Thumbs down to genetically modified food

Most Europeans believe that GM food should not be encouraged and see biotech crops as posing a risk to society, says a survey requested by the European Commission. While there was general support for medical and industrial biotech, EU citizens polled in nearly all the 25 countries remained sceptical about biotech used in agriculture. “The lesson for agri-food biotechnology is that unless new crops and products are seen to have consumer benefits, the public will continue to be sceptical,” the survey said. Based on five reasons suggested to consumers as to why they might want to buy GMO foods, it ranked average support among EU citizens for GMO foods at 27 per cent ? against more than 50 per cent for nanotechnology, pharmacogenetics and gene therapy.

Old blood units cause harm

The longer red blood cells have been stored, the poorer are the outcomes of patients transfused with the units after a high-risk procedure, says Dr Sukhjeewan Basran of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. The report in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia suggests that the current preservation method has increased the time for which RBCs can be stored. Often, RBCs stored for a longer period of time become less flexible, causing clogged blood vessels, oxygen-starved tissues and organ failure. Previous research indicated longer storage times were associated with increased mortality in high-risk, but not low-risk, patients.

Magnetic pulse for migraine

A device that delivers magnetic pulses through the skull to the brain may become a migraine sufferer’s best friend, new research indicates. Transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS) prevents the severity of migraines, say preliminary studies reported at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles. “Migraine is due to neuronal hyperexcitability, during which patients see flickering lights. This phase is followed by fatigue and depression of neurons, which causes a pounding headache,” said Dr Yousef Mohammed. “We hypothesised that if we could interrupt this cortical spreading depression by administrating TMS, we could abort the headache,” he added.

Support for transsexuals

South Korea’s Supreme Court has ruled that transsexuals who have had sex change operations can legally change their sex in their family registry. The court said its decision should help transsexuals become better accepted members of society. The registry forms the basis of almost all aspects of South Koreans’ lives, from getting a job to even subscribing to a mobile phone service.