Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
One of my research projects is to look at maize storage proteins (aka zeins) in a variety of modern corn varieties, landraces (older varieties), and teosinte (a maize progenitor in the same genus). See my post Teosintes are a puzzlebox of genes for more info. Now, I’m adding another angle – Tripsicum ! I was…
Colony Collapse Disorder has been in and out of the media since 2006. With conspiracy theories and non-science abounding, it can be hard to separate truth from fiction. Dr. Diana Cox Foster of Penn State spoke at Iowa State about her work with CCD. She has been studying bees for 20 years and heads a…
“Man owes a great debt to the scientists on this list; all of them died or were injured in their pursuit of knowledge. The advances they have all made to science are extraordinary and many of them paved the way for some of man’s greatest discoveries and inventions.” says Jamie Frater, author of The List…
One of the arguments against biofuels is that (like all agriculture, even organic) it is essentially soil mining. By removing plants that grow on the land, we also remove nutrients. This includes trace essential nutrients like iron and copper as well as the big ones like potassium. We can do our best to replace the…
Last month, 8 veterans who are students in science and engineering were interviewed for Science Careers, a publication of AAAS. I was lucky to be included. Alan Kotok, managing editor of Science Careers, conducted my interview over the phone. The series is called Student Veterans Come Marching Home. He wrote two articles: Their Return to…
One valid argument against GMOs is that big corporations control the tech and can charge the farmers sky high prices for the seed. For a long time, I’ve been saying that I don’t like the system, but if countries want to protect their farmers then they should pass some legislation. Well, it’s happened! The Maharashtra…
“Terminator seed” has been back in the news and blogs, due to some rumors that the Convention on Biological Diversity would consider rescinding the ban on the technology. Before I get knee deep into the politics, I’d like to make some quick comments on gene flow. First, pollen of many types of plants are capable…
I’ve been sitting on my notes from several talks (BIGMAP especially), due to time constraints, but the one yesterday and today is extremely relevant: Breeding Lignocellulosic Crops for the Bioeconomy, the 2008 Plant Breeding Lecture Series, is presented by the Iowa State University Ramond F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding and the Plant Sciences Institute….
Rachel Carson was undoubtedly a force for good in the 1960s. She singlehandedly started the environmental movement by calling attention to the dangers of unregulated pesticide use. As a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park, I especially appreciate Carson’s work in the Chesapeake Bay. Kate Neville, in The Science Creative Quarterly, calls for…
In order to make sound conclusions about different types of genetically engineered crops and to plan for the future, we’ll need to have sound data about any possible environmental effects of said crops. Researchers from a variety of institutions and disciplines* plan to collect that data. Harvesting Data from Genetically Engineered Crops**, published in the…