The incidence of essential or primary hypertension is increasing, especially in the northern hemisphere, but although the disease displays clear symptoms, its aetiology appears very complex, and thus no causal treatment is available yet. In the 1990's, genetically modified animals (GMO) were considered to be the key to solving this problem of high complexity. However, until now, although a few ...

There is widespread interest within academia to work on public good genetically engineered (GE) projects to the benefit of the poor, especially to use GE-technology to contribute to food security. Not a single product from this work has reached the market. The major cause is GE-regulation, which prevents use of the technology for public good beyond proof-of-concept (Potrykus, I. (2010) Lessons ...

The manufacture and use of explosives throughout the past century has resulted in the extensive pollution of soils and groundwater, and the widespread interment of landmines imposes a major humanitarian risk and prevents civil development of large areas. As most current landmine detection technologies require actual presence at the surveyed areas, thus posing a significant risk to personnel, di...

Plant-based environmental remediation, or phytoremediation, has been widely pursued in recent years as a favorable clean-up technology and is an area of intensive scientific investigation. For the vast majority of field applications, vegetative 'phyto-crops' are selected specifically for their capacity for site decontamination and not for additional concurrent or post-remediation utility. By co...

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on the constitutional and legal issues surrounding H.112, a bill that would require the labeling of food and food products derived from genetically engineered (GE) organisms. My name is Michael Hansen and I am a senior scientist at Consumers Union (CU), the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, whose headquarters is located in Yonkers, N...

Laboratory-contained microcosms are important for studying the fate and survival of genetically engineered microorganisms. In this study, we describe a simple aquatic microcosm that utilizes survival chambers in a flowthrough or static renewal system. The model was used to study the survival of genetically engineered and wild-type strains of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida in the lake w...

BACKGROUND Under permit from the National Biosafety Commission for the use of genetically modified organisms, releases of a genetically engineered self-limiting strain of Aedes aegypti (OX513A) were used to suppress urban pest Ae. aegypti in West Panama. Experimental goals were to assess the effects on a coexisting population of Ae. albopictus and examine operational parameters with relevance t...

Once a biological novelty known for their role in bioluminescence, fluorescent proteins (FPs) from marine invertebrates have revolutionized the life sciences. Organisms from all kingdoms have been transformed with the Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein (GFP), and biotechnology has been advanced by the use of FPs. This article reviews the current uses of FPs in whole transgenic organism...

Some of us joined this Academy when Carlos Chagas was president. Upon meeting him for the first time, we knew that we were in the presence of a person of great vision, enormous integrity, and unquestioned dedication to science. His dedication to science had two foundations. One was his inherent fascination with the natural world. The second was his conviction that science could advance human we...

The monitoring of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) after deliberate release is important in order to assess and evaluate possible environmental effects. Concerns have been raised that the transgenic crop, Bt maize, may affect butterflies occurring in field margins. Therefore, a monitoring of butterflies was suggested accompanying the commercial cultivation of Bt maize. In this study, basel...