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4 surprising facts about the judge behind California’s climate change trial.

On Tuesday, the court will hear arguments about a California law that tries to clarify the facts that women receive about their reproductive rights. The accuracy of that information becomes increasingly important as environmental disasters — which are growing more, uh, disastrous — endanger women more than men. Women can be better prepared by having full control of their reproductive decisions.

Crisis pregnancy centers are organizations, often masquerading as medical clinics, that attempt to dissuade women from seeking abortions. California’s Reproductive FACT Act, passed in 2016, requires reproductive health clinics and CPCs to post notices advising their clients that the state provides free or low-cost family planning, prenatal care, and abortion; and that CPCs publicize that they are not licensed to practice medicine.

Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal organization representing the centers suing the state of California, claims that the requirements of the Reproductive FACT Act are unconstitutional because they require CPCs to “promote messages that violate their convictions,” Bloomberg reports. The state of California argues that information provided by medical professionals is publicly regulated, and that women who depend on public medical care and are unaware of their options should not be provided with confusing information.

Last February, a Gizmodo-Damn Joan investigation found that women seeking abortion clinics on Google — because, let’s be real, that’s how a lot of us find medical care — could be easily led to CPCs instead, as Google Maps does not distinguish them from real medical clinics.

We’ll be watching this case.

Source:

4 surprising facts about the judge behind California’s climate change trial.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Crown, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 4 surprising facts about the judge behind California’s climate change trial.

Marijuana might be the “Ferrari” of THC production, but could yeast be the Tesla?

Marijuana might be the “Ferrari” of THC production, but could yeast be the Tesla?

By on 15 Sep 2015commentsShare

If we start making THC with microbes, rather than marijuana plants, what image will we use to replace the iconic pot leaf?

This isn’t a ridiculous question — well, it is, but it’s not unfounded. Researchers at Technical University of Dortmund in Germany have genetically modified yeast to make THC. (For a primer on how scientists engineer microbes, check out this video on synthetic biology.)

Fermenting THC with microbes could be much less resource-intensive than growing actual pot plants, which require a lot of water and light. It could also help facilitate much-needed medical research on the potential health benefits of THC and other compounds in marijuana. Here’s more from The New York Times:

Synthetic versions of THC are available in pill form under brand names like Marinol and Cesamet; they are generally used to treat nausea,vomiting and loss of appetite caused by H.I.V.infection or cancer chemotherapy. Genetically modified yeast could make THC in a cheaper and more streamlined way than traditional chemical synthesis.

Using yeast could also shed light on the clinical usefulness of cannabis-derived compounds. Marijuana is increasingly embraced as medicine, yet there is limited evidence that it is effective against many of the conditions for which it is prescribed. Researchers hoping to separate fact from wishful thinking will need much better access to marijuana’s unique constituents. Modified yeast may provide them.

“This is something that could literally change the lives of millions of people,” said Kevin Chen, the chief executive of Hyasynth Bio, a company working to create yeasts that produce THC and cannabidiol, another marijuana compound of medicinal interest.

For now, microbe-made THC is pretty far from commercial viability. The yeast can only churn out small amounts of THC at a time, and they require special “precursor molecules” in order to do so, The Times reports. In a perfect world, they’d be able to make a lot of THC using only simple sugars, and then, presumably, they’d crave even more of that sugar once they’re drowning in THC (just kidding — that’s not how this works). Jonathan Page, an adjust professor at the University of British Columbia who contributed to this research, told The Times:

“Right now, we have a plant that is essentially the Ferrari of the plant world when it comes to producing the chemical of interest,” Dr. Page said. “Cannabis is hard to beat.”

Still, this research shows that it’s possible to get THC from microbes. So while these scientists have a lot of work ahead of them, it’s not too early to start thinking about how we’re going to rebrand pot culture. I say we replace the leaf with a microbe munching on a THC-infused brownie — you know, because it’s like it’s eating its own excrement, which is hilarious, especially if you’re high.

Source:

Newly Risen from Yeast: THC

, The New York Times.

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Marijuana might be the “Ferrari” of THC production, but could yeast be the Tesla?

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, ONA, Oster, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Marijuana might be the “Ferrari” of THC production, but could yeast be the Tesla?