Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
As a society, we are scared of viruses. They are too small to see, insert themselves into our own cells, and turn our bodies into factories for making more of them. On top of that, they make us feel ill and can be tough to beat. HIV, H1N1, Papaya Ringspot Virus – it’s hard to…
Ever gotten apples from the farmer’s market or grocery store only to have them go bad in the back of your fridge? I know I have. Just a few weeks ago, I got about 20 apples from the CSA. Unfortunately, I can only eat so many per day and they started to go bad before…
When it comes to genetic engineering in agriculture, most of the attention on the web and in films focuses on Monsanto when there are several other big companies (and a lot of little ones) that also work in this area. Reuters has just published a list of the big six, for your perusal: Monsanto Co…
By Rob Hebert Consumer advocacy groups are a strange animal. It seems that for every influential lobbying group with a senator’s ear, there are hundreds or thousands with only vague mission statements and no clear agenda for attaining their stated goals. I once spent a summer working for the latter type. A hallmark of this…
Read More “The Right to Know: Why GMO Labeling Law Isn’t So Black and White” »
In discussions about GE crops, one of the contentious topics that often comes up is the use of what has been effectively dubbed “Terminator” technology. These are crops that are engineered to produce sterile seeds that cannot be regrown. The use of this technology to force farmers to repurchase their seeds every year is often…
Written by Cody Cobb Long ago – before you or anyone in your family photo albums were born – a small, unassuming cyanobacterium was busy being engulfed by another cell. The engulfing cell’s intentions were most likely along the lines of “Yum, food!”, but lucky for us the cyanobacterium was not consumed. Instead, it stayed…
Maywa Montengro has a commentary on Seed Magazine about the opposition to genetic engineering that’s worth taking a read, and it’s right on-topic with what we’ve been talking about with anti-science. Here is a taste of A Natural Obsession. When delegates from 192 nations arrive in Copenhagen in December for the UN COP15 summit, they…
During the Changemakers contest, several parallels came up between the people who have extreme anti-genetic engineering views, and several other flavors of antiscience. Comments on PZ Myers’ blog compared the often religious-like responses of certain groups to the technology, and indeed the ludicrous reaction of GM Watch in particular, to creationist tactics against evolutionary biology….
The Ashoka Changemakers GMO Risk or Rescue contest is about halfway through its final voting week, a lot has happened in this time, which I will fill you in on, and today I present the second reason why I think Biofortified deserves your vote: Dialogue. One of the reasons why we started a group blog…
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, and most of it is found in our bones and teeth. Without this element to form the hard structures of our bodies, life as we know it as mammals would be in peril. We need it for our nerves and muscles to function properly, too….