Health Canada is set to ban topical mosquito repellants that contain oil of citronella. The oil contains methyleugenol, a compound that has caused liver tumours in rats fed in large doses, but this...
Life comes down to a struggle between risk and benefit. Although not always consciously, we evaluate our diet, our cosmetics, our medications, household chemicals and activity levels on the basis...
We hear a lot about food these days. Whether it is about healthy choices, food security and feeding the planet, environmental impacts of food production or the science of GMO biotechnologies,...
You鈥檝e undoubtedly heard of the California gold rush of 1849. But any mention of the 鈥渃oprolite rush鈥� in southern England that took place around the same time would probably draw blank stares. Yet...
We are getting fatter.聽 The World Health Organization estimates that a seventh of the world鈥檚 population is overweight and about 300 million people can now be classified as obese.聽 What鈥檚 going on?...
The most fashionable address in New York is no longer Central Park West. It is 66 East 11th St., in Greenwich Village. The building doesn鈥檛 look like much from the outside; it was once a factory,...
During a public lecture on genetic modification I described an experiment that involved enriching soybeans with the amino acid methionine. Soybeans are widely used to raise animals but are low in...
Most chemistry conferences these days feature a session on the 鈥減ublic understanding of chemistry.鈥� Usually speakers express frustration about equating the term 鈥渃hemical鈥� with 鈥渢oxin鈥� or 鈥減oison,鈥�...
"Genetic engineers develop bovine growth hormone!" Now there's an issue the cartoonists can really milk. Giant cows bursting through the roof of their barns, animals sporting udders from head to...
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