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GLP 2021 Annual Report

The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download our 2021 Annual Report.

Year: 2017

Feeling blue? Depression may have offered evolutionary advantage to our ancestors

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Depressive symptoms have been found in every culture on Earth and throughout history…Unlike other psychiatric disorders, which are rare, depression is fairly common.

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We think of depression as an obstacle to good health and in extreme cases, even survival. But what if at one time, it actually gave one an evolutionary advantage?

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[S]cientists posit that depression is a neurological process that helps the person avoid distractions, in order to concentrate on a difficult problem. Evolutionary psychologist Paul Andrews posits this “analytical rumination hypothesis,” which states that by promoting a period of rumination, one can come up with a solution and therefore, increase their chances of survival.

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Another theory is that major depression is an immune response. Those genes which beef up our immune system to fight off infection also increase our risk of depression, according to Andrew Miller, MD of Emory University…The symptoms we associate with depression including fatigue…and social withdrawal.

These would have kept a contagion away from the social group, helping to contain the infection. The person also conserves energy, which could be used to aid an immune response.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Researchers Believe Depression Once Offered Humans an Evolutionary Advantage

Does poor motivation or ‘bad parenting’ cause ADHD? Studies say it’s in the brain structure

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For the first time, scientists can point to substantial empirical evidence that people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have brain structures that differ from those of people without ADHD. The common disorder, they conclude, should be considered a problem of delayed brain maturation and not, as it is often portrayed, a problem of motivation or parenting.

In conducting the largest brain imaging study of its kind, an international team of researchers found that ADHD involves decreased volume in key brain regions, in particular the amygdala, which is responsible for regulating the emotions. Although the study…included children, adolescents and adults, the scientists said the greatest differences in brain volume appeared in the brains of children.

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“I think most scientists in the field already know that the brains of people with ADHD show differences, but I now hope to have shown convincing evidence…that will reach the general public and show that it has [a basis in the brain] just like other psychiatric disorders. … We know that ADHD deals with stigma, but we also know that increasing knowledge will reduce stigma,” said geneticist Martine Hoogman of Radboud University in the Netherlands.

[The study can be found here.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is linked to delayed brain development

GMO-free diet adds almost $3,000 per year to average US family food budget, study finds

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[Editor’s note: The following is a study by Barry Goodwin, Michele Marra, and Nicholas Piggott, from the Agricultural and Resource Economics department at North Carolina State University.]

We examine the consumer cost consequences of choosing GMO-free food over food that contains GMOs. Using text-mining algorithms applied to detailed product descriptions contained in a proprietary database of individual GMO and GMO-free foods at the retail level, we find that, when directly compared item by item, GMO-free food costs an average of 33% more than a comparable food item that is not GMO-free. When compared on a per-ounce basis, GMO-free foods cost an average of 73% more. Generalizing to the cost of a typical market basket of food consumed by American households, GMO-free food consumption would increase the average family food budget from $9,462 to $12,181 per year.

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In short, the budgetary implications of a GMO-free diet are substantial. GMO-free food items are shown to be more expensive than conventional alternatives. GMO ingredients play an important and ubiquitous role in the US food supply. Even small increases in the costs of these ingredients translate into significant impacts on the typical US household.

[The full study is available here]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: The Cost of a GMO-Free Market Basket of Food in the United States

EU may block import of GMO crops from Britain if country allows biotech crops post-Brexit

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Plans to grow genetically modified crops in Britain could result in the EU blocking imports of the produce after Brexit, according to a leaked report by European parliament officials.

The internal paper, written to guide the parliament’s agriculture committee in its “scrutiny of Brexit”, says that British farmers seeking to sell produce to the remaining 27 member states could be hampered by multiple barriers on top of tariffs averaging 14 per cent.

The officials’ note reports that Britain is developing new rules to make GM crop cultivation easier after pulling out of the EU. Political opposition to GM foods in several EU states has resulted in only one GM crop being approved by the bloc in the past 20 years.

