Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
Photo: James Butubu of the Cacao and Coconut Research Institute in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, evaluates the new progeny of a cacao tree. Cacao fruit grows from the tree’s branches. (Credit: Photo by Ray Schnell, USDA-ARS) EurekAlert 16 Sep 2010 Analysis of the chocolate genome could lead to improved crops and products The sequencing and…
Read More “Natural GMOs Part 77. Chocolate tree genome only 20 percent transposons” »
The most devastating impact on biodiversity is caused by agriculture. Farming is already the greatest extinction threat to birds, and its adverse impacts look set to increase, especially in developing countries (Green et al. 2005). Thus one of the global challenges for the next century is the need to develop high-yielding varieties that require minimal…
Next-generation protein-rich potato expressing the seed protein gene AmA1 is a result of proteome rebalancing in transgenic tuber Protein deficiency is the most crucial factor that affects physical growth and development and that increases morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Efforts have previously been made to improve protein quality and quantity in crop plants…
Read More “Improved nutritional value from GM spud developed in India” »
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REVIEW & OUTLOOK EUROPESEPTEMBER 21, 2010The FDA Versus AfricaHenry Miller Hysteria over genetically modified crops hampers solutions to diarrhea mortality. Since May, cholera has killed nearly 800 people in Nigeria and Cameroon alone, and the World Health Organization has recorded nearly 4,000 cases in the Lake Chad Basin. Inadequate access to…
Read More “Sins of omission still cause real lives to be lost.” »
Route of chemical delivery and amount delivered to site of action matters in deciding the degree of toxicity of a chemical. We know that direct injection of either caffeine (or herbicides) into embryos can easily damage the embryo, but humans can safely drink caffeine in moderation.
Parents are poor risk assessors Parents are worried about all the wrong things when it comes to their children’s safety, Lisa Belkin writes in a New York Times column published Saturday. They constantly overestimate the danger of rare but highly publicized risks like school snipers, terrorists and strangers, when in fact the real risks to…
Challenges and Responsibilities for Public Sector Scientists – Marc Van Montagu, New Biotechnology, August 2010 (Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries, Ghent University, Belgium). Full paper at http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Current agriculture faces the challenge of doubling food production to meet the food needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century whilst maintaining…
Read More “Public sector leadership key to tackling the human welfare problem” »
Daily Caller, September 20, 2010Not so pro-Bono An op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times about the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by rock singer Bono (yes, you read that right) was naive and misguided. The minimal successes at improving the health and wealth of the poor he cited have been vastly overshadowed by negative policies…
Read More “Chaotic UN decision making part of the human welfare problem” »
Today is the first week of Fall quarter at UC Davis and the Student Farm has harvested some glorious vegetables. The tomatoes in the CSA (community supported agriculture) basket today came mostly from the farm’s Seeds of Change variety trial. The green striped, red striped, orange, dark striped, etc. tomatoes represent only a fraction of…
Read More “The UC Davis Student Farm Harvests Striped Tomatoes and Pumpkins” »
By Stephen Daniells, 16-Sep-2010 The safety of an EPA-rich oil from genetically modified yeast is “comparable to that of GRAS fish oil”, says a new study from DuPont.