January 9, 2004, Hour One: Mad Cow Disease Update / Climate Change and Biodiversity

Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > January > January 9, 2004:
Hour One: Mad Cow Disease Update / Climate Change and Biodiversity

This week, the U.S.D.A. slaughtered hundreds of calves in southern Washington state -- calves linked to a dairy cow infected with mad cow diesease. In this hour of Science Friday, we'll get an update on mad cow disease. How safe is our beef -- and how much do we know about prion diseases?

Plus, how much is climate change affecting biodiversity? One study out this week says that climate change could imperil hundreds of species around the world over the course of the next 50 years. We'll find out more. Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

Guests:
Chris Thomas
Professor, Conservation Biology
School of Biology
University of Leeds
Leeds, United Kingdom

Stuart Pimm
Extraordinary Professor, Conservation Ecology Research Unit
University of Pretoria
South Africa
Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina

Richard Johnson, M.D.
Chair, Institute of Medicine Committee on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies: Assessment of Relevant Science
Distinguished Service Professor, Neurology; Microbiology; Neuroscience
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland

Linda Detwiler, D.V.M.
Former Senior Staff Veterinarian, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
United States Department of Agriculture
Adjunct assistant professor
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Maryland
TKTKTK, Maryland

Bruce Chesebro, M.D.
Chief, Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases
Rocky Mountain Laboratories
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Hamilton, Montana

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth and Erica Altman

Archived Audio:
not yet available for this segment
listen in RealAudio format - climate change
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listen in RealAudio format - mad cow disease
listen in Windows Media format - mad cow disease
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Books/Articles Discussed:
Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427, 145–148 (2004); doi:10.1038/nature02121

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)