- Mosquitoes
are unwelcome pests at every party they attend. They’re like your annoying
friend Kevin, who gets invited to your cookout because you live with the guy
and it would just be awkward around the apartment for weeks if you tried to cut
him out of the fun just because he’s an irritating pest who’s a drain on every
room he walks into. But unlike Kevin, mosquitoes may have a useful purpose when
it comes to battling one of the planet’s most dangerous illnesses. As malaria
continues to attack in a world where more than 40 percent of the global
population lives in areas where there is the risk of contracting the disease, an
estimated 500,000 people died from it in 2013. These flying pests are part of
the problem, as the disease is spread via infected mosquito, yet researchers at
the University of California -- including Anthony James, a professor of
molecular biology and biochemistry -- are attempting to turn part of the
problem into the core of the solution. James and his team have developed a
possibly groundbreaking new tool in the fight to eradicate the disease, a tool
they detail in a paper published in the scientific journal PNAS. This riveting
read details their attempt at introducing malaria-blocking genes into the DNA
of disease-transmitting mosquitoes. James has spent nearly two decades in the
riveting business of seeking ways to alter mosquito populations, but this one
is uniquely ambitions. It uses CRISPR, the recently discovered gene-editing
technique that is cheaper, faster, more flexible and in many ways more precise
than alternative methods. Theoretically, this method is able to alter both
dominant and recessive marker genes with big results. In this research, when
malaria-blocking genes were inserted into a population of Anapheles mosquitoes
using CRISPR, the modification could be copied to the partner chromosome and
thus passed down in every generation and inheritance rates rose to 99.5
percent. If successfully implemented on a global scale, this could help
mosquitoes shed their stigma as the Kevins of the insect world………..
- No
industry wants any part of Detroit at this point. The city is bankrupt, its
neighborhoods are abandoned hell holes to uninhabitable that the zombies in “The
Walking Dead” would take one look and say, “Nah, I think we can do better.”
Packs of rabid dogs roam the streets, the infrastructure is crumbling and the
last thing any business wants is to get sucked into the giant black hole that
is the Motor City. Well, except Jack White, who has strong ties to Detroit and
whose record label Third Man Records is set to open its own vinyl pressing
plant in Detroit, the first new pressing plant in the city since the mid-1960s.
The label has released music from a diverse range of artists, including Alabama
Shakes, The Shins, Beck, Tom Jones, Insane Clown Posse, Johnny Cash and Jack
Johnson since its founding in 2001. The overwhelming majority of those releases
have come on vinyl and while this plant will largely focus on its own releases,
Third Man is also interested in opening their plant up to smaller local acts. “Part
of the concern in this world is that vinyl can very easily turn into an
exclusionary thing… But this is going to make it easier for a little punk band
to make 300 copies of a 7” label co-founder Ben Blackwell said. Right now, the
plant is just an idea, as there is no confirmed date for its opening. In the
meantime, White will have to stay busy with his solo career, his role as a
member of both The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather and cultivating that
maudlin, slightly creepy undertaker/hipster vibe he’s ridden to so much success
as he listens to student sections at college sporting events nationwide
mindlessly hum along to “Seven Nation Army” by his initial claim to fame, The
White Stripes……….
- So
things are a bit tense at the Macedonian border right now. Migrants are
flooding into the region in ever-increasing numbers, affected governments are
struggling to find answers on dealing with them and every decision made by
those in power seems to be the wrong one. That’s probably why several migrants
have blocked rail traffic and sewn their lips together with cord to protest a
decision to only allow Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis to cross there from Greece. Some
of these enraged border crashers have declared a hunger strike and they
followed that by sitting down in front of lines of Macedonian riot police.
Literally hundreds of thousands of migrants, many of them Syrians fleeing war,
have already crossed into northern Europe from the Balkans after passing
through Turkey. Many have seen their path take them through Macedonia, Serbia,
Croatia and Slovenia as they head to the EU's more affluent countries, such as Germany
and Sweden. Slovenia exacerbated the problem last week when its government declared
it would only grant passage to those fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan. The rest will be classified as "economic migrants" who would be
sent right back from whence they came and this action inspired Croatia, Serbia
and Macedonia - countries on what is known as the Balkan corridor - to do the
same. In the wake of this decision, thousands of migrants have been stuck on
the Macedonian border with temperatures starting to fall and human rights
groups have ripped the stance, including Rados Djurovic, director of the
Belgrade-based Asylum Protection Centre. "To classify a whole nation as
economic migrants is not a principle recognized in international law,” Djurovic
said. The Macedonian-Greek border remains a powder keg of rage, with migrants
from countries including Iran, Morocco and Pakistan blocking the railway line
running between the two countries, stopping at least one train………
- Who
doesn’t want more time off from work and a chance for a five-day golf trip to
Turks and Caicos in the middle of the winter? NHL players will have this
welcome benefit next season as the league institutes a five-day "bye
week" next season as part of the negotiation with the NHL Players'
Association to sign off on the All-Star format changes announced this week. It’s
a big step forward for the players and one they earned using the relatively
cheap bargaining token of accepting the three-on-three All-Star Game format.
Given that the ASG doesn’t matter and it’s a meaningless exhibition game, the
format could not matter less and if giving in on that subject means the league
will build in a five-day bye week for each team into their schedule between
Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 next season, then the players struck themselves a winner of
a deal. The week off is literally a week off, as players will be completely off
with no practice during this break and teams will only be permitted to practice
after 4 p.m. local time on the fifth day if there is a game on the sixth day.
This extra time off comes as the league and NHLPA are staging a World Cup of
Hockey next season, which is going to pile even more work on for those top
players who take part in the event. Still, the break will benefit stars and
role players alike, giving them some time to catch their breath and count how
many teeth they’ve lost each season before getting back to the grind and trying
to skate their way to a Stanley Cup title……….
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