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[In January 2017,] the [UK] government approved field trials of GM wheat engineered to use sunlight more efficiently and produce bigger grains. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is expected to approve trials of a potato genetically modified to be resistant to blight.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Brussels ‘will block’ GM food from Britain

Chinese scientist convicted of stealing GMO rice seeds from Kansas research facility

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A federal jury on [Feb. 16, 2017] convicted a Chinese scientist in Kansas of conspiring to steal samples of a variety of genetically engineered rice seeds from a U.S. research facility, the U.S. Justice Department said, the latest attempt at agricultural theft linked to China.

Weiqiang Zhang, 50, a Chinese national living in Manhattan, Kansas, was convicted on three counts, including conspiracy to steal trade secrets and interstate transportation of stolen property….

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Weiqiang Zhang

Zhang, who has a doctorate from Louisiana State University, worked as a rice breeder for Kansas-based Ventria Bioscience Inc, which develops genetically programmed rice used in the therapeutic and medical fields.

He stole hundreds of rice seeds produced by Ventria and stored them at his Manhattan residence, the statement said.

In recent years, U.S. law enforcement officials have urged agriculture executives and security officers to increase their vigilance and report suspicious activity involving farm products, citing a growing economic and national security threat to the sector.

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In Zhang’s case, employees of a crop research institute in China visited him in 2013 in Kansas. U.S. customs officers found seeds belonging to Ventria in the luggage of Zhang’s visitors as they prepared to leave the United States for China….

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: China scientist convicted in U.S. of theft of engineered rice

Insect-resistant GMO cowpeas speed toward commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Sub-Saharan African farmers will soon have access to improved cowpea varieties that will lead to increases in yield.

This follows the development of Maruca Resistant Cowpeas by a public-private partnership project…
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These varieties are expected to reduce grain yield losses caused by the pod borer, Maruca vitrata, as well as reduce the need for insecticidal sprays.

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Considered the most important food grain legume in the dry savannas of tropical Africa where it is grown on more than 12.5 million hectares [almost 31 million acres], Cowpea is said to be rich in quality protein and its energy content almost equal to that of cereal grains.

The legume is a good source of quality fodder for livestock and provides cash income. Nearly 200 million people in Africa presently consume the crop.

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In severe [pod borer] infestations, yield losses of between 70-80 percent have been reported. Control through spraying with insecticide has not been widely adopted by farmers due to its prohibitive costs.

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The project entails transferring the Bt gene, which confers resistance to the pod, into improved cowpea varieties.

The project is being implemented in four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Malawi.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Scientists target 8m African farmers with Pod-borer resistant cowpea

Farmers in 10 states file lawsuit alleging Monsanto responsible for crop damage from drift of dicamba herbicide

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[Editor’s note: In November 2016, the EPA approved a formulation of dicamba that contains an additive that reduces volatility. This formulation is different from the products that are alleged to have been recently used illegally. EPA continues to investigate these issues in several locations in the Midwest.]

On behalf of several farmers in 10 states, including Missouri and Illinois, a law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against Monsanto.

The main allegation is that the agriculture company knowingly sold a crop that did not have any approved herbicide to go along with it in 2015 and 2016.

Bev Randles, partner at the Randles & Splittgerber law firm, filed the suit on Jan. 26 [2017] on behalf of Steven and Deloris “Dee” Landers and other farmers who say their crops were damaged by the “drift-prone” substance.

“Monsanto released the seed, knowing for well that it’s against their own policies and certainly industry standards to release a crop without a corresponding herbicide,” Randles said. “And so when they did that it set up a chain of inevitability and unforeseeability where farmers who have purchased the seed would spray an older version of dicamba — an illegal version of dicamba — in order to protect their seed.”

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Monsanto wrote in an email that the accusations are “baseless.” The company said that the farmers who used the pesticide should be at fault. The statement says the farmers used the illegal spray and now want to shift responsibility away from themselves to Monsanto.

This is not the first lawsuit that Randles & Splittgerber have filed against Monsanto and the Dicamba spraying. In November 2016, Missouri’s largest peach producer, Bader Farms, filed a lawsuit that is ongoing.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Farmers in 10 states sue Monsanto over seed damage

Consumption of soy milk and herbicide glyphosate may alter your sperm? Horticulturist Kevin Folta says not so fast

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[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular geneticist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.]

