Le Parlement européen a approuvé une proposition d’assouplissement réglementaire pour certaines variétés de végétaux issues des « nouvelles techniques génomiques » (NGT). Ces « nouveaux OGM » utilisent une kyrielle d’outils, comme les ciseaux moléculaires Crispr-Cas 9, pour éditer et modifier le matériel génétique des plantes afin de leur conférer des qualités nouvelles gustatives,
PlusOn Wednesday July 5, the European Commission proposed to review its rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in order to lift restrictions on certain plants derived from new genomic techniques such as CRISPR. The European executive explains that the 2001 GMO Directive is no longer "adapted" to these biotechnologies, which allow the use of genetically modified organisms.
PlusFor years, the European Union has imposed some of the world's strictest restrictions on genetically modified agriculture. This could be about to change. Europeans have experienced their worst summer ever in terms of drought. Rivers such as the Loire have dried up, the
PlusIt's been ten years since scientists developed CRISPR, a technology enabling targeted modifications to be made to the DNA of cells, but until now the method has only been tested on people suffering from rare diseases such as sickle cell anemia, and then only in exploratory trials. A
Plus"Dancing, graceful, fascinating, strange, delicious, painful, deadly, jellyfish are all of these things. For fishermen, they are potential nuisances; for swimmers, the fear of a painful, sometimes dangerous sting" (1). Yet jellyfish collagen is set to revolutionize in vitro cell culture and medicine.
PlusWhat if our homes were living beings? I don't mean smart homes in which Alexa's disembodied voice decides where to install the new lamps in the living room. I mean really alive - growing, living, breathing and even reproducing. The idea may seem far-fetched, but in the face of
PlusMore and more biotech companies are offering future parents the opportunity to have their embryos analyzed. The aim: to assess the risk of disease in unborn children. But these genetic tests are not yet scientifically validated, and they open the way to profound societal upheavals, worries in an editorial
PlusWhen you look at the world of biotechnology, bio-innovation and genetic manipulation, you're struck by both wonder and horror. Such is the case with the news of the resurrection of woolly mammoths. A piece of information that has already made the rounds around the world, but which poses a real threat.
PlusFor a very long time we have considered plant life as a form of life inferior between the mineral and the animal, that of a vegetative state precisely. Plants were the Lumpenproletariat of life, those that organize the interface between the organic and the inorganic, but whose existence would reflect their function of intermediation:
PlusBiotech company Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida, with the aim of suppressing disease-carrying wild mosquito populations in the region. The company had previously released its modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama and Malaysia, reporting that
PlusMicrobiologists have come up with a sustainable way to remove polluting microplastics from the environment - and they want to use bacteria to do the job. Bacteria have a natural tendency to group together and stick to surfaces, creating an adhesive substance known as "biofilm" - we see this in
PlusRemedee Labs, a start-up based in Grenoble, France, aims to rethink pain treatment using innovative, non-invasive neural stimulation technologies. The company will shortly be launching a clinical trial to validate its millimeter-wave endorphin stimulation technology for individual use in pain management.
PlusThe 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has just been awarded. It rewards Emmanuelle Carpentier and Jennifer Doudna, one a French researcher and the other an American, for their invention of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing tool. This "Swiss army knife" of life-editing has generated extraordinary enthusiasm since its first appearance. Thousands of applications
PlusHow do you protect crops from diseases, insects and other pests when pesticides have a serious sulphur smell? Scientific research proposes to modify plants using genetic editing resources. Biotechnology advocates swear that these modified plants are not GMOs and
PlusA group of German Green MEPs supports the use of genetic engineering techniques, which they believe could make a significant contribution to sustainable development. This is a novel approach that runs counter to the position that environmentalists usually take on this subject. In a forum on 10 June, the 22 signatories - who
PlusA research team at the University of North Carolina in the United States, led by one of the world's leading virus specialists, Professor Ralph Baric, is racing against time to artificially recreate the Chinese coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 is its scientific name). From DNA
PlusThe Chinese twins born last year from embryos genetically modified by the "CRISPR" molecular scissors probably have unexpected mutations in their genome as a result of this manipulation. This information was revealed by an American journalist on December 3 after obtaining an unpublished version of the study detailing the experiment.
PlusI am dragging myself along, I am no longer worth anything... Affected by old age, "organ" disease or accidents in life, my body no longer responds, it has become my best enemy and remembers me at the slightest wrong step. This body loved, adored, pampered since
PlusBetween Ebola that kills and the flu that knocks us down, there is one thing in common: both diseases, like many others, are caused by an RNA virus. This type of virus is the cause of the world's most common but deadly diseases.
PlusMosquitoes are not only small animals that are particularly annoying on summer nights. They are also dangerous vectors of disease and as such are the source of several hundred million cases of serious infections worldwide each year. Insecticides seem to be in short supply because
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