Researchers have figured out how to get yeast to produce morphine, codeine and other similar drugs and have immediately urged regulators to control these drug-brewing yeasts before people start trying to make them at home. George Church, Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, is quoted.
Doctors warn that a steady onslaught of loud noise, particularly through ear buds, is damaging the hearing of a generation wired for sound — although they may not realize it for years. Sharon Kujawa, associate professor of otology and laryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, is quoted.
Thomas Stossel, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote this opinion piece about the Massachusetts Gift Ban Law that prohibits medical product companies from providing “gifts” to health care practitioners and requires that companies report all other payments to them to the Department of Health for public dissemination.
Helen Farrell, instructor in psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about civil commitment and inpatient psychiatry as an experience can be pivotal to the ongoing work that occurs outside of the hospital.
The new “mini” size of Starbucks’ Frappuccino iced drink is a good idea, but people should still be aware that the sugar-filled beverages are essentially desserts and thus shouldn’t be consumed too frequently, experts say. Jason Block, assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, is quoted.
Pregnancies are more common among lesbian, gay, bisexual youths than among their heterosexual counterparts, suggests a new study of New York City high school students. Brittany Charlton, research fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, is quoted.
