The age of genetics has been arguably with us for over 150 years since the time of Austrian monk Gregor Mendel’s paper "Experiments with Plant Hybrids” back in the mid-19th century. It was furthered 50 years ago by the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA by James Watson and Frances Crick. In 2001, the Human Genome Project along with the private company Celera published their results mapping the human gene code. This ushered in a new world of research as well as raising the most important question of all, “What do we do with this new found knowledge?” Carbon Based Corporation is starting to offer some answers to that question.
Researchers at Wayne State University have linked the lowly mothball to an increased risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). What the researchers found was not only disturbing but down right frightening. It has major implications in the future of mankind.
Recent research from the Medical University of South Carolina Charleston has suggested that foods containing trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils) can affect learning and may even damage the brain. Talking at a recent meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Dr. Ann-Charlotte Granholm presented the results of a study she did on rats.
In the August 25, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association Schulze, et al, presented a study reviewing data from the Nurses’ Health Study II suggesting that there is a definitive link between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and an increase of obesity and type II diabetes in the US. This prospective cohort study looked at data gathered by 116,671 female nurses between the ages of 24 to 44 years of age when the study began in 1989. The study marks the largest review of the data implicating both carbonated soft drinks and fruit punches. This same result was not seen with fruit juice drinks such as apple, orange or grapefruit. One of the interesting comments made in the study is that the increased intake of sugar sweetened beverages is "not fully compensated by reductions in intake of solid foods". Additionally, it was suggested that these drinks may have actually increased the food intake for the women who participated in the study.
