Agricultural Regs & Ethics
Regulators unreasonably stifling ‘biopharmed’ life-saving drug development from genetically engineered plants
Obtaining medicines from plants is not new. Aspirin was first isolated from the bark of the willow tree in the ...
Debate over GMOs and other science controversies should center more in values and politics
Looking upon all the polarized rhetoric concerning vaccines, GMO crops, climate change, and processed foods one might be tempted to ...
GMO Bt cotton can increase Indian farmer bankruptcy, suicide risk, claims study
The cultivation of Bt cotton, a genetically modified, insect-resistant cotton variety, is a risky affair for Indian farmers practising rain-fed ...
What Brazil can teach Uganda about GMO crops
Brazil presents a suitable example to learn from in adoption, processing and export of Genetically Modified (GM) crops and products, ...
Plant geneticist Pamela Ronald on why organic farming can benefit from advanced genetics
Pamela Ronald is a professor at the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at UC Davis. Ronald is also the ...
Diet must change to put end to factory farming
From the look of things, you’d be correct in thinking that a revolution in food production was underway. Calls for ...
Newsmax unmasked: How scare stories are manufactured by right wing anti-GMO activists
Anti-GMO propaganda production usually emerges from leftist environmental and activist groups. But they have no peer in the pseudo-science emanating ...
Whole Foods rating system highlights hypocrisy of organic food claims
Whole Foods has concocted a rating system for produce and flowers called “Responsibly Grown.” It takes into consideration such factors ...
Is there need for clear US policy on importing GMOs?
The processes by which different countries regulate genetically modified crops vary, which can lead to billions of dollars in disrupted ...
Pope’s concern about GMOs is about corporate power, not safety
Needless to say, there’s a lot to explore in Pope Francis’s encyclical, “Laudato Si’ — On the Care of Our ...
Cloning farm animals could be banned in Europe
EU lawmakers on Wednesday backed a ban on cloning farm animals and products derived from them, citing deep public unease ...
Pope says research and debate needed over GMO pros and cons
Pope Francis has called for a “scientific and social debate” on genetically modified foods that considers all the information available ...
Organic pesticides substituted for ‘dangerous’ neonicotinoids found far more toxic to bees
There are two toxic pesticides, Rotenone in Europe and Azadirachtin in the US and Europe, that need to be banned ...
Activists wary Indian government secretly considering GMO mustard approval
While the central government is yet to take a call on introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in the country, ...
Organic industry and other funders behind Séralini’s anti-GMO studies
Financial support for the release and publicity of the laboratory animal feeding study by Gilles-Eric Séralini comes from a range ...
Preventing brain disease by eating brains? Science doesn’t support sensationalized reporting
Is there a genetic cure for dementia? Recent news reports of a mutation that can protect against a deadly form ...
The anti-Rachel Parent: 10-year-old future scientist counters sea of GMO misinformation
Anti-GMO events are peppered with children holding signs touting the alleged dangers of genetically modified foods. For those who choose ...
Wall Street’s view of Monsanto in midst of Syngenta takeover battle
Monsanto is best known for its famous (infamous, perhaps) Roundup weed-killing product. In addition to agricultural products, Monsanto also sells ...
Consumers opposition to GMOs based mostly on “intuition” and not science
Approximately 88 percent of U.S. scientists agree that GMOs are safe to eat, but this position is only shared by 37 percent of laymen ...
Disease-resistant cloned bananas in development Australia
An Israeli agricultural biotechnology company is looking to trial tissