Word: toxin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...continuing flap over Bt corn and cotton--now grown not only in the U.S. but also in Argentina and China--has provided more fodder for debate. Bt stands for a common soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis, different strains of which produce toxins that target specific insects. By transferring to corn and cotton the bacterial gene responsible for making this toxin, Monsanto and other companies have produced crops that are resistant to the European corn borer and the cotton bollworm. An immediate concern, raised by a number of ecologists, is whether or not widespread planting of these crops will spur the development...
...venom purchased from Kristensen in the 1980s, for example, helped neuroscientist Rodolfo Llinas of New York University School of Medicine discover a new calcium channel involved in the communication between certain neurons, shedding new light on how the mind works. Another toxin extracted from Spider Pharm venom in 1995 by Kenton Swartz at the National Institutes of Health (named hanatoxin after Swartz's daughter) is being used to probe the function of proteins that are located on cellular membranes and have been implicated in diseases ranging from diabetes to epilepsy...
...took me a couple of years to come back from that," he says. Any lingering effects? "Yes, I sometimes trip while walking, and I may fall down. My coordination is not what it used to be. Whether it's my age by this time or whether it's the toxin, I can't tell...
Bush's environmental record has Al Gore licking his chops. Texas leads the country in a frightening array of toxin- and carcinogen-release statistics, and last year Houston passed Los Angeles for the dubious distinction of America's smoggiest city. Though some emission levels have declined in recent years, four metro areas are flunking EPA clean-air standards. To achieve compliance, Houston will have to reduce nitrous-oxide emissions as much as 90%. Faced with this crisis--and the presidential race--Texas officials are moving quickly to draw up new plans to reduce emissions. And Bush has asked his regulators...