Word: numbering
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...problem interested Potrykus for a number of reasons. For starters, he was attracted by the scientific challenge of transferring not just a single gene, as many had already done, but a group of genes that represented a key part of a biochemical pathway. He was also motivated by complex emotions, among them empathy. Potrykus knew more than most what it meant not to have enough to eat. As a child growing up in war-ravaged Germany, he and his brothers were often so desperately hungry that they ate what they could steal...
Beneath the hyperbolic talk of Frankenfoods and Superweeds, even proponents of agricultural biotechnology agree, lie a number of real concerns. To begin with, all foods, including the transgenic foods created through genetic engineering, are potential sources of allergens. That's because the transferred genes contain instructions for making proteins, and not all proteins are equal. Some--those in peanuts, for example--are well known for causing allergic reactions. To many, the possibility that golden rice might cause such a problem seems farfetched, but it nonetheless needs to be considered...
...different strains of which produce toxins that target specific insects. By transferring to corn and cotton the bacterial gene responsible for making this toxin, Monsanto and other companies have produced crops that are resistant to the European corn borer and the cotton bollworm. An immediate concern, raised by a number of ecologists, is whether or not widespread planting of these crops will spur the development of resistance to Bt among crop pests. That would be unfortunate, they point out, because Bt is a safe and effective natural insecticide that is popular with organic farmers...
Thinking is discouraged. I typically respond "I don't know and I don't care" to most questions beginning with "why?" (such as, "Why isn't one a prime number?" and "Why aren't we allowed to smoke during break?"). Nothing I teach will help students in school or life, with the possible exception of the work ethic they might develop through dutifully completing the monotonous homework sections I assign directly out of a manual. The learning process is nothing. The end goal--raising scores and deceiving college admissions officers--is everything...
Admittedly, Eastern Market is the nicest part of Southeast. Forming the southern half of Capitol Hill, the neighborhood is anchored by a giant red warehouse that turns into a vibrant flea market on the weekends. A number of shops, restaurants and bars line Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street, the main thoroughfares. Townhouses, some dating from the early 1800s, hug the side streets, home to the typical (at least for the District) army of government workers. In other words, Eastern Market is a lot like Georgetown...