Stronger Plants, Stronger Science, and Stronger Communication
Anastasia and James look like they have had a fun and scientifically enlightening trip to Italy to attend the Maize Genetics Conference. Frank was also there, but appears to have parted ways with them – off on some other adventure, I imagine. When they mentioned last year at the MGC that this year’s conference would…
Another change brought about by the Changemakers contest is that I now have a video editing program suitable to start coming out with videos that we have been collecting. Behold, I give you Marty Sachs and Candy Gardener talking about the stocks of maize seeds that they manage! This footage was taken at the 51st…
Many people, including me, are concerned about potential harm to crop biodiversity from gene flow. Most people’s concern focuses on transgenics. There is a certain probability, albeit small, that transgenes will end up in the progeny of non-transgenic plants, weedy relatives of the crop, or wild relatives that grow nearby due to pollen flow. Transgenes…
The Chlorofilms plant biology video contest has just closed the entry period for Round 2, and here is my submission. Pollination Methods: Solanum. Everything you need to know to make your own crosses with tomatoes and potatoes, two crops that are very much alike, believe it or not. I am producing these videos as a…
Matt Ridley, author of an upcoming book on science called The Rational Optimist, wrote an article for The Economist called The new NUE thing. NUE stands for Nitrogen Use Efficiency, a trait that can maintain yields with lower applications of costly fertilizer. Nitrogen Use Efficiency has got him, well, rationally optimistic about the environmental benefits…
Sapporo is selling 250 6-packs of their ultra limited edition Space Beer through a lottery system for 10,000 yen each – but only to people who live in Japan. The proceeds will go to Okayama University for science education. The malting barley used in this beer is of the Haruna Nijo variety, developed by Sapporo….
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…
Just out today, Seed Magazine has assembled a “Scientific Flip Flop” about Genetically Engineered crops. The article begins with an introduction into the curious case of European nations who embrace scientific conclusions in other areas of science, but not in this area. Most Europeans don’t consider themselves to be anti-science or particularly technophobic. In fact,…
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Although this is not related to plants, this certainly has implications for plant genetics. I have just received notice that th ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Myriad Genetics, the company that owns the patents on the BCRA1 and BCRA2 breast and ovarian cancer genes in humans. According to this press release, the ACLU charges…
Editor’s Note: The following post was part of an April Fools Joke. Go here for more details. By William Harvey: As I always say, “All we know is still infinitely less than all that remains unknown.” As a statement of fact, it is plainly obvious, but what is less obvious is that it also makes…