Biofortified

Initial field test results on GM poplars: bioethanol yield is almost doubled

Initial field test results GM poplars: bioethanol yield almost doubled 19/05/2011 VIB News, Belgium Nancy, France, May 19, 2011 – The yield of bio-ethanol from the wood of GM poplar trees from a VIB field trial is up to 81% higher than non-modified poplars VIB-UGent researcher Wout Boerjan presented these results at the international conference…

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Genetic engineering on the Fringe

I like sci-fi. I’m not your typical Star-Wars nerd, instead I like B-movies. You know… the low-budget creature feature movies that entail some giant creature killing everything in sight? They’re fun, campy, not at all meant to be taken seriously, yet can be useful in teaching about biology due to their reliance upon urban legends. Still,…

Science & Society

Malinee is awarded the John E. Kinsella Prize in recognition of her outstanding graduate research dissertation

No investigation without wonder, no observation without joy, no understanding without humility. Today Malinee Sriariyanum was awarded the John E. Kinsella Prize for her work on isolation and characterization of the Ax21 pathogen associated molecular pattern. The joyful awardee and her proud mentors: Associate Dean Jan Hopmans, Malinee Sriariyanun, and myself

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Fair-trade organic coffee certification does not benefit the poor in Nicaragua

Updated prelude: Fair-trade coffee producers often end up poorer Lawrence Solomon FP Comment May 14, 2011 – 8:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 14, 2011 12:10 PM ET Coffee is one of our guilty pleasures, and not only because of the calories that can be packed into a double latte. Many of us feel…

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Superior searching

Ever try to find some fact-based information about agriculture, gardening, nutrition… but had a hard time getting past all the junk sites? Extension may be the key to getting the information you need. eXtension collects fact-based information from subject matter experts in extension offices at from 74 land-grant institutions in the US so it can be easily accessed…

Miracul in your tomatoes

Know your tomatoes May 13, 2011 Re-posted from Phys.org Genetically modified (GM) tomatoes look much the same as traditional varieties (Fig. 1). But are they? By comparing the chemical diversity of strains of GM tomatoes with a control strain and traditional reference cultivars, a research team in Japan has developed a way to distinguish between…

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Commercial Perennial Crops?

Written by Matt DiLeo The “perennial grain” story seems to pop up every few months. The basic idea is that perennial crops would have higher yields and lower environmental impacts than their annual kin. The picture on the left explains pretty clearly why – large permanent root systems secure the topsoil, exhaustively scavenge water and…

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Biotechnology: communication and politics

I had the pleasure of speaking today with Matthew Nisbet, author of a controversial report about communication of climate change. Matt’s full report Climate Shift is well worth a read, but is a bit daunting at almost 100 pages. Andrew Revkin has an excellent play by play discussing Matt’s report as well as the commentary…

Science & Society

Proving Malthus Wrong: Sustainable Agriculture in 2050

Guest Post: Dr. Robert L. Thompson is a senior fellow for The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Over the past few months, we’ve watched as governments have been overthrown in Tunisia and Egypt, as governments across North Africa and the Middle East promised reforms, some…

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Private nonprofit foundations & Public Health: Potential conflicts of interest in corporate links

Written by Colby Vorland Corporate involvement in public health is a sensitive topic, but one I am largely against. It is pretty clear that corporations usually get the benefit of bettering their brand image (which is often largely unhealthy processed products) at a low cost of sponsorship of health campaigns. See plenty of great/unfortunate examples on…

Science & Society