Word: bacterias
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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When Americans sit down to their Thanksgiving turkey this week, some uninvited guests could turn a nice meal into a miserable occasion. If the big bird is not thoroughly cooked, it could pass on bacteria that cause fever, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea -- all the classic symptoms of food poisoning. Often the culprit is salmonella, a nasty microbe that, despite industry and government inspections, lurks in perhaps 35% of all poultry sold...
...people are turning more often to low-fat poultry: annual per capita consumption of chicken alone has risen from 40 lbs. in 1970 to more than 70 lbs. this year. Unfortunately, mass-production techniques make many poultry farms and plants prime breeding grounds for salmonella. Different strains of the bacteria can contaminate eggs as well as meat. (Raw cow's milk can also be tainted, but beef is less of a problem than poultry because the slaughtering process is cleaner...
...have rapidly confirmed what for a long time scientists only suspected: mutations in specific genes are the underlying cause of cancer. As knowledge about these genes expands, so too does the likelihood researchers will devise new treatments that may one day target cancer cells as selectively as antibiotics attack bacteria. "Cancer cells," says gene mapper David Housman of M.I.T., "are too damn close to normal cells, and that's been the basic problem in attacking this disease. Finally, we are beginning to learn what makes cancer cells different...
...That may be tricky, given the concerns raised by some environmental and animal-rights groups. Protests have already greeted the likely approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of biotechnology's first major agricultural product, a natural hormone called BST, which can be mass-produced in genetically altered bacteria. BST injections make cows produce more milk, but farmers worry about a possible oversupply of dairy products that could drive down prices. Moreover, some opponents question the safety of milk from cows with extra...
...environment alike. Similarly, the discovery that plants can be "vaccinated" against disease by equipping them with viral genes ought to reduce reliance on chemical insecticides. Currently, farmers battle such diseases by spraying the insects that carry them. Genetic engineering could also be used to give livestock more resistance to bacteria, reducing the need to feed antibiotics to farm animals...