Genetically Modified Salmon To Get FDA Approval?

"FDA nears approval as food of genetically altered salmon."

"FDA scientists gave a boost last week to the Massachusetts company that wants federal approval to market a genetically engineered salmon, declaring that the altered salmon is safe to eat and does not pose a threat to the environment....

"'Critical information about the whole process has been kept from the public and organizations that focus on these issues,' said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, part of a coalition of 31 organizations and restaurant chefs that is demanding that the FDA deny approval of the altered fish. 'There's a transparency problem.'


"Siobhan DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman, said the agency is following rules. 'We do have obligations under the regulations to protect company confidential information,' she said.

The "does not pose a threat to the environment" is clearly balogna, I think.  How have they tested that?  Oh, sorry, they won't test us.

We should just trust them.  Right.

An Introduction to Epigenetics

What on Earth is epigenetics?  Here you go.

"If we think of evolution or natural selection as being long term genetic adaptation to the environment, epigenetics provides for short term rapid adjustments to the environment.

"In essence, epigenetics is the tweaking of the system to fit the environment."

Now when I first started reading Mark Sisson's site and read him going on about 'reprogramming your genes', I thought it was a bit of hyperbole.  Clearly it's not.

And although it's not been shown yet, that I'm aware of, clearly if genes can be turned on to adapt to an environmental situation, they must be able to be turned back off.

I'd also like to note that Weston Price anticipated this process back in the 1930s:

"The general architecture of the body is apparently determined primarily by the health of the two germ cells at the time of their union. This architectural design may not be completely fulfilled due to interference with nutritive processes both before and after birth. In this large problem of the relationship between physical design of the body and resistance or susceptibility to disease, we may have determining factors operating at different periods in prenatal and postnatal growth. The accumulating evidence strongly emphasizes that disease susceptibility is a widely variable factor and associated with certain types of developmental disturbances."

Patrick Sweeney Finishes 2nd in Lunas

Post-race article; pre-race article.

Congratulations. 

Adam Gentile's New Haven, CT 20k Race Report

In his bare feet.  He beat his prior shod time.  Congratulations.

Runblogger on the Meaning of Life

Pete's got an interesting, personal post up, where he notes:

"The problem I have is that blog writing is not typically viewed as a worthwhile pursuit among academics."


I agree, although this is changing; some of the other professor-bloggers I follow have commented on this. One notes that his Dean takes the popularity and influence of his blog (Instapundit) into consideration. The other posts at the Volokh Conspiracy, another law-blog, and notes that even in the Supreme Court blogs are being taken more seriously as they provide timely, high-quality analysis.

I think Pete Larson offers a great deal as a self-experimenting anatomist given the current debate concerning running and the correct use of our anatomy. Hopefully he can make the two work together.

Health Correlator on Omega-X Oils

Well put.  The first thing that I did as part of my own dietary experiment was to cut out omega-6 oils.  The benefits were immediate.  If you don't do that, IMHO then from a health perspective you're wasting your money on grass-fed meats.  They're tastier, so enjoy, but I don't think you'll see the full benefit.

I also will note that now that my GI tract is healing up, I can detect even trace amounts of omega-6 veggie oils in the foods I eat.  Grain-finished meat elicits no reaction, although it doesn't taste as good.  So I think, if you're going off the wagon, that you're better eating some grain-finished meat than something rich in omega-6 oils.

Minimalist Mountain Biking Shoe

Sometimes, you have to wear a shoe.  When I mountain bike, three pieces of safety equipment are mandatory: shoes, gloves, and helmet.

My first pair of mountain biking shoes were cross-country racing shoes, with a narrow, deep sole.  They may be great for cross-country racing, but for the rocky, gnarly trails I ride in Connecticut, they were a ticket to a sprained ankle.  I'm still trying to get over the last sprained ankle...

My most recent pair of mountain biking shoes were some platform-style free riding shoes, which did great, and were similar in shape to a Munson last.  But the sole delaminated after my last ride.

I wound up getting the Specialized Tahoe as a replacement shoe.  They also have a Munson-last shape (why is it mountain biking shoe companies get it?), and they have a reasonably wide footbed for stable landings.  I think I got last year's model, which has a velcro bit across the top of the laces.  They fit great, and didn't make me hate the fact that I was wearing shoes for a several-hour ride.  On a side note, the last two mountain biking shoes I got were 9s, these were a 10.  Part of that is that I want more room, part is that my feet are definitely bigger now.

I don't know if they're zero-drop or not, for a biking shoe it's not all that important, IMHO. If you're running up a hill, you don't notice the heel, and if you're running down a hill... You're mountain biking;  why are you running down a hill?

P.S. Here's a link to the new version of the Tahoe.



404

The link to the old version leads to one of the funniest 404 errors I've ever seen...