HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

May 23, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Growing an entire baby from skin cells could happen in a decade, scientists say (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Many Canned Foods Still Contain Toxic Chemical  (KPBS)
• From A Millennial to Her Peers: Want to Help the Underserved? Sign Up for Insurance (NPR)
• Gene therapy completely heals severe bone fractures in animal study (San Diego Union-Tribune)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Top hacker conference to target voting machines (Politico)
• Cities need 'hedges as well as trees' for environment (BBC)
• London City Airport's flights to be controlled from 70 miles away  (Reuters)
• Anti-drone fence used in Guernsey prison (BBC)
• Do humans come with a built-in sense of obligation to one another? (CS Monitor)
• 2017 Whitley Gold Award winner: 'Fish loved me but people didn't' (BBC)
• Fossils cast doubt on human lineage originating in Africa (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Growing an entire baby from skin cells could happen in a decade, scientists say (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Nearly 40 years after the world was jolted by the birth of the first test-tube baby, a new revolution in reproductive technology is on the horizon — and it promises to be far more controversial than in vitro fertilization ever was.

Many Canned Foods Still Contain Toxic Chemical  (KPBS)

Many canned foods sold at major retailers still contain the toxic chemical BPA, according to a new study…. The center tested more than 250 cans of food from major retailers in nine states, including California and New York.  The chemical was found in the linings of nearly 40 percent of the cans tested.

From A Millennial to Her Peers: Want to Help the Underserved? Sign Up for Insurance (NPR)

A law student was touched when she had a seizure during a big exam and classmates dropped everything to help. But if you really want to help sick people, she says, "you'll sign up for health care."

Gene therapy completely heals severe bone fractures in animal study (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A novel application of gene therapy completely heals severe leg fractures in animals, according to a study by American and Israeli researchers.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Top hacker conference to target voting machines (Politico)

Hackers will target American voting machines—as a public service, to prove how vulnerable they are. When over 25,000 of them descend on Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas at the end of July for DEFCON, the world’s largest hacking conference, organizers are planning to have waiting what they call “a village” of different opportunities to test how easily voting machines can be manipulated.

Cities need 'hedges as well as trees' for environment (BBC)

Scientists suggest smaller plants are better at absorbing air pollution around tall buildings

London City Airport's flights to be controlled from 70 miles away  (Reuters)

 If you fly into London City in two years' time, air traffic controllers won't see your plane through a window but will guide it down from screens 70 miles away as the airport becomes one of the first in a major capital to use a digital control tower.

Anti-drone fence used in Guernsey prison (BBC)

A new virtual security fence is being tested in Guernsey to stop drones getting contraband into prison.

Do humans come with a built-in sense of obligation to one another? (CS Monitor)

A study finds that children as young as three and a half years old display an understanding of shared commitments, adding to a growing body of evidence that humans are a uniquely cooperative species.

2017 Whitley Gold Award winner: 'Fish loved me but people didn't' (BBC)

Zafer Kizilkaya's work saved a Turkish community. His fish conservation model's now widely adopted.

Fossils cast doubt on human lineage originating in Africa (Reuters)

 Fossils from Greece and Bulgaria of an ape-like creature that lived 7.2 million years ago may fundamentally alter the understanding of human origins, casting doubt on the view that the evolutionary lineage that led to people arose in Africa.