World’s First Crispr Calf Is Born For The Beef Industry
Nearly five years of research, at least half a million dollars, and multiple failed pregnancies have gone into production of a line of Crispr’d cattle to fulfill the beef industry’s needs. According to Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal geneticist at the University of California at Davis, male cattle are about 15% more efficient than females at turning feed into weight gain and muscle, better known as beef. Producing more males also has the potential to be more environmentally friendly, as fewer cattle are necessary to yield the same amount of beef.
To create the Crispr line of cattle, Van Eenennaam and her team of scientists inserted the gene that initiates male development (called the SRY gene) into a bovine embryo. It finally worked, and the success marked the first demonstration of a targeted gene insertion for large DNA sequences by way of embryo-mediated genome editing in cattle. The bull calf was named Cosmo, and in a year he will become sexually mature. At that point, the research will continue to determine if inheriting the SRY gene is enough to spur the male developmental pathway in XX embryos and produce male offspring. While Cosmo’s birth holds promise for the beef industry, he and his offspring will not enter the food supply due to the Food and Drug Administration’s current regulations on gene-editing of food animals. .
How One Restaurateur Is Using UV Light To Kill The Coronavirus
Ultraviolet (UV) light has a demonstrated ability to inactivate airborne viruses and may help reduce transmission in small, poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Research from the National Institutes of Health found that close to 90% of airborne particles from a previous coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) were inactivated in about 16 seconds of exposure to germicidal UV (GUV). “Although it’s not perfect, it probably offers the best solution for direct air disinfection” in the current pandemic says David Sliney, a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and longtime researcher on germicidal UV. But “There needs to be vertical air exchange,” such as ceiling fans, says Silney, so “it’s not just sterilizing the air in the upper space of the room.”
While much more research is needed, promising study results inspired Musa Firat, owner of Marlaina’s Mediterranean Kitchen near Seattle, to install a germicidal UV system in his restaurant’s dining room. The system is located above the ceiling tiles with horizontal UV lights angled away from customers. Ceiling fans help direct air toward the lights. Firat also installed a sign outside the restaurant door that says “Coronavirus disinfected here!”
Firat’s initial inspiration came from a customer, physician Bruce Davidson, who was known as Philadelphia’s “tuberculosis czar” in the mid-1990s. At that time, the U.S. was battling a new outbreak of TB, and some of the strains were resistant to existing drugs. Studies suggest that GUV systems are about 80% effective at eliminating the spread of tuberculosis. According to Davidson, UV light was crucial to the public health strategy back then, and it may be helpful against the novel coronavirus. “It really ought to be in most indoor public spaces now,” says Davidson.
Experts say that GUV technology has not been looked at more closely or promoted more widely for several reasons: the technology just isn’t as familiar; there are concerns about its safety; scientists are focused on developing a vaccine; and there’s a general reluctance to acknowledging the role of aerosols, which remain in the air longer than the heavier droplets that fall to the ground after a person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. In recent weeks, however, more scientists have acknowledged that the coronavirus can indeed be spread through aerosols. Amid the current pandemic, GUV technology is already being used to clean surfaces on public transportation vehicles and in hospitals, and to disinfect N95 masks for reuse, so it holds promise for indoor restaurants struggling to reopen safely.
Tesla Engineer Retools The Chocolate Chip
Remy Labesque, a Los-Angeles based industrial engineer working for Tesla, has re-engineered the chocolate chip. As part of a side project working for Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, Labesque recognized the limitations of the popular chip’s tear-drop shape and set out to design something better. “The chip isn’t a designed shape,” says Labesque. “It’s a product of an industrial manufacturing process.” Labesque created a multi-faceted chocolate geode that will “melt at the right rate,” according to Todd Masonis, co-founder of Dandelion Chocolate. The chips are designed to melt more slowly so that you can taste more nuances of the cacao bean in the chocolate.
“We did 3-D renderings of different options for shapes, test prints of a few molds and, of course, baking tests,” said Masonis. Labesque designed the chip’s edges to not only melt slowly in your mouth but also hold the shape during baking. “They stay whole,” says Dandelion’s pastry chef Lisa Vega, “but once they’re baked, the center of the chip gets soft.” The redesign also solves a real problem at Dandelion: Vega had been creating chocolate chip cookies and piping quarter-size discs of chocolate by hand, a time-consuming and inconsistent process. The new design will help Dandelion keep up with demand for its cookies, which had sales of 30,000 units last year.
College Dining Halls Navigate Reopening With Robots, Apps, and Outdoor Tables
On U.S. college campuses, the typical all-you-can-eat, all-day, self-serve buffet will look very different this fall semester. To comply with social distancing guidelines, most colleges are eliminating self-service. Instead, cafeteria workers in masks and gloves protected by plexiglass barriers will serve a limited selection of food. Paper cups and single-serving condiment packets are returning, despite previous attempts to eliminate these items to reduce packaging waste. Some schools have employed robots to prepare and deliver food, while others are using apps to schedule staggered pickup times. At South Carolina’s Furman University, students will not be permitted to enter the dining hall at all. Furman has installed two grab-and-go meal stations and will provide students with insulated, reusable grocery bags that accommodate multiple meals to be consumed elsewhere. The university is also installing a pop-up restaurant outside its main library. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, most classes will be held virtually, and students returning to campus will have limited food options. Ramen bowls will be premade, and salad bars will have fewer choices in an attempt to accelerate wait times. Garett DiStefano, the university’s director of dining services, also plans to expand food truck options on campus to provide students with more food choices.
