Agricultural Regs & Ethics
Maui County’s GMO ban overturned by federal judge
A federal judge has invalidated Maui County’s moratorium on genetically engineered crops that voters approved last fall. Judge Susan Mollway ...
Cuban authorities say there are no plans to introduce GMOs
Authorities in Cuba have said that they have no plans to introduce the use of transgenic seeds to the Cuban ...
Why GMOs should be part of California’s drought strategy
In the midst of the most severe drought ever recorded in California, Governor Jerry Brown, the master of passionate rhetoric and ...
Antibiotics may exert long-lasting effects on gut microbiome
Even short pulses of widely used antibiotics can lead to long-term development changes in mouse pups, including increased body mass ...
Global scientists assess homeopathy-funded Séralini study claiming all GMO tests ‘contaminated’
Scientists from North American and Europe weigh on on the latest Séralini study, published after a two week delay after ...
False alarms raised by groups demanding stricter GMO regulations
There have been calls recently from predictable sources demanding “tougher regulations for genetically engineered (GE) crops under the federal Plant ...
Will regulators show flexibility toward ‘double-muscled’ pigs made by editing single gene?
Belgian Blue cattle are hulking animals that provide unusually large amounts of prized, lean cuts of beef, the result of ...
Indian farmer suicide more closely linked to small farm size and rain reliance than GMO cotton
An interesting new paper (Gutierrez 2015 cited below) discusses the way in which rain-fed cotton could be managed in India ...
Are we ready to genetically modify humans to eliminate heritable diseases?
The application of transgenic technology to medicine is rarely discussed. Much of the reason, I think, is that many people ...
Upgrading photosynthesis through genetic engineering
The amount of land dedicated to farming is shrinking, the world's crop productivity is stagnating, and the population is still ...
Can a skeptical public be persuaded to embrace GMO foods? Yes, if we want sustainable agriculture
When it comes to the basics of life such as food and energy, eco-romanticism abounds. It has become a mark ...
Genetics and selective breeding create better blueberry
At the Flavors of Florida — a cornucopia of science-enhanced produce, seafood and meat recently held at the University of ...
Ecomodernist Manifesto: Technology based agriculture more sustainable than ‘green’ myths
The Ecomodernist Manifesto, a short but brilliant essay published online recently by 18 prominent greens, gets sustainability right at last. Until ...
IARC’s designates herbicide 2,4-D ‘possibly carcinogenic’ but no data suggesting carcinogenicity
A near kin to the GMO controversies that ITIF deconstructed earlier this year in a comprehensive guide for policymakers is ...
Are we nearing the end of antibiotics?
The antibiotic era isn’t actually very old. It begins, depending on how picky you are, with Alexander Fleming’s accidental recognition of ...
GLP’s Top 6 Stories for the Week
This past week, here are the #TOP6 among many great stories on human and agriculture genetics around the world. Please ...
GLP’s Top 6 Stories for the Week
This past week, here are the #TOP6 among many great stories on human and agriculture genetics around the world. Please ...
Florida newspaper case story: How anti-GMO politics masquerades as journalism
It is dangerous to scream fire in a crowded theater, when no fire is present. So why would the Naples ...
Unique GM wheat that repels pests naturally by giving off odor worked in lab, failed in tests
A strain of genetically modified wheat developed in the UK has failed to repel pests as intended in field trials. In ...
Plant-breeding solutions such as gene editing could aid California drought
As California farmers grapple with the fourth year of the drought, seed tech giants Monsanto and DuPont's Pioneer are focusing ...
Ethical and regulatory reflections on CRISPR gene editing revolution
Only three years ago, scientists from the United States and Sweden invented a technology that is literally upending our view ...
GMO ‘Right to Know’ movement takes food off of plates of hungry in Africa, Asia
Unsubstantiated fears about the safety of GM crops in developed countries with an over-abundance of food has spread anti-biotech sentiment ...
GMO lamb with jellyfish glow gene sold at French market poses no risk to humans or environment
A lamb born to a genetically altered sheep was deliberately sold for meat at a Parisian meat market, according to ...
Consumer groups and businesses ask USDA to tighten GMO regulations
Dozens of consumer and food groups and businesses filed recommendations with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking tighter regulation of ...
Drought-resistant crops could mitigate water shortages and climate challenges
One of the world’s important food crops are threatened by drought but the solution lies possibly in the first step ...
Swine fever-resistant pigs produced through new gene-editing technique
On an isolated farm outside Edinburgh, pigs grunt eagerly as their food arrives. The barn has a typical farmyard whiff, ...
Asthma and Atopic March Syndrome caused by GMOs? Science says ‘No’
Anti-GMO activists have lumped together a lot of allergic reactions into a syndrome caused by GMOs. Asthma shows how wrong ...
