Word: bacterias
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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...
Poultry producers are trying to deal with the situation. They put chlorine in the chilling tanks, and they are experimenting with other chemicals in hopes of finding one that is more effective against salmonella. Irradiation could wipe out the bacteria, but it would be costly and consumer acceptance might be low, since many people mistakenly believe that zapping food with radiation makes it dangerous to eat. The visual inspections carried out routinely in the plants can weed out obviously diseased chickens, but the contamination is usually invisible. A panel of experts convened by the government may recommend soon that...
Traveling from farm to market, chickens and turkeys can get loaded with bacteria. For now, the best safeguard against food poisoning is caution in the kitchen...
...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...