First it was human embryos. Now scientists are trying to develop another way to modify human DNA that can be passed on to future generations, NPR has learned.
Reproductive biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City are attempting to use the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR to alter genes in human sperm. NPR got exclusive access to watch the controversial experiments underway.
The research is aimed at finding new ways to prevent disorders caused by genetic mutations that are passed down from men — including some forms of male infertility. The team is starting with a gene that can increase the risk for breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers.
The experiments are just starting and have not yet been successful. But the research raises many of the same hopes — and fears — as editing the DNA of human embryos. Nevertheless, the researchers defend the work.
“I think it’s important from the scientific point of view to investigate in an ethical manner to be able to learn if it’s possible,” says Gianpiero Palermo, a professor of embryology in obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, who runs the lab where the work is being conducted.
December 2018/January 2019 - French protesters take the fight right to the front doors of the enemy! In Paris they commandeered a forklift truck and rammed it through the gate of the Ministry of Finance, while protesters in Rouen burn the doors of the office of the Bank of France. [video]/[video]
Instead of seeking the cause of the evil in his mind and heart, man blames his masters, his rivals, his neighbors, and himself; nations arm themselves, and slay and exterminate each other, until equilibrium is restored by the vast depopulation, and peace again arises from the ashes of the combatants. So loath is humanity to touch the customs of its ancestors, and to change the laws framed by the founders of communities, and confirmed by the faithful observance of the ages.
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Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property? (via philosophybits)
In my mind, it was a world between a factory and a factory neighborhood. A little, unknown, twisted, almost silent lost spot where little details and little torments existed. And people were struggling in darkness. They’re living in those fringelands, and they’re the people I really love. Henry’s definitely one of those people. They kind of get lost in time. They’re either working in a factory or fiddling with something or other. It’s a world that’s neither here nor there. It came out of the air in Philadelphia. I always say it’s my Philadelphia Story. It just doesn’t have Jimmy Stewart in it! — David Lynch (from Lynch on Lynch)
I won’t re-hash the vapid origins of the drama here; if you want you can read about it here. Suffice to say that as usual it originated with Neera Tanden, the Center for American Progress think tank president who says populism undermines democracy. Sarandon’s name trended briefly on Twitter as shots were fired between progressives and establishment loyalists, things got wild over the next couple of days, and now you’ve got Daily Kos editor Armando Lloréns-Sar hastily deleting tweets after a deranged meltdown which culminated in the claim that Bernie Sanders is paying the progressive Our Revolution president Nina Turner to fuck him.
So that’s fun.
When the Bernie 2020 campaign first started I had little interest, partly because I dislike Sanders’ foreign policy and partly because up until fairly recently his campaign hasn’t drawn much pushback from establishment narrative managers. That has changed explosively in the last couple of weeks. Sometime after Sanders’ appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, which as of this writing has more than nine million views on Youtube alone, all the usual beltway bootlickers suddenly got extremely shrill and aggressive in using their platforms to attack Sanders, reignite the bogus “Bernie Bro” smear, and tell progressives that they need to fall in line with the Democratic Party regardless of who ends up becoming the nominee. Now we’re seeing some very interesting glitches in the narrative control matrix like mass media pundits freaking out over Bernie’s suggestion that plutocratic ownership taints news reporting and veterans of the news media industry coming forward to say he’s right.
When I say the establishment narrative managers are coming forward to tell progressives to fall in line, I mean up to and including literally saying “fall in line” to them. Brian Fallon, executive director of the liberal advocacy group Demand Justice, recently tweeted, “Fall in love in the primary. Fall in line in the general.” This “fall in line” message is getting piped through all the liberal talking point distribution platforms currently, with Joe Biden’s wife Jill appearing on MSNBC to tell viewers that they must support her husband even if he’s terrible on important life-or-death issues like healthcare.
“So yes, you know, your candidate might be better on, I don’t know, health care, than Joe is, but you’ve got to look at who’s going to win this election, and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, ‘OK, I personally like so-and-so better,’ but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump,” Jill Biden said.
This new escalation in hyper-aggressive browbeating has been about as subtle as a brick, and leaders of America’s progressive movement have noticed.
“Folks on this website are so used to being able to personally vilify and bully anyone they disagree with, they’re now outraged that people like Brihana Joy Gray, Nina Turner, myself and others aren’t taking it silently anymore,” tweeted Sanders campaign speech writer David Sirota. “We are civil — but we respond. If that has you shook, too bad.”
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