The Stupefaction Factor in Population Control
Population policy took a zany twist recently when the Indian government announced an initiative to encourage people to watch TV instead of having sex. The government plans to reduce the cost of television sets so the "entertainment starved masses" will have something else to do in the evening, reported the Kaiser Family Foundation's Kaisernetwork.org web site, quoting Reuters.

How effective this initiative will be depends on the late night programming. It must be interesting enough to keep attention on the glowing box and off the person one pillow over, but not so interesting that it inspires the passions. American entertainment producers might be able to provide some guidance here. After decades of churning out mind-numbing situation comedies and warmed-over melodrama, they surely have much valuable advice to offer. And who would have thought that Suddenly Susan and Grounded for Life could ever be socially useful?

Keep Your Science Out of My Cornflakes
Biotechnology researchers have long since moved beyond efforts to increase fruitfulness and hardiness in plants genetically; science follows imagination. The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology recently profiled some genetically engineered products that could soon be available.

The future may well find us eating vegetables that not only provide nutrients but also immunize against a variety of maladies, from colon cancer and hepatitis to tooth decay. Scientists believe that plants can also be used to produce such medicinal compounds as monoclonal antibodies, hormones, and blood proteins.

The [London] Observer recently reported on another genetically modified crop: contraceptive corn. The result of work by Epicyte, a San Diego-based biotechnology company, this corn makes anti-sperm antibodies. "The antibodies are attracted to surface receptors on the sperm," said Epicyte President Mitch Hein. "They latch on and make each sperm so heavy it cannot move forward. It just shakes about as if it was doing the lambada." The company plans to begin clinical trials in the next few months.

The Pew report is careful not to comment upon potential ethical, public policy, or social questions these technologies raise—but it's not hard to imagine what religious traditions opposed to birth control will have to say about the new and improved corn.