Nation briefs 9/1/05

Public divided on whether or not humans evolved

WASHINGTON -- Americans are divided over whether humans and other living things evolved over time or have existed in their present form since the beginning of time, according to a new poll. In the poll by the Pew Research Center, 42 percent of those surveyed held strict "creationist" views that "living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time." Almost half, 48 percent, said they believed humans have evolved over time. Some of those people, 26 percent of all those polled, said they believe evolution occurred through natural selection, and another 18 percent of all those polled said evolution was guided by a supreme being.

FDA official resigns after 'Plan B' decision

WASHINGTON -- A high-ranking Food and Drug Administration official resigned Wednesday in protest of the agency's refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception. Susan Wood, director of FDA's Office of Women's Health, announced her resignation in an e-mail to colleagues at the agency. The FDA on Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to sell without a prescription.

FDA approves new flu-shot supplier to ensure supply

WASHINGTON -- Mindful of last year's flu vaccine shortage, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new shot on Wednesday in an attempt to ensure adequate supplies during the upcoming flu season. It remained uncertain whether there would be enough shots for all who wanted them. The FDA approved the vaccine Fluarix for people 18 years and older. The shots, made by a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, have been available in other countries for years. A spokesman said the company expects to supply 8 million doses to the U.S. market this flu season, at a price comparable to other flu shots.

Study: Male chromosome has a long-term future

NEW YORK -- The human Y chromosome -- the DNA chunk that makes a man a man -- has lost so many genes over evolutionary time that some scientists have suspected it might disappear in 10 million years. But a new study says it'll stick around. Researchers found no sign of gene loss over the past 6 million years, suggesting the chromosome is "doing a pretty good job of maintaining itself," said researcher David Page of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass. That agrees with prior mathematical calculations that suggested the rate of gene loss would slow as the chromosome evolved, Page and study co-authors note in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Protesters leave camp near Bush's Texas ranch

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Cindy Sheehan packed up her campsite outside President Bush's ranch Wednesday and took her war protest on the road, ending a nearly monthlong vigil that drew thousands and ignited an anti-war movement. Rather than heading home to California, the mother of a 24-year-old soldier who died in Iraq boarded one of three buses heading on tour to spreading her message. The group plans to stop in 25 states during the next three weeks, then take Sheehan's "Bring Them Home Now Tour" to the nation's capital for a Sept. 24 anti-war march.

Scientists decipher DNA makeup of chimpanzees

NEW YORK -- Scientists have deciphered the DNA of the chimpanzee, our closest living relative, and made comprehensive comparisons to the human genetic blueprint. The work has produced a long list of DNA differences with the chimp and some hints about which ones might be crucial. "We've got the catalog, now we just have to figure it out," said Dr. Robert Waterston of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. With help from the chimp DNA, his team also uncovered several regions of human DNA that apparently contain beneficial genetic changes that spread rapidly among humans within the past 250,000 years.

-- From wire reports