Fitbit For Chickens Could Increase Egg Production
Scientists at the University of California have found that a Fitbit-like device worn by farm chickens may help combat insect infestations and eventually increase production of fresh eggs. The tiny device tracks bird behavior rather than steps. Entomologist Amy Murillo and her team of researchers developed an algorithm that allows data from the device’s motion sensor to provide reliable indications of a chicken’s distinct actions, such as biting, pecking and preening. Chickens who engage in more feather cleaning are more likely to have infections, and the data can help farmers track down affected chickens before an infestation spreads to the whole flock. “External parasites, such as mites, can have direct impacts on poultry health and productivity as well as economic effects,” said Denise Heard, director of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Ultimately, the device may help farmers keep their chickens healthy and boost egg production.
White Castle Becomes First Fast Food Chain To Test Robotic Fry Cook
White Castle aims to put Flippy, its new robotic chef, to work this September. Made by Miso Robotics, Flippy can perform duties such as moving itself around workstations, frying food, and flipping burgers. The robot can also assimilate to its location and move more efficiently as it adapts to its surroundings. Flippy is already in use at some restaurants, concert venues, and sports stadiums such as Dodger Stadium. White Castle has been working with Miso Robotics on automation efforts for months, but the decision to implement the robot now was accelerated by the pandemic, according to White Castle vice president Jamie Richardson. If Flippy becomes a fixture in White Castle restaurants, the robot will not eliminate human jobs, emphasized Richardson. Kitchen automation, he says, will make food delivery and customer service easier for staff, letting them concentrate on customers and getting delivery drivers the food they need. According to Miso Robotics CEO James “Buck” Jordan, Flippy can coordinate food production with precision timing so that food will be finished cooking and ready to go just when drivers come to pick it up.
Burger King Tests Beef Burgers From Low-Methane Cattle
Burger King teamed up with two groups of scientists to test a new diet for cattle that reduces the animals’ methane emissions. Methane is a natural digestive byproduct for cattle, but this greenhouse gas attracts heat from the sun, contributing to the planet’s increasing temperatures. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, farm animals account for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In collaboration with Burger King, various scientists have documented success in reducing the methane output of cattle by adding 100 grams of lemongrass leaves to their diet during the last four months of feeding. Initial study results show that the lemongrass addition reduces daily methane emissions by an average of 33% per day during the last three to four months of the animals’ lives. Burger King’s Whopper sandwich made with the low methane beef is now being offered at restaurants in Miami, New York, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. Thus far, no change in the taste of the burgers has been reported.
100% Solar Powered McDonald’s Serves As Company’s New Sustainability Lab
McDonald’s recently opened a 100% solar power restaurant at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The new location has 1,066 solar panels on its roof and 1,500 square feet of panels on its outside porch. The restaurant’s windows open and close automatically to bring in cool air. Running an establishment on fully renewable energy is “still sort of at the technological edge for buildings,” said Carol Ross Barney, principal at Ross Barney Architects, who spearheaded the new location’s design. “For a restaurant, the biggest energy use is in cooking,” said Ross Barney, “especially in a high-volume restaurant like this one at Disney World.” The company is testing new cooking equipment to reduce energy use as well. “McDonald’s isn’t going to turn around tomorrow and tell all the franchises that they have to have and put solar panels all over their store,” say Ross Barney. “But I do think that there will be some applications that can be used in all stores, and will be used in all stores, in the future.”
Wearable Tech Necklace Tracks Food Intake To Help Optimize Diet
NeckSense is a new necklace designed by Northwestern University researchers to help wearers understand, either on their own or by working with health professionals, what factors or behaviors trigger bingeing or overeating. The necklace contains a tiny wearable camera with sensors that record activities such as dietary intake and heart rate. Researchers refined the wearable tech after testing it on 20 study participants with and without obesity and publishing the study results in the journal of the Association for Computing Machinery. “The ability to easily record dietary intake patterns allows dieticians [sic] — or even laypeople making use of our tech — to deliver timely digital interventions that occur as eating is happening to prevent overeating,” said lead study author Nabil Alshurafa, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Sidewalk Refrigerators Offer Free Food In New York City And Around The World
As the pandemic strains food banks and hunger relief efforts worldwide, volunteers have begun a simple solution: community refrigerators, sometimes nicknamed “friendly fridges.” In New York City, anyone in need is welcome to take food from these sidewalk refrigerators. “Take what you need, leave what you don’t” is a common sign on the fridges, which are cleaned and stocked by volunteers every day. Volunteers also request and coordinate food donations from local restaurants and grocery stores, gathering unsold and unused items that may otherwise have been destined for the trash. Even before the pandemic, 1 in every 4 New Yorkers were food insecure, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that roughly 30% of the country’s food supply went to waste. These trends are echoed around the world, as the data from the United Nations indicate that as many 270 million could become food insecure before the end of 2020, an 82% increase since the pandemic began. To combat the growing hunger problem, public refrigerators have proliferated around the world. Freedge.org, a database and network of free food refrigerators, lists dozens of these so-called “freedges.”
