Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
by Clark Wolf, Director of Bioethics, Iowa State University She felt terrible, with a horrible pain in her gut that cut like a knife, and nausea and fever to match. Usually stoic in the face of pain, my daughter was doubled over and gasping. When we took her to the hospital, the doctor took one…
Read More “Precautionary Principles and the Cost of Caution” »
Do you have professional experience with writing or interpreting legislation? Please speak up in the comments! The Global Food Security Act of 2009, S.384 has a few clauses that have anti-biotech activists all worked up. What do the changes really mean? Is the US government really part of a Monsanto-led conspiracy to force the impoverished…
SEED Magazine has in depth articles about science and its intersection with social, economic, artistic, intellectual, and political aspects of our community. One of their article series profiles scientists: 10 questions with… . This week, one of Biofortified’s contributors is the subject. I hope you’ll check out Biotech is Not a Product. While you can…
Abut 2 weeks ago, I had a conversation on Twitter with Liz of Hyperlocavore about whether biotechnology could possibly fit into sustainable agriculture. I wrote a forum post about it on Biofortified but the ideas hadn’t quite come to full fruition. Well, I’ve had a little time to mull the ideas over and the motivation…
If you’re unsure about something, there is probably a non-profit organization (aka special interest group, aka non-governmental organization) just waiting to tell you what the “facts” are. These organizations all claim to present the most accurate information in their non-peer-reviewed reports, but can we trust them?
The Organic Center recently released Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years by Dr. Charles Benbrook, agricultural economist and “Chief Scientist” of the Organic Center. I can’t help but get the feeling that Dr. Benbrook started with a conclusion and found data to fit rather than starting with a general…
Read More “Does using GMOs really increase pesticide use?” »
When it comes to genetic engineering in agriculture, most of the attention on the web and in films focuses on Monsanto when there are several other big companies (and a lot of little ones) that also work in this area. Reuters has just published a list of the big six, for your perusal: Monsanto Co…
Genetic engineering is just one of the many many parts of ag that are really really difficult to discuss. We all come to the table with our own biases, our own understanding of the way things “should” be, based on our experiences, education, philosophy, religion… all of the things that make us who we are….
It seems that now there is a lot more time for people to register and vote in the Changemakers “GMO Risk or Rescue” contest, or enter for that matter. Today the deadline for entering the contest has been extended by 40 days to October 21st, and voting will continue until the 28th of October. It…
This afternoon, I polished off my entry into the Ashoka Changemakers GMO “Risk or Rescue” contest, with minutes to go before the deadline. I was going to submit my entry last night, but what I had written on the site’s system disappeared when I tried to publish it. So I had to start all over,…