Cloning claim denounced
Fertility researcher Panayiotis Zavos announced last week that he had successfully created cloned human embryos by mixing genetic material from deceased people with cow eggs-and this week the journal that accepted his paper for publication pulled it. The editor of the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics said that he does not “tolerate unauthorized prepublication publicity.” Zavos has made other cloning claims in the past, but has never published a peer-reviewed article to back them up, even when he announced that he had successfully implanted a cloned embryo into a human mother.
-Zoe Cormier
Source: Nature
Medical marijuana helps MS muscles
A follow-up study has shown that smoking cannabis has positive physical effects for multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers, and not just effects on mood. The first phase of the study, the largest one ever performed on medical marijuana and MS sufferers, found the positive effects of the drug to result mostly from “good moods.” Now, after administering natural cannabis extract, a synthetic THC mimic, or placebos to 630 MS sufferers, physiotherapists found clear improvements in the muscles of those who took active drugs. The results support animal tests that indicated that cannabinoids slow nerve cell death and protect against damage.
-Z.C.
Source: New Scientist
Frosh fifteen a fact
A Cornell professor has found that the “frosh fifteen,” the 15 pounds that freshmen are supposed to gain during their first year at university, is not just a taunt chanted by second year students-it’s a reality. He measured the weights of 80 students before and after their first of three semesters at American colleges. Both men and women gained an average of five pounds-which would reach fifteen pounds if they continued to eat and exercise at the same rate all year. The reasons for the weight gain are just what you’d expect: all you can eat dining halls, excessive drinking, and freedom from parental control.
-Z.C.
Source: Associated Press
