The Record-Smashing 2020 Hurricane Season Ends Today

 

Today marks the official end of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. But even as we speak, there is an area of interest in the eastern Atlantic that has a 40 percent chance of developing into a subtropical storm, although it won’t affect the Southeast. This has been an amazing and frustrating year for tropical weather in the Atlantic, with 30 named storms, several of which affected the Southeast and agriculture in particular. Hurricane specialist Brian McNoldy provides this summary of the season in his blog here. 

 

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.