrovirus – the only re-activatable endogenous retrovirus) and its association with childhood lymphoma,” noted Dr Deisher. “The MMR II and chickenpox vaccines and indeed all vaccines that were propagated or manufactured using the fetal cell line WI-38 are contaminated with this retrovirus. And both parents and physicians have a right to know this!”
The report comes on the heels of a CDC report that was withheld showing an increase among African American boys and autism when vaccinated prior to 36 months.
A giant sunspot on the sun has erupted for the sixth time in a week.
The sunspot, which is 14 times larger than Earth, has erupted with three flares in the last 48 hours.
‘A giant active region on the sun erupted on Oct. 26, 2014, with its sixth substantial flare since Oct. 19,’ NASA said. ‘This flare was classified as an X2-class flare and it peaked at 6:56 a.m. EDT. This is the third X-class flare in 48 hours, erupting from the largest active region seen on the sun in 24 years.”
Christopher Balch of the Space Weather Prediction Center said that the flare had an impact on radio signals that used the upper atmosphere. A few radio communications systems were completely blacked out by the flare for a short time.
The sun has been in an aggressive time of activity after months of almost silence.
The sunspot, which continues to grow, has been described as “menacing” by astronomy experts.
The lava flow from a Hawaiian volcano is threatening to overtake a town.
The flow from the Kilauea volcano, which has been continuously erupting since 1983, has crossed the border of the community of Pahoa. The flow covered the town’s cemetery over the weekend and is steadily progressing toward homes.
“The flow continues to remain active and has advanced approximately 275 yards since yesterday morning,” government officials reported Monday morning.
The Associated Press says the lava flow has been slowly moving toward the town for the last two years. The governor has asked for a Presidential disaster declaration to make federal money available for evacuation and relocation of the town’s residents.
“The effect of the destruction and/or isolation of the businesses and other institutions in Pahoa will be devastating to the entire Puna District,” the governor wrote in his request, according to West Hawaii Today.