Written by Nir Oksenberg Until recently, I never put too much thought into where farmers get the seeds that they grow into the foods we eat. I assumed they saved seeds from their previous crop. I thought this would give…
Tag: Plant Breeding
Deathmatch: Conventional Breeding vs Transgenesis
"Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few…
The Return of a King – The American Chestnut
When European settlers came to America, they found vast forests in the Appalachian mountains, dominated by the American chestnut. The chestnut quickly worked its way into the lives and culture of our country, and was used for lumber, food, forage,…
Play it Hard – A Tribute to Dr. Norman Borlaug
The International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) and Biology Fortified have produced a special video tribute to the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, a legendary CIMMYT scientist who developed high-yielding, semi-dwarf wheat that started the Green Revolution which is…
Q&A with Haven Baker on Simplot’s Innate™ Potatoes
There's a new genetically engineered potato in town that doesn't brown when cut or fried, nor does it make acrylamide. J. R. Simplot Company petitioned the USDA to deregulate their Innate™ potatoes, and the public comment period has just been…
Read More Q&A with Haven Baker on Simplot’s Innate™ Potatoes
KQED Quest on GMOs
KQED Quest, based in San Francisco, has just posted a half-hour special on GMOs called Next Meal: Engineering your Food, by Gabriela Quirós. In the wake of proposition 37 in California there has been a lot more public awareness of…
How to Breed Fruit Trees
Have you ever wondered what goes into breeding your favorite fruit varieties? Breeding apples, plums, oranges and pears is made understandable with this video that explains the basic biology, origins, and techniques involved in breeding fruit trees. This is the…
Shades of Green Talk Wrapup
On Sunday, I gave a talk for the Ethical Humanist Society in Skokie, IL, on the outskirts of Chicago. Back in November, the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago asked me if I would be willing to talk about the benefits…
Tomorrows Table: What does GMO really mean?
Tomorrows Table: What does GMO really mean? For years, journalists, television producers and newspaper reporters that write about genetically engineered crops, have used the term “GMO” (genetically modified organism) to describe these new crop varieties. The marketing industry has…
The fruits of climate change
The other day I found myself looking through the plant patents held by the Zaiger's Genetics team. The Zaigers, a family of plant breeders led by a UC Davis Plant Pathology graduate, have developed some very cool fruits. You may…