Free Republic

A trial that has become a symbol, in Wisconsin and across the U.S., of government criminalization of farmers for providing food directly to consumers has been rescheduled for January. But the delay from the previously scheduled September court date is expected to focus even more attention on the dispute that has dragged Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger to the court’s defendant’s table in the Sauk County Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Guy Reynolds. The state’s case against the Loganville farmer has him accused of four misdemeanor counts of violating Wisconsin’s food and dairy code. Officials with the Farm to...

"The federal government has underestimated the risks of building a lab for researching dangerous animal diseases in a densely populated area in the heart of cattle country, a report released Monday contends."

Laboratory Says Security Is Tighter, but Earlier Count Missed Dangerous Vials An inventory of potentially deadly pathogens at Fort Detrick's infectious disease laboratory found more than 9,000 vials that had not been accounted for, Army officials said yesterday, raising concerns that officials wouldn't know whether dangerous toxins were missing. After four months of searching about 335 freezers and refrigerators at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, investigators found 9,220 samples that hadn't been included in a database of about 66,000 items listed as of February, said Col. Mark Kortepeter, the institute's deputy commander. The vials...

Enlarge ImageAdaptive behavior? The huge variety in religious practice--including this shaman ritual in Ecuador--may be linked to infectious diseases.Credit: Reuters The same diseases that plague humanity may also drive one of the fundamental elements of human culture, a new study suggests. A statistical analysis shows an association between higher rates of infectious disease and religious diversity around the world. The findings have already sparked debate within the academic community; critics are questioning the validity of the interpretation, and supporters say that the finding could offer a new perspective on why religions exist and what role they play in society....

One of the real positive things legislatures can do is gather together representatives of opposing sides of an issue to openly discuss it via hearings. This kind of discussion can help clarify the points of disagreement, and agreement, and help in education... It was in the testimony from the two public health officials that I got an education...in how to distort and misrepresent the facts.

Dawn Sharts has been a dairy farmer in upstate New York for 31 years, and has never had problems with agriculture inspectors. But things changed when Sharts decided to take advantage of a state law that allows farmers with special permits to sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers from the farm... Sharts says last fall agriculture inspectors suddenly began "treating me like I was selling toxic waste." The situation has become so nasty that the inspectors shut part of Sharts' production down for several weeks and publicly accused her of selling a tainted product. She has fought back with vehement...

Week of Dec. 16, 2006; Vol. 170, No. 25 , p. 394 Salad DoubtsPreventing and controlling pathogens on produce Aimee Cunningham Spinach's healthy reputation suffered a severe blow this fall. On Sept. 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta learned that the raw leafy green was the prime suspect in a spate of virulent Escherichia coli infections. The next day, the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat any bagged fresh spinach. Two weeks later, the FDA announced that it had traced the tainted greens to one California company that bags spinach under several brand...

The most comprehensive study to date exploring the genetic divergence of humans and chimpanzees has revealed that the genes most favoured by natural selection are those associated with immunity, tumour suppression, and programmed cell death. These genes show signs of positive natural selection in both branches of the evolutionary tree and are changing more swiftly than would be expected through random mutation alone. Lead scientist Rasmus Nielsen and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, examined the 13,731 chimp genes that have equivalent genes with known functions in humans. Research in 2003 revealed that genes involved with smell, hearing, digestion,...

The Defense Department continues to work with Russia, former Soviet states, and other countries to prevent the proliferation of deadly weapons of mass destruction and to keep them out of terrorists' hands, a senior DoD official told a Senate Armed Services Committee panel last week. "Keeping Russia's bio-weapons technology, pathogen collections and expertise out of terrorist hands strengthens U.S. national security," Lisa Bronson, deputy undersecretary of defense for technology security policy and counter proliferation, noted in March 10 testimony before the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. With the demise of the Soviet Union, the U.S. Congress passed the Soviet...

<p>Forest pathology specialist Matteo Garbelotto researches Sudden Oak Death in Marin County, Calif.</p> <p>SAN FRANCISCO — On the rolling hills and low mountains of coastal Northern California, green and lush now after winter rains, live oaks, tan oaks, black oaks and madrones have been dying for more than two years. A mysterious microscopic organism that causes Sudden Oak Death has been found on a widening list of trees. Even the stately redwood, a California icon as well as a valuable timber product, may be vulnerable. But a far more troubling scenario is gaining currency among plant pathologists and federal regulators: that the disease will make its way out of California and infect the forests of the interior United States with potentially disastrous results.</p>