Why novel dsRNA molecules in GM food are of little to no concern

Written by Alexander Huszagh Recently, concerns were raised about the potential risks of dietary double stranded RNA (dsRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) molecules silencing human genes, after research by Zhang et al. showed the presence of plant miRNA in human blood plasma,…

GM debate: scientists and protesters aren’t polar opposites

Written by Rebecca Nesbit Editor's note: Republished with permission from The Birds, the Bees, and Feeding the World. My excitement of today was to attend the anti-GM protest organised by Take the Flour Back, joining the group of bystanders wearing ‘Don’t…

GE Survey: More believe safe than not, most undecided

In 2010, Thompson Reuters released a survey* (PDF) of public attitudes toward genetically engineered food in the US. They had several significant findings, some of which should be fairly obvious, but some are real eye-openers. The questions were straight-forward and…

Myths about eggplant (brinjal) as medicine are holding up Indian release of GM brinjal, but brinjal is not a medicine

Book available as pdf for free download (see link below) Previous posts at GMO Pundit have covered GM insect protected eggplant being developed as a new crop variety in India. This insect-protected crop, making use of Bt protein trait, could…

Real progress on EU E. coli outbreak: An Egyptian fenugreek seed source to European food disaster?

European Food Safety agency EFSA has traced the food chains from the seed sprout associated E. coli food illness in the EU that has killed 48 people. The evidence is pointing to imported Egyptian fenugreek seeds at this moment in…

Oxfam should get serious about malnutrition: Africa needs roads and nitrates

A recent UK Times opinion piece by rational optimist Matt Ridley has really hit the nail of the head about food security, linking together many issues that are repeatedly tackled at this website. The value of fertiliser. The needs of Africa. The…