Scientists Make First Genetically Modified Embryo

For the first time, scientists have been able to genetically alter a human embryo. Researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby to do the project.

The project raises the possibilities that people could be able to create designer babies in the future and scientists could insert certain genes into an embryo to produce babies with certain characteristics, such as higher intelligence and better athletic abilities. Some people think that this is wrong and turns children into designed objects and would create an unequal society where some people would be considered genetically superior while other people who are born without genetic injections would be inferior.

Scientists say that the main point of the project was to find out if a gene injected into an abnormal embryo could be traced in stem cells that are harvested from the embryo. The work could also explain why abnormal embryos don’t develop. Scientists found that abnormal embryos don’t develop well enough to produce stem cells.

Dog Barks Translated By Computer

There are scientists at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary that has recorded more than 6,000 dog barks, which were by 14 different Hungarian sheepdogs, and fed the sounds to a computer program which was able to categorized the barks into categories that included “stranger,” “fight,” “alone,” “ball,” “walk,” and “play.” The computer also was able to pick out different dogs by their bark.

Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/16/scidog116.xml

Scientist Say that Human Race Might Split Into Two Species

An article claims that the human race might split into two subspecies with one being tall, slim, and intelligent and the other being short, ugly, and not smart. Click the link to read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305505,00.html

Scientist Explain Reasons for Chocolate Cravings

A study has found there is a type of bacteria in the digestive system that craves chocolate. Everyone has microbes in their stomach but people who have chocolate cravings have different colonies of bacteria.

The study was done by finding 11 men who never ate chocolate and 11 men who ate chocolate everyday. All of the men wee healthy, not obese, and were fed the same foods for five days. The researchers examined the byproducts of their metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were different between the two groups. The amino acid glycine levels were higher in the men that ate chocolate. People who ate chocolate also had lower levels of bad cholesterol.

It is known that bacteria interact with what you eat and studies have shown that intestinal bacteria changes when people lose weight. Someday, some types of obesity will be able to be treated by changing the bacteria in the intestines and stomach.