What’s the beef? Is cloning cows cruel?
The 7,000 people who signed a petition against cloning certainly think so. This was delivered to 10 Downing Street on Friday by 35 activists from Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and was in response to the recent news that cloned cows have entered the British food system.
Can you think of anything more exciting than a red-fleshed apple?
Yes – okay, so can I, but fruit enthusiasts across the world are getting quite hot under the collar at the thought of tasting this new variety of apple – the Redlove.
Big news on (very) small things
Many of the current science GCSE specifications require students to study nanotechnology so here are three exciting new applications to make this new area of science topical and interesting.
Can our genes tell us our death date?
Another genetics story hit the headline this week. A few weeks ago I reported that scientists were sequencing Ozzy Osborne’s genome to find out how the hell-raiser has managed to survive so long, now we hear that scientists have discovered a way of carrying out a genetic test to find out if you will make […]
Festival science
With Glastonbury commencing on Wednesday, the festival season is well and truly underway. In this post I will attempt to use the famous music festival as a way of connecting exothermic reactions to Ozzy Osbourne (not literally). Music festivals generally involve camping and camping involves heating food over naked flames next to a highly flammable […]
Exciting new biotechnology
In order to keep science interesting and relevant to students it always good to show them the latest breakthroughs in science and in this post I’ve got a couple of examples related to cells, tissues and organs that would be suitable for KS4 and KS5 biology students.
Man-made life
The biggest story in science last week had to be the announcement of the ‘creation of the first synthetic life form’.
Artificial organs for sale
Repo Men is a film playing in UK cinemas at the moment. The film is set in the future, where you can buy an expensive replacement artificial organ if yours pack up. The only downside to this is if you can’t keep up the repayments, the company that supply the organs, The Union, send round […]
My two Mums
Researchers at Newcastle University have successfully created embryos that contain the DNA of three people. It is hoped that within the next three years, this technique will be used to help women who have mutations in the DNA in the mitochondria,