Maryn McKenna's Blog, page 15

U.K. ‘Horseburger’ Scandal: Did the Meat Originate in the U.S.?

Millions of pre-made burgers sold by supermarkets in the United Kingdom and Ireland have been taken off the market after the meat they contain was found to contain DNA from both horses and pigs. Could the horsemeat have originated in ...

A Government Takes Ag Antibiotics Seriously — But Not Our Government

In a long debate that featured some stinging language, the British Parliament examined the use of antibiotics in agriculture for the first time in more than a decade. Wired Science blogger Maryn McKenna has the highlights.

Almost-Untreatable Gonorrhea: Proof That It’s Here

Since the early 2000s, there have simultaneously been signs that drug-resistant gonorrhea is spreading from the Pacific Rim -- Japan and Hawaii -- to North America, Europe and the rest of the world. Now, a report from researchers in Canada ...

Polio Eradication: The Bad News Continues

On New Year's Day, seven polio vaccinators — six female health workers and a male doctor — were ambushed and shot to death in Pakistan. The violence there is a response to an admitted-to ruse by the CIA. Now, the ...

2012 In The Rear-View Mirror: What You Liked

Happy New Year, constant readers. For the second year in a row, here’s my list of which of my posts (91 in 2012!) most moved you to react. Last year (find that list here), I counted down based on which ...

The Lost History and Unintended Consequences of the Chicken Nugget

The chicken nugget appears to have been invented -- or at least, originally proposed -- by a Cornell professor 17 years before McDonald's had essentially the same idea.

The Lost History And Unintended Consequences Of The Chicken Nugget

There are things in your life that are so ubiquitous, you never stop to consider them. Traffic signals. Magnets. For me, chicken nuggets. They seem to be everywhere: every fast-food chain, every kids’ menu, every supermarket freezer aisle. I don’t ...

The Advance of Ticks: New Areas, New Diseases, and a Weird Allergy to Meat

Following up on last week’s post about the advance of dengue: I’ve been keeping track of new news regarding other diseases transmitted by insects and arthropods, but haven’t had a chance to write them up. So here’s an end-of-year round-up. ...

The Advance of Ticks: New Areas, New Diseases, And A Weird Allergy To Meat

Following up on last week’s post about the advance of dengue: I’ve been keeping track of new news regarding other diseases transmitted by insects and arthropods, but haven’t had a chance to write them up. So here’s an end-of-year round-up. ...

Livestock MRSA Found For First Time In UK Milk

This paper almost slipped by me. It was published quietly a few weeks ago, and it’s a little eyebrow-raising. From EuroSurveillance, the open-access peer-reviewed bulletin of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Europe’s CDC): The ST398 strain of MRSA, ...