Carey Gillam [‎Research Director at US Right to Know] posted a link on Twitter highlighting a newly-published article. The article comes from a team of Brazilian scientists that fed developing male rats massive amounts of soymilk, and then massive amounts of soy milk spiked with gigantic doses of herbicide (not just glyphosate). They then analyzed factors potentially related to reproductive toxicity.

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The referenced work is Nardi et al. 2017….

To make this relevant, I’m ~100 kg. To achieve the amounts used in this this experiment I’d have to drink a liter of soy milk and just under a half-cup of herbicide a day, for 35 days.

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My conclusion: When you poison pubescent, developing male rats with isoflavones (a type of phytoestrogen) you screw up their development. Then when you add massive doses of herbicides for 23 days you can find differences in testosterone and sperm morphology. It shows that sick animals fed herbicides show physiological differences. Duh.

But the authors don’t prefer the conservative interpretation that I would draw. This sensational conclusion omits the fact that these were rats hammered with herbicides and soymilk, yet makes it seem like relevant doses from normal exposure.

But it is a great conclusion for Gillam, paid by the anti-GMO industry, who can now cherry pick the scare out of the article to make it seem like food-based exposures of glyphosate are dangerous.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Massive Consumption of Soy Milk and Herbicides for Three Weeks Might Make Your Sperm Weird

What factors shape women’s perceptions of GMOs?

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[Editor’s note: Heather Bray is a senior research associate and Rachel Ankeny is a professor of history, both at the University of Adelaide in Australia.]

We wondered how women involved in the production of GM crops made their food choices, whether they used “science” when they chose food for themselves and their families, and whether their decision-making was different from that of women with less science education.

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A key difference between them was that the plant scientists did not see food made using GM techniques to be in conflict with any of these categories, and were not worried about eating GM food.

But almost all of the other women in the study – even the highly science-literate women who worked in health science – saw GM food as being in conflict with these core food values.

All of the women with science backgrounds used evidence to support their stance. The plant scientists said that lack of evidence of harm meant that GM food was safe for them to eat. However, the women in health sciences said that a lack of evidence of safety made them cautious.

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[O]ur work points to shared food values between those who eat, and those who do not eat, GM foods. Shared values are an important foundation for engagement….

[The study can be found here.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Perceptions of genetically modified food are informed by more than just science

Did EU abuse emergency authorizations of neonicotinoids?

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The EU has been criticised after a new legal analysis showed it had allowed scores of “emergency authorisations” of banned pesticides that threaten bee colonies.

The research emerged as the European court of justice began hearing a case by Syngenta and Bayer to overturn the pesticides ban. A ruling is expected shortly.

Three neonicotinoid pesticides were outlawed in Europe in 2013, following analysis – since confirmed by the pesticide industry’s own research – that they posed a grave risk to bee populations.

“Limited and controlled” exceptions to the ban were permitted for emergencies, where pest outbreaks posed an imminent economic danger that could not be treated any other way.

In those conditions, countries could notify Brussels that they were exercising a derogation and provide their justifications for scrutiny. In practice though, that scrutiny was lacking, according to ClientEarth.

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Most worrying for environmentalists, … 44% of requests for derogations were filed solely by pesticides manufacturers, trade associations or seed producers. Only 14% were filed without any industry involvement.

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Romania was the leading EU applicant for derogations, with 20 notifications, closely followed by Finland with nine, and Estonia with three. The UK notified Brussels of three emergency authorisations.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: EU criticised for ’emergency authorisations’ of banned bee-harming pesticide

US producers struggling to keep up with rising demand for organic, non-GMO grains

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Increasing consumer demand for organic and non-GMO foods led to a sharp rise in organic grain imports in 2016 — prompting food manufacturers to explore new incentives for U.S. growers transitioning to organic production, according to a new report from CoBank.

While U.S. production of non-GMO crops has risen, domestic production of organic corn and soybeans remains well short of demand.

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Imports of organic grains, particularly corn, from countries such as India, Ukraine, Romania and Turkey surged in 2016 to meet the burgeoning U.S. demand for organic food products.

Organic corn imports more than doubled from 2015 to 2016 and accounted for nearly one-half of the U.S. organic corn supply.

