Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
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” »
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.
Improved Salinity Tolerance of Rice Through Cell Type-Specific Expression of [sodium pump] AtHKT1This work presents an important step in the development of abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants via targeted changes in mineral transport.
We are eating well in Davis, California. Below is an update from Raoul about the UC Davis Student Farm fall planting. Carrots, beets, spinach, rutabagas, turnips, radishes, daikon, cilantro and fennel are in the solarized beds germinating. We also transplanted broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale, cauliflower, and kohlrabi. Fall crops are on the way. We need now…
The Safety Assessment of Transgenic Plants in which Gene Expression Has Been Modified Bruce M. Chassy ISB News Report Sept 2010 (pdf) Engineered crops have become a significant component of modern agriculture. Prior to release for commercial planting, a thorough pre-market regulatory review focuses on any potential agricultural and environmental impacts of genetically engineered crops, as well as any…
Commercial organic farms have better fruit and soil, lower environmental impact, study finds ScienceDaily (Sep. 2, 2010) — Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse.