Emerald ash borer found in Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn., May 15 (UPI) -- The tree-killing emerald ash borer has been found in Minnesota, which has the nation's second-highest number of ash trees after Maine, scientists said.
The long-expected pest was found this week in a tree in St. Paul's Hampden Park community, The Star Tribune of Minnesota reported Friday.
"It's obviously bad news," said Mike Schommer, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Minnesota has 900 million ash trees. Many of the ash trees were planted to replace trees killed by Dutch elm disease.
State officials are expected to ban the movement of any part of an ash tree in or out of Ramsey and Hennepin counties in the Twin Cities area. A similar ban is in place in Houston County because an ash borer was found last month in Wisconsin, about 20 miles east east of the county, the Star Tribune reported.
The pest, native to China and Korea, has killed millions of ash trees in at least 10 states in the last decade.
Disgraced scientist claims breakthrough
SEOUL, May 15 (UPI) -- A breakthrough in creating stem-cell lines from cloned pig embryos will restore the reputation of South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, a colleague said.
Hwang's new work could advance research in extracting stem cells from cloned human embryos, said Hyuan Sang-hwan, a key colleague of Hwang's at the Sooam Biotech Research Center.
Hwang began working at Sooam after he was dismissed in 2004 from Seoul National University, where some of his gene studies were exposed as fraudulent.
His new work with cloned pigs will put to rest "any doubts about his skills and knowledge as a scientist," Hyuan told The Korea Times in a story published Friday.
Hwang's study is to be published several months from now in Zygote, a peer-review journal. Until then, Hyun and Hwang have declined to comment on how many stem-cell lines were produced from the cloned pig embryos or the techniques used to produce them, the Times reported.
Super rats' evolve in Britain
LONDON, May 15 (UPI) -- Britain's poison-resistant rat population has risen to an estimated 80 million -- an increase of more than 200 percent since 2007, scientists said.
Genetic mutations have produced "super rats" with DNA that protects against common pesticides, said Robert Smith, a researcher at the University of Huddersfield.
"Natural selection means that when you have a rat population in your town, poison will kill the ones that aren't resistant, the ones that survive may have the gene, they then have babies who can receive the gene themselves," Smith told The Daily Telegraph in a story published Friday.
Exterminators are using traps, guns and dogs to try to keep the rat population under control across Britain. The British Pest Control Association said the government needs to approve more powerful pesticides or the rat population will swell to greater numbers during the summer.
"It is a warning of things to come," Smith said.
Marijuana passed through breast milk
NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- Marijuana-smoking mothers who breastfeed pass the drug to their babies through the milk, U.S. health experts said.
"There is a higher concentration of marijuana in breast milk than in the mother's bloodstream so these babies are getting a fair amount of marijuana," said Sarah Kabalka, a registered nurse who specializes in addiction.
Marijuana, which is nearly three times stronger than it was two decades ago, also can result in gynecomastia, or enlarged breasts, and lower sperm motility, Dr. David Sack, an addiction psychiatrist at Promises Treatment Centers told the New York Daily News in a story published Friday.
Regular users of marijuana, those who smoke it several times a week, also have a higher rate of depression, and marijuana can lead to addiction if the user is genetically predisposed to becoming an addict, Kabalka said.
When you "start smoking pot, there is no way to know when the switch is flipped and you become an addict," she said. "Since the pot is stronger, that means you become more high and stay high longer."
