"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

Here's the recap of the week's health news from PHC:

• if DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) can somehow load special viruses into insects and drop them into fields to fight off drought, frost, pests, and pollution, then can't DARPA also use those insects as bioweapons to destroy an enemies' crops?
• "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." -- Jurassic Park.  Fascinating discussion in The Atlantic about "dual-use research" -- research that can be used for good or evil.  The DARPA work is an example, but remember a while back we noted that a Canadian privately-funded effort had resurrected horsepox, which is just a skipping stone from bringing back smallpox.  Smallpox killed millions, if not billions, of people (e.g., native tribes in both North and South America) before being "eradicated" in 1980.  Today, only U.S. military personnel are routinely vaccinated against smallpox.  Point is, who is the watchdog for the ethics of such research -- for the ramifications of lab work that could kill off millions of people in the blink of an eye?
• a man in London is undergoing experimental treatment for the human version of "mad cow disease"
• What's In Your Food This Week:
• FDA has banned 7 cancer-causing synthetic food flavorings used in baked goods, ice cream, candy, soft drinks, and chewing gum.
• "Moringa". 
  
  The next superfood is an edible plant from flower to stem to root, chocked full of protein, amino acids, vitamins A and C, zinc, iron, magnesium and potassium.  I bet we'll see it in a Panerra's salad within the next year.
• Wave of the future for weight loss?  A Boston woman couldn't lose any of her 227 pounds through diets, so her doctor had her swallow a deflated balloon attached to a tube.  They filled the balloon with 2 and a half cups of water, then withdrew the tube.  She lost 30 pounds over the next 4 months.  
• Where NOT To Go On Vacation
• Central African Republic has monkeypox and hepatitis E
• Congo has Ebola
• Somalia has cholera
• Sudan has Chikungunya
• Zimbabwe has cholera
• Niger has cholera
• Japan has rubella
• Los Angeles has typhus - spread by fleas (yuck)
• "I Wouldn't Have Believed It " -- Ireland is trying to reduce excessive alcohol consumption.  They're raising prices and putting warning labels on all drinks, such as "Excessive drinking leads to visions of leprechauns".

 Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Joe