Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Kelly Kimura…

And I'm Paz Bueno.

Coming up next in today's news:

Taiwan's aging doctor problem, gene-edited pork could be coming to your dining table, and why it's a good idea not to step on ants!

Stay tuned for more on those stories!

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台灣面臨醫生老化的問題

Taiwan's Aging Doctor Problem

Population (人口) aging is one of the main problems of this century (世紀).

It is when the number of older people goes up and the number of younger people goes down for a long time.

This is happening because people are having fewer and fewer children.

In the future, there won't be enough workers for many kinds of jobs.

Doctors are aging too.

Some are worried that there may not be enough doctors in the next ten years.

According to the Taiwan Medical Association (台灣醫療協會TMA), the average age of Taiwanese doctors is over 51.

Doctors in Taiwan are divided into 23 departments.

Obstetricians and gynecologists (婦產科) are the oldest, with an average age of almost 57.

In second place are family doctors, with an average age of 54.

Very close to family doctors are ophthalmologists (眼科), with an average age of almost 54.

The youngest doctors are radiation oncologists (放射腫瘤科), with an average age of almost 47.

TMA says the real problem is not about the age of doctors.

Taiwan currently has 55,000 doctors.

Doctors in Taiwan do not have to retire (退休).

About 1,300 medical students become doctors every year.

The number of doctor deaths each year is less than this number.

TMA says the real problem is the uneven (不平均) number of doctors in different departments.

Some departments do not have enough doctors.

For example, about 400,000 babies were born in Taiwan every year 20 years ago.

However, last year, only about 130,000 babies were born.

Seeing this, young doctors do not choose to be pediatricians (小兒科).

Every year, there are 130 jobs for pediatricians but only around 90 people become pediatricians.

Hoping for more pediatricians, the government (政府) is giving bigger bonuses (獎金) to pediatricians who specialize (專長) in caring for children under four years old.

專家表示，這類的獎勵因該要擴展到所有醫療科系。

This will make sure there are enough doctors in every department.

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基因改良豬肉未來可望上餐桌

Gene-Edited Pork Could Be Coming to Your Dining Table

Ever since scientists discovered gene-editing, it has been used in various fields.

One of them is agriculture (農業).

Gene-editing is used to grow crops (農作物) that are resistant (抵抗) to some diseases (疾病).

Now, scientists want to use gene-editing on other food, for example, meat.

A virus is making some pigs sick.

It can cause pneumonia (肺炎) in baby pigs and stop adult females from having babies.

The virus also makes pigs more vulnerable (脆弱) to bacterial infections (細菌感染).

This virus can cause pig farmers around the world to lose $2.7 billion US dollars a year.

There are vaccines (疫苗) for this virus, but they are not always effective.

Scientists found that the virus looks for part of one gene.

Researchers at a company edited the gene.

Pigs with these edited genes will then have descendants (後代) that are more and more resistant to the virus.

To earn government approval, the company must show that the altered (被改變的) gene is safe.

They must also show that the gene can be passed to descendants and can protect them from the virus.

Some organizations and farmers are excited about the new technology because this virus causes pigs to get sick and farmers to lose a lot of money every year.

However, some animal welfare organizations (動物福利組織) think very differently.

They say that keeping too many animals in one place is the main reason that diseases spread quickly.

專家們擔心如果牲畜都對疾病免疫，那它們就會被圈養在比目前更差的環境。

That's because the animals would not get sick.

They think agribusiness (農業企業) should stop keeping too many animals in one place, not develop gene-edited animals.

If all goes well for the company, they will get government approval next year.

So don't be surprised if you see gene-edited meat at the supermarket in a few years.

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So in today's News Bites:

Taiwan has an aging doctor problem.

There are actually enough doctors in Taiwan.

The main problem is the uneven distribution of doctors among the departments.

And,

Gene-edited pork could be coming to your dining table.

Scientists are working to make pigs safe from a virus.

Some organizations and farmers are excited about the new technology because this virus causes pigs to get sick and farmers to lose a lot of money every year.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

Smelly Ants

What's that smell?!

Oh, that's from ants.

They're those busy little bugs that you sometimes find in your kitchen, looking for food.

When many kinds of ants are angry, in danger, or crushed under your shoe, a very strong smell comes out of them.

Maybe you've smelled trap-jaw ants. Taiwan has them.

They smell like chocolate! Mmmmm…?

Some ants smell like lemons! Oh!

Some smell like vinegar. Ooof!

And some smell like blue cheese or rotten coconuts. Ugh! Pee-ew!

If you see a line of ants, don't step on them!

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Thank you for listening to today's News Bites!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send your Tasty Tidbit to us at [email protected].

You might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!