logo
Lithium-ion battery explosion causes fire in PSU engineering building

Lithium-ion battery explosion causes fire in PSU engineering building

Yahoo15-04-2025

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A lithium-ion battery explosion started a fire in the Portland State University engineering building Tuesday morning, according to fire officials.
Crews arrived to find that a room on the fourth floor of the building was on fire just after 10:30 a.m. The building had already been evacuated, and crews went inside to investigate.
Here's how much Portlanders think they need to retire comfortably
Portland Fire and Rescue reported that crew members were 'turned out in all their gear, including wearing their mask and breathing from their bottle, as smoke from Li-Ion batteries are toxic and negatively affect the respiratory system.'
The fire was extinguished within 20 minutes, and crews are currently working to remove the remaining 'small amount of smoke,' according to PF&R.
Crews have not reported any injuries or toxic smoke inhalation as of 11 a.m. It is not clear what caused the explosion.
Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How A Rare Mutation Exposed Weaknesses In Sperm Donation Oversight
How A Rare Mutation Exposed Weaknesses In Sperm Donation Oversight

Forbes

time5 days ago

  • Forbes

How A Rare Mutation Exposed Weaknesses In Sperm Donation Oversight

A recent case in Europe has reignited debate over the regulation of sperm donation after a man unknowingly carrying a rare, cancer-causing genetic mutation fathered at least 67 children across eight countries. Ten of these children have been diagnosed with cancer, including leukemia, brain tumors and lymphomas. The case demonstrates how advances in reproductive medicine can outpace regulatory safeguards. It highlights the urgent need for robust genetic screening and thoughtful policy in reproductive medicine—a theme explored in greater depth in the new book, Destiny's Child No Longer: Rewriting the Genetic Future. The donor's sperm carried a mutation that causes Li-Fraumeni syndrome or LFS, one of the most severe inherited cancer predisposition syndromes. Individuals with the syndrome face a dramatically increased risk of developing a wide range of cancers, often at a young age, and may develop multiple cancers over their lifetime. The lifetime cancer risk for carriers is estimated at up to 90% by age 60, with about half developing cancer before age 40. The donor himself is healthy, and the mutation was not known to be cancer-causing at the time of his donations between 2008 and 2015. The issue came to light when two families, each with children diagnosed with cancer, independently contacted their fertility clinics. Genetic analysis linked the cases to the same donor. This prompted a more exhaustive investigation. Of the 67 children identified as having been conceived with the donor's sperm, 23 were found to carry the mutation. Children who inherit the mutation not only face a high risk of early-onset cancers but also have a 50% chance of passing the mutation to their own children. Ten of the children have developed cancer to date. The affected families now face lifelong medical surveillance for their children. The required medical procedures include regular whole-body MRI scans and specialist evaluations. The burden of this ongoing surveillance, uncertainty, and potential medical intervention is considerable. Still, while stressful, these protocols have been shown to improve outcomes by enabling the early detection of tumors. This case highlights a critical gap: the absence of internationally agreed-upon limits on the number of children conceived from a single donor. Some countries impose strict limits, such as a maximum of 10 children per donor. Others, including the United States, have no binding regulations. An absence of limits placed on children by donors can result in sibling groups that may number in the dozens or even hundreds. In Europe, regulations are inconsistent, with limits varying and enforcement complicated by cross-border reproductive care. Experts have long warned that having many siblings can pose psychological risks. These include the risk of unintentional inbreeding and the challenge of tracing family connections when health issues arise. This case shows how much harder it gets when a rare genetic disorder is involved, making it difficult to inform and support all affected families spread across different countries. While sperm banks routinely screen donors for common genetic diseases and conduct thorough medical and family history reviews, rare mutations like the one implicated here often escape detection. Whole-genome sequencing of all donors is not currently standard practice due to the high cost and the limited ability to interpret the clinical significance of many rare variants. The case has prompted renewed calls from geneticists, clinicians and ethics councils for the establishment of international standards that limit the number of children per donor and improve cross-border coordination in donor tracking and notification. There is also growing advocacy for enhanced genetic counseling and support for donor-conceived individuals and their families. This incident underscores the need for limits on the number of children each donor can have. Such limits can help reduce the risk of spreading rare genetic disorders and enhance communication in the event of a medical issue. Enhanced cross-border collaboration among fertility clinics, sperm banks and health authorities is also necessary to ensure timely notification and assistance when genetic risks are identified. Centralized registries could enable real-time tracking of donors. Denmark's model, which limits donors to 12 children across six families, offers a framework for regional coordination. There is also a need for enhanced genetic screening protocols, potentially incorporating more advanced sequencing techniques for donors while balancing considerations of cost, privacy and interpretive challenges. Cost-effective genetic screening in sperm banks is increasingly achievable through targeted approaches and technological innovation. Rather than relying solely on whole-genome sequencing, which remains expensive for routine use, many banks now employ tiered genetic panels that prioritize high-penetrance genes known to cause severe conditions. This focused strategy can reduce testing costs by 60% to 80% compared to broader, less targeted screening. Collaborative databases that enable sperm banks to share mutation libraries and screening results help reduce redundant testing, resulting in a 30% reduction in per-donor screening costs. Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are also contributing to this effort. These technologies can identify donors who are at a higher risk of carrying undetected mutations, lowering false-negative rates by up to 40% and enhancing overall efficiency. Public-private partnerships, such as those modeled after the National Institutes of Health's All of Us program, could further subsidize advanced screening, making comprehensive genetic assessments more accessible without significantly increasing costs. As technology and data-sharing practices advance, these combined measures offer a practical approach to enhancing donor screening while maintaining affordability for both clinics and recipients. As reproductive technology continues to advance and global mobility increases, this case serves as a cautionary tale regarding the unintended consequences that can arise when regulation and oversight fail to keep pace with scientific advances. The challenge now lies in ensuring that the promise of assisted reproduction is matched by a commitment to the safety and well-being of all involved—donors, recipient families and, primarily, the children themselves.

Will Portland see the northern lights? What to know about the weather forecast
Will Portland see the northern lights? What to know about the weather forecast

Yahoo

time01-06-2025

  • Yahoo

Will Portland see the northern lights? What to know about the weather forecast

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A severe geomagnetic storm could bring the northern lights to the Pacific Northwest and much of the rest of the county Sunday night and into Monday morning. The recent burst of solar activity has sparked the potential for some aurora sightings not only in Washington and Oregon, but 22 other states as well. But with Portland's penchant for cloudy skies, will the metro area see the auroras? Best viewpoints near Portland to catch the Northern Lights According to the KOIN 6 Weather Team, Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington should expect mostly sunny skies as those daytime highs stay slightly above the seasonal average of 72 degrees over the next three days. This will also mean mostly clear nights in the 50s in the forecast, including Sunday, which will make for prime viewing when the auroras are grace the skies. All of this is thanks to a high pressure system that's over the Pacific Northwest. This has led to some higher elevation clouds inland, while some parts of the coast could see lower elevation clouds, according to the National Weather Service's Portland office. As far as where you can best see the auroras, NWS Portland recommends locations away from city lights looking to the north, with the peak viewing times between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. If you happen to snap any photos or videos of Sunday night's northern lights, you send them to news@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Sperm Donor With Rare Mutation Linked to Cancer Sparks Debate
Sperm Donor With Rare Mutation Linked to Cancer Sparks Debate

Yahoo

time29-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Sperm Donor With Rare Mutation Linked to Cancer Sparks Debate

Originally appeared on E! Online A sperm donor with a rare genetic mutation linked to cancer is sparking debate about regulation of the practice. In the years between 2008 and 2015, sperm from the same donor was used to conceive at least 67 children from 46 families, Edwige Kasper—a biologist at Rouen University Hospital in France—revealed, per CNN, during a May 24 presentation at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Milan. And of the children conceived using the unnamed donor's sperm, ten have already been diagnosed with cancer. 'At the heart of the problem seems to lie the regulation,' Kasper explained during the presentation, 'or maybe the lack of regulation of the number of births by a single donor.' While analysis proved that the donor was healthy himself, it also showed that he possessed a rare mutation in a gene named TP53, which is likely to cause a rare disorder that increases a person's risk of developing cancer called Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. More from E! Online Justin Bieber Reacts to Wife Hailey Bieber's $1 Billion Beauty Deal Savannah Chrisley Reunites With Todd Chrisley in Florida After Prison Release Eddie Murphy's Son Eric and Martin Lawrence's Daughter Jasmin Are Married The mutation was not known when the donation was made, Kasper clarified, but children born from this donor have since been identified in eight different European countries. And ten of them have been diagnosed with cancers such as brain tumors and Hodgkin Lymphoma. Another 13 children, per CNN, are carrying the gene but have not yet developed a cancer. Because of the children's increased risk of developing cancer, Kasper added that they will require regular medical examinations throughout their lifetimes. After all, they have been predisposed to have a 50% chance of transmitting the mutation onto their kids. At the time of donation, the man had only donated to a single private sperm bank, per CNN, The European Sperm Bank in Denmark. 'The donor has been thoroughly tested even above the required standards,' Julie Paulli Budtz, the organization's Vice President of Corporate Communications, told CNN in a statement. 'But preventative genetic screening is reaching its limits here.' 'Every human being has about 20,000 genes,' she added, 'and it is scientifically simply not possible to detect disease-causing mutations in a person's gene pool if you don't know what you are looking for.' And while there is currently no limit on the number of children that are allowed to be born using a single donor, per CNN, Budtz expressed her desire to change that. 'In addition to following national pregnancy limits,' she stated, 'we have proactively implemented our own international limit of 75 families per donor.' For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store