Marrying Your Cousin: Is It Actually As Bad As We Thought?
Marrying your cousin has long been considered taboo, but new research says that procreating with your cousins may not be as risky as previously thought. Popular Science's Eleanor Cummins breaks down the findings.
Eleanor Cummins, Editorial Assistant at Popular Science, breaks down the findings. Columbia University data scientist Yaniv Erlich studied a family tree of 13 million people to see how marrying various relatives impacts the risk of genetic birth defects. He found that one set of first cousins having children doesn't necessarily pose a high risk of having children with birth defects, but if the trend continues beyond one generation, then the risk increases exponentially.
President Biden's self-imposed deadline of making booster vaccines available for all Americans is today, but with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only approving the boosters for senior citizens, it doesn't look like he can make that deadline. The nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci defended both positions, saying that the deadline was more of a placeholder and that he also stands by the FDA's decision.
Dr. Jen Caudle, family physician and associate professor at Rowan University, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more on the booster shot and Pfizer's vaccine for young kids.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
Gas prices are expected to rise ahead of Labor Day weekend, with millions of people hitting the road and Hurricane Ida disrupting the nation's oil and gas industries. Chris Williams, CEO of CW Petroleum Corp, joined Cheddar to discuss the rise and fall of gas prices, plus what his company plans to do to adapt to the uptick in electric vehicles.
