Bioengineered Humans

Happy Friday.

It's now officially the holiday season.  We've noticed several neighbors who've already put up Christmas lights.   

We, on the other hand, still had the Halloween pumpkins on the porch.

In this week's health news recap: 

• a Chinese scientist admitted that he used CRISPR technology to edit the genes of embryonic twin girls who were born this month.  We mentioned CRISPR a few news cycles ago, after it first popped up (watch the 60 Minutes video).  The Chinese government has called a temporary halt to the research, but honestly...the train has already left the station.  There will soon be mad-hat researchers in hidden labs across the globe editing embryos to create super, enhanced men and women.  We are entering Sci-Fi territory.  

• also a few news cycles ago, we noted that hospitals can be dangerous to your health.  Evidently, those same illnesses on the rise in hospitals (e.g., diarrhea and deadly intestinal infections) are on the rise outside of hospitals, too.  So, what's the culprit?  Probably it's overuse/abuse of antibiotics that weakens and kills friendly intestinal microbes we need to live.  These "microbiomes" protect us from germs and help to break down food and translate it to energy.
• "What's In My Food" this week:  FDA says it's again safe to eat romaine lettuce, unless it came from California.  All packages should tell you point of origin.
• "it rubs the lotion on it's skin"     The National Institute of Health is evaluating a contraceptive gel for males, Nestorone.  The lotion is rubbed on the back and shoulders, and apparently it blocks the production of testosterone that goes only to the testes to produce sperm -- while not harming the production of testosterone used elsewhere by men.  I dunno...call me a skeptic, but I'm imagining all sorts of unintended consequences for men.
• judging by the number of stories in this issue, the Congo is disintegrating into chaos.  Start with the Ebola outbreak, mix in some rival militia groups fighting each other and threatening humanitarian groups with machetes, and top if off with some malaria. 
• 36% of all female suicide deaths across the globe occur in only country -- India.  Imagine the pain when a girl who grows up in that country discovers how limited her life is going to be.
• that rare polio-like illness has now stricken 116 children across the US, according to the CDC.    Still no idea what it really is or how to treat it.
• thousands of gallons of oil have been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico...for 14 years.  Taylor Energy Co. owns the disaster and has received an order from the US Coast Guard to cap the spill.  Estimates are that the leak rivals the spill from the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

The complete Weekly Update is here.         

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.  It's time for us to start decorating the house with lights!