The domestic shortfall for organic soybeans was even greater, with roughly 80 percent of soybeans supplying the U.S. organic market imported in 2016.

Animal feed for organically raised dairy, beef, pork and poultry products and ingredients used in organic consumer packaged goods are the two principal markets for organically produced grains.

For U.S. farmers to satisfy this growing appetite for organic foods, analysts estimate between one and five million U.S. acres would have to be transitioned to organic production.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: CoBank Report Shows Rising Demand For Organic and Non-GMO Grains Outpaces U.S. Production 

‘Oregon prohibition on local GMO restrictions should remain’

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[Editor’s note: The following is an editorial by Capital Press, an independent news website that covers the agriculture industry in and around California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.]

Biotech critics are calling on Oregon lawmakers to overturn a prohibition against local government restrictions on genetically engineered crops because the state has not enacted regulations.

Such regulation that is required should come from the state. Voters with little first-hand agriculture experience can be easily swayed by emotional arguments short on facts and long on fear mongering.

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Beyond ideological resistance to GMOs, the practical concern for organic growers and some conventional farmers is a fear that their crops will be contaminated through cross-pollination.

That’s a reasonable fear, as accidental contamination of a farmer’s organic crops would render them unsellable in the organic market. But there is scant evidence that anyone in Oregon has yet been so harmed.

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We are not arguing against a reasonable regulatory scheme that does not favor one type of crop or farming practice over another.

We are against 36 separate regulatory schemes, particularly those that impose outright bans.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Pre-emption of local GMO regulations must remain

Indian farmers can benefit tremendously from planting GM crops, new book says

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Former director of [the] Centre for Plant Molecular Biology at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University [in India,] S Sadasivam on [Feb. 15] released a book — “Genetically Modified Crops: A Scientist’s Perspective.”

The book aims at creating awareness about the advantages of GM crops among people and farmers.

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The book is written in Tamil so that it can reach out to the local farmers. The book talks about [genetics], theories of evolution and the introduction of genetically modified crops. “It is not a textbook material. It is written as a conversation between a scientist and a common man,” said Sadasivam.

Vouching for genetically modified crops, Sadasivam said that a group of 107 Nobel Laureates have recently passed a resolution that GM crops are safe. “There are regulatory bodies and the central and state governments have deeply accessed the advantages and consequences of GM crops. We need more research in the area of GM crops to address the growing needs of food and grain shortage,” said Sadasivam.

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[Chairman of Rasi Seeds, M] Ramasami said that Bangladesh has been cultivating Bt Brinjal [eggplant] for more than three years now. “Bangladesh has acquired all the data from India’s research and has begun cultivating it,” said Ramasami. The only GM crop cultivated in India is Bt Cotton.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Book on genetically modified crops released

Corn catalog: Crop’s climate adaption genes identified to help breeders speed up improvements

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Over many thousands of years, farmers have bred maize varieties so the crops are optimally adapted to local environments.

A new study, published Feb. 6 in Nature Genetics, analyzed close to 4,500 maize varieties – called landraces – bred and grown by farmers from 35 countries in the Americas to identify more than 1,000 genes driving large-scale adaptation to the environment.

“The study provided a powerful catalog of the genes necessary for corn to adapt to different latitudes and elevations across the world,” said senior author Edward Buckler, a research geneticist at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service and adjunct professor of plant breeding and genetics at the Institute for Genomic Diversity at Cornell.

“It takes a thousand genes to attune a plant for a particular latitude and the elevation where it is grown. That’s what we are mapping here,” Buckler said.

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“With global climate change over the next century, we can directly use this information to figure out what genes are important” to greatly speed up breeding efforts of maize, Buckler said. “We’re tapping the wisdom of farmers over the last 10,000 years to make the next century’s corn.”

[The study can be found here (PAY WALL).]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Maize study finds genes that help crops adapt to change

High-risk breast cancer linked to dormant stem cells that awaken during pregnancy

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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have…discovered [a new type of] stem cells, which responds to the ‘ovarian hormones’ progesterone and oestrogen [during pregnancy and] may also be linked to a high-risk form of breast cancer.

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Professor Jane Visvader said [the new stem cells discovered around the nipple] were normally dormant — sitting quietly and not dividing…”However, when they were exposed to the hormones progesterone and oestrogen, these cells awakened and could rapidly give rise to new breast cells,” she said.

The research also revealed that these stem cells…had many similarities to a subtype of ‘triple negative’ breast cancers known as claudin-low cancers.

“Compared to other types of breast cancer, claudin-low cancers have a high chance of recurrence after treatment, leading to a poor prognosis for patients” Professor Visvader said.

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“We hope that our discovery can be used to understand how cancers may arise from long-lived stem cells, and potentially lead to better outcomes for breast cancer patients in the future,” said Professor Geoff Lindeman, who is also a medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

[The study can be found here.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Ovarian hormones awaken newly discovered breast stem cells

Woolly mammoth 2.0 could be walking the Earth within 10 years

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The woolly mammoth vanished from the Earth 4,000 years ago, but now scientists say they are on the brink of resurrecting the ancient beast in a revised form, through an ambitious feat of genetic engineering.

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“Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo,” said Prof George Church, the scientist leading the “de-extinction” effort. “Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. We’re not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years.”

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Church said that these [genetic] modifications could help preserve the Asian elephant, which is endangered, in an altered form. However, others have raised ethical concerns about the project.

Matthew Cobb, professor of zoology at the University of Manchester, said: “The proposed ‘de-extinction’ of mammoths raises a massive ethical issue – the mammoth was not simply a set of genes, it was a social animal, as is the modern Asian elephant. What will happen when the elephant-mammoth hybrid is born? How will it be greeted by elephants?”

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Church predicts that age-reversal will become a reality within 10 years as a result of the new developments in genetic engineering.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Woolly mammoth on verge of resurrection, scientists reveal

1 minute video guide to understanding the difference between genetics and genomics

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DNA Strand

We hear the terms “genetics” and “genomics” being used in countless scientific studies as well as more mainstream news reports. But despite the two words sounding similar, genetics and genomics refer to two very different things. Do you know the difference between these two terms? What separates genetics from genomics and vice versa? Here is how you can find out in one minute.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Watch the original video: What is the Difference Between Genetics and Genomics?

Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s linked to body’s mishandling of ‘garbage’

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A new study…may help explain how diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s spread in the brain. Sometimes when neurons dispose of toxic waste, neighboring cells get sick.

“Normally the process of throwing out this trash would be a good thing,” says Monica Driscoll, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at Rutgers University. “But we think with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, there might be a mismanagement of this very important process that is supposed to protect neurons but, instead, is doing harm to neighbor cells.”

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“What we found out could be compared to a person collecting trash and putting it outside for garbage day,” says Driscoll. “They actively select and sort the trash from the good stuff, but if it’s not picked up, the garbage can cause real problems.”

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The roundworms engineered to produce human disease proteins associated with Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s threw out more trash consisting of these neurodegenerative toxic materials. While neighboring cells degraded some of the material, more distant cells scavenged other portions of the diseased proteins.

“These findings are significant,” Driscoll says. “The work in the little worm may open the door to much needed new approaches to addressing neurodegeneration and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.”

[The study can be found here.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Toxic ‘garbage day’ might explain how Alzheimer’s spreads

Talking Biotech: Shoppers may soon be able to buy pre-sliced, tastier and more nutritious pears

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pears super fruit for many disorders and diseases

Finding a good pear can be a frustrating process, and represents a long-standing problem for the US pear industry, which has been stagnant for decades. Amit Dhingra, a horticultural genomicist from Washington State University, thinks the industry is ripe for innovation.

In this episode of Talking Biotech, Dhingra explains the roots of pear domestication, why we see so few varieties of pears, and efforts to improve the surprisingly nutritious fruit. (The pear has superior health benefits to apples, including higher fiber content and a lower glycemic index.) Dhingra is working with Washington farmers to develop pears that use less water, ripen more consistently, and have a longer shelf life. He believes reliably tasty pre-sliced pears could jumpstart the pear industry.

Follow Amit Dhingra @aamitdhingra

Follow the Talking Biotech Podcast @TalkingBiotech

Follow Kevin Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta | Facebook: Facebook.com/kmfolta/ | Lab website: Arabidopsisthaliana.com | All funding: Kevinfolta.com/transparency

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