SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
One of the challenges to aquaculture is that reproduction, as an energy intensive endeavor, makes fish grow more slowly. To solve this problem, Prof. Berta Levavi-Sivan at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified tiny molecules named Neurokinin B (NKB) and Neurokinin F (NKF) that are secreted by the brains of fish and play a crucial role in their reproduction. Prof. Levavi-Sivan, a specialist in aquaculture at the Hebrew University's Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, then developed molecules that neutralize the effect of NKB and NKF. The molecules inhibited fish reproduction and consequently led to increased growth rates.
These inhibitors can now be included in fish feed to ensure better growth rates. For example, young tilapia fed the inhibitors in their food supply for two months gained 25% more weight versus fish that did not receive the supplement. So far, NKB has been found in 20 different species of fish, indicating that this discovery could be effective in a wide variety of species.
Piscine growth hormone.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 29 2017, @09:19AM (5 children)
Seriously. It seems nearly all attempts at agricultural and biological engineering is being done under the pretext of 'combating hunger', 'feeding the world', 'managing an ever increasing global population', or whatever other feel good phrase there is. The reality is that now many 'third world' nations have food insecurity rates even lower than that of the US. For reference our food insecurity rate is about 12.7% [usda.gov] overall and a shocking 16.6% when considering just households with children.
Of course the goal is not to feed anybody, but to patent, monopolize, and squeeze greater profit margins out of hunger. And that is also the reason for what remains of hunger today. In the US each year millions of pounds of perfectly fine foodstuffs are forced out the market and in many cases end up being left to rot as part of USDA regulations designed to ensure stable market prices for consumers and producers. There's no simple solution there (just give that food away and it would likely depress prices which could put farmers out of business and create a very dangerous cycle) but the problem is not because there's not enough food, but because our economic system is not so good at ensuring distribution. And to be clear I'm also not alluding to anything such as communism. That's an even worse idea, as history has shown repeatedly. Ultimately, it's a very complex problem that it seems nobody is really tackling. But I do think that more inevitably patented foodstuffs are headed in the exact opposite direction.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 29 2017, @11:16AM (1 child)
more cheap food = more sex slaves = good
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 30 2017, @12:47AM
Even though Israel has a lot of sex-slave trafficking, you have to go back to first-principles and think about it as an investment -- more for less. The Jews' long history of usury makes them ideal to discover and implement such efficiencies.
That's really what Hitler had to prove -- he was envious of the Jews' efficiency, and was determined to ensure that Gentiles could be more efficient. He was correct, for a time, until Israel got their revenge by criminalizing hate speech against barbaric savages, then flooding Germany with those same barbaric savages.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 29 2017, @05:03PM
"just give that food away and it would likely depress prices which could put farmers out of business and create a very dangerous cycle"
i know that's the excuse but it sounds like bullshit to me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 29 2017, @05:24PM
That's what it comes down to... If everyone has some money, and they want to spend it on food, then someone else will setp up to meet that need.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 29 2017, @09:06PM
Yes, if there's one thing Hebrew University of Jerusalem is known for it's for being a den of corporate villainy.