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Review of red meat’s risks spurs scientific food fight

London | Reuters — Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of studies involving millions of people, a finding that contradicts dietary advice of leading international agencies and raised immediate objections from many health experts. Most people can continue to eat red and processed meat […] Read more


Chicks atop images from a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Gene-edited chickens planned in bid to halt next pandemic

London | Reuters — British scientists are developing gene-edited chickens designed to be totally resistant to flu in a new approach to trying to stop the next deadly human pandemic. The first of the transgenic chicks will be hatched later this year at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said Wendy […] Read more

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U.S. farm study finds no firm cancer link to glyphosate

London | Reuters – A large long-term study on the use of the big-selling weedkiller glyphosate by agricultural workers in the United States has found no firm link between exposure to the pesticide and cancer, scientists said on Thursday. Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), the study found there was no […] Read more

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France on June 12, 2017. (Reuters file photo by Robert Pratta)

WHO seeks new director for cancer agency facing U.S. scrutiny

London | Reuters – The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking a new leader for its France-based cancer research agency to replace the current director, Chris Wild, from January 2019. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a semi-autonomous unit of the WHO, is currently under scrutiny by influential members of the United States […] Read more


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Stop using antibiotics in healthy animals, WHO urges farmers

London | Reuters – The World Health Organization urged farmers on Tuesday to stop using antibiotics to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals because the practice fuels dangerous drug-resistant superbug infections in people. Describing a lack of effective antibiotics for humans as “a security threat” on a par with “a sudden and deadly […] Read more


(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Field studies fuel dispute over whether neonics harm bees

London | Reuters — Two major studies into how bees are affected by a group of pesticides banned in Europe gave mixed results on Thursday, fuelling a row over whether the neonicotinoid pesticides are safe. The studies, one conducted across three European countries and another in Canada, found some negative effects after exposure to neonicotinoids […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

New study on glyphosate to feed into crucial EU vote

London | Reuters — Results of a new animal study into possible health risks of glyphosate will be published in time to inform a key EU re-licensing vote due by the end of 2017, according to the researcher leading the trial. A row over possible effects of glyphosate — an ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup […] Read more

(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

WHO says bird flu outbreaks raise alarm

London | Reuters — The risk of sustained human-to-human transmission of H7N9 avian flu in China is low, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, but a surge in human cases there is worrying and requires constant monitoring. Outbreaks of H5 bird flu strains in poultry and wild birds across Europe, Africa and Asia are […] Read more