Nexus - 0601 - New Times Magazine-pages

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... GLOBAL NEWS ... NEWS MOLECULAR MEMORY COULD BE TRANSMITTED BY E-MAIL! Fee researcher Jacques Benveniste is set to become the first person in history to win two 'Ig Nobel’ prizes when this year's awards are announced at a ceremony at Harvard University (8 October). Benveniste won his first 'Ig'—awarded annually by Marc Abrahams, editor of The Annals of Improbable Research, and a group of scientists—for work claiming to show that antibody solutions retain their biological effectiveness, even when diluted to the point where no trace of the antibody is detectable (Nature 333:816, 1988). The water, Benveniste argues, preserves a "memory" of the substance after it is gone. The second Ig Nobel Prize will be awarded to Benveniste for an extension of this work. Benveniste now claims that a solution's biological activity can be digital- ly recorded, stored on a computer hard drive, sent over the Internet as an attached document, and transferred to a different water sample at the receiving end (see http://www.digibio.com). "We've demonstrated that you can trans- mit the biological effect by e-mail between Chicago and Paris," says Benveniste, who heads the Digital Biology Laboratory, in Clamart, France, which is financed by the private company DigiBio SA. "With this approach, you could transfer the activity of a drug by means of standard telecommuni- cations technology." Benveniste says that he is "happy to receive a second Ig Nobel Prize, because it shows that those making the awards don't understand anything. People don't give out Nobel prizes without first trying to find out what the recipients are doing. But the peo- ple who give out Ig Nobels don't even bother to inquire about the work." (Source: Nature, vol. 395, 8 October 1998) Professor Ashford believes that the huge rise in pesticide use over the last half-cen- tury could explain many illnesses, ranging from skin rashes and breathing problems to cancers and birth defects. He wants to see an immediate reduction in pesticide use until the effects are better understood, and is pressing for the formation of an EU envi- ronment unit to study the problem. (Source: by Alex Kirby, BBC Online Environment Correspondent, 10 Oct 1998) HEALTH CONCERNS PROMPT CALL TO REDUCE PESTICIDE USE icholas Ashford, Professor of Technology and_ Policy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says he thinks chemicals are the most seri- ous environmental problem facing industri- alised countries today. Professor Ashford, who is also an advis- er to the United Nations Environment Program, is known for his work on the the- ory of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). The theory suggests people can become sensitised by exposure to one form of cont- amination so that they are then liable to be affected by a whole range of other pollu- tants, including detergents, traffic fumes and tobacco smoke. Organophosphates (OPs) may be one of the most common initiators of MCS, according to Professor Ashford. OPs are used in sheep dip, shampoos and flea col- lars and are also used for fumigating public transport vehicles. Prof. Ashford said, "Pesticides are nerve poisons; they damage the brain and they are also known to be endocrine disruptors [synthetic chemicals which interfere with naturally produced hormones]." at PULP FRICTION: THE ECOLOGIST vs MONSANTO he Ecologist, the flagship of the green movement in the UK for the past 30 years, has become involved in a row with its printers after an edition of the magazine was pulped. The journal had used the edition to attack transnational Monsanto's biotechnology and genetic engineering practices, includ- ing the so-called Terminator Technology (see article this issue). But the Ecologist's printers of 29 years—Penwells of Saltash, Cornwall—destroyed the 14,000-copy print run without notice. The printers refused to comment on their decision, but it is under- stood that the company was afraid of laying itself open to a libel action. Daniel Verakis, UK spokesman for Monsanto, admitted that although he knew that the issue of the Ecologist was a special one on biotechnology, Monsanto had noth- ing to do with influencing the printers to pulp the magazine. (Source: Guardian Weekly, London, w/e 4 October 1998) SANITY CLAUSE FOR VETTING BRITISH SPOOKS Be: spies are to be vetted by psy- chologists to assess whether they can be entrusted with national secrets. The move reflects growing concern about men- tally unstable agents. Under proposals from the House of Commons security watchdog, members of MI6, MI5 and other agencies would be forced to undergo regular psychological tests to spot potential personality disorders. The House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee is also considering more exacting staff scrutiny and "more stringent controls on appointments to par- ticularly sensitive posts". Harold Macmillan once said that anyone who spent more than 10 years in the world of spies must be either weird or mad. S we lhe 8 = NEXUS DECEMBER 1998 - JANUARY 1999