Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
Molecular genetics in China is providing answers in the frantic effort to solve the urgent food safety crisis in EU. Rapid work in China has applied third generation DNA decoding technologies to decode the German outbreak disease bacterium genome. It has revealed the germ to be a hybrid (which can be described alternatively as a…
Nothing affects global food security as much as synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. Nothing underlines the inadequacy of organic farming for meeting current food and feed demand while sparing forests as much as the global accounts on the nitrogen cycle that is an essential part of all life on the planet. These facts of life are captured succinctly by…
Read More “Nature and human activity are inextricably intertwined — in the Anthropocene” »
E. coli can survive for a long time on composted soils Germany is fatally sick. There is a lethal elephant in the room. This is that elephant: “Use of animal wastes in fertilization of fresh fruits and vegetable plots significantly increased the risk of E. coli contamination in fresh produce grown in semi-organic and organic…
Scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli, grown in culture and adhered to a cover slip: Image: National Institutes of Health (part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services)/Public domain. Natural GMOs can be really really bad and fundamentally unsafe, because Nature is not scrutinised by any human regulatory agency, and many natural GMOs…
Read More “Natural GMOs Part 83: Natural biology comes with no guarantee of safety” »
Phytophthora infestans causes ‘late blight’ in potatoes. In regions of potato cultivation with a temperate climate, like Belgium, this is the single most dangerous disease. The disease costs farmers in Belgium about 55 million euros annually, and controlling it causes significant environmental pressure. However, in the last few years a number of resistant varieties based…
Read More “French anti-science vandals invade a Belgium farm and destroy crops” »
The journalist Marc Gunther recently posted a thoughtful article discussing public perceptions of the role of organic agriculture in a future sustainable food system. He found that many consumers believe that there are only two ways to produce food: “The first can be described, depending upon who’s talking, as big, fast, modern, conventional, industrial, intensive,…
Even as speculation about imaginary risks of GM foods continues, particularly among some organic sector enthusiasts, real food risks in the food chain remain unmanaged. Exposure of fresh vegetable produce to manure is a case in point. Pathogenic Escherichia coli are one of more frequent health dangers of fresh vegetables. These bacteria can be present…
Read More “The lethal elephant in the room: Real risks in our food” »
The insect pest protection protein called Bt deployed in many genetically manipulated crops is hitting the news again. Since Marcel Kuntz’ posting on the alleged detection of this protein Bt (variety Cry1Ab) in tissues of women, including pregnant women, as claimed by Aziz Aris and Samuel Leblanc, discussion of the Aris-Leblanc scientific paper making this…
Read More “There are a lot of different ways for Bt proteins to get into our food” »
Chicago Council on Global Affairs Speech May 24, 2011, Prepared Remarks by Bill Gates, Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Thank you, Representative Granger, for that kind introduction. Everyone here is grateful for your long-standing leadership on global health and development issues, and we look forward to helping you as you…
Read More “Bill Gates speaks out about helping small farmers gain access to reliable markets” »
Written by Steve Savage The graph above shows the relative production of these major US row crops comparing the years 1993-1995 (just prior to the introduction of biotechnology enhanced crops) and 2008-10 (the most recent available data which covers a a span which comes 12-15 years after biotech. Soybean production has expanded 47% in this…