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Scum Can Save the World, Well, Pond Scum Anyway

Jul 09, 2008

We do love awards here at GTO and Jonathan Eisen keeps them coming. This time the Overselling Genomics Award goes to a news release out of Rutgers University that advertises a new project to sequence the duckweed genome, funded by the Department of Energy and the Joint Genome Institute. Eisen says they had him at the title, "Duckweed genome sequencing has global implications" and further solidified their award with the subtitle, "Pond scum can undo pollution, fight global warming and alleviate world hunger."

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.