Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
Poplar trees genetically engineered to remove carcinogens from groundwater. The trees have been genetically engineered with a gene for an enzyme that breaks down contaminants in groundwater. The gene is actually from rabbits, where the enzyme breaks down toxins in the rabbit’s liver. The next step of the project is to find an applicable gene…
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Vaclav Havel, of Prague, wrote an intriguing editorial about global warming in the NY Times title “Our Moral Footprint.” With my recent trip to Prague, I was intrigued to see how someone from the Czech Republic might feel about the subject, and it turns out to be very similar to how I feel about the…
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Chickens fed an enzyme have less phosphorus in their waste. Animals can not digest most of the phosphorus in their grain based feed because of the way it is tied up in the molecules phytate and phytic acid (which occur naturally in the grains fed to the chickens). The enzyme phytase lets the phosphorous molecules…
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Today was the World Food Prize Symposium, where policy makers from around the world meet to discuss world food problems. The prize was started by Norman Borlaug. His took the idea of hybrids from corn production in Iowa (where he grew up), applied them to rice, and effectively ended hunger in Asia. The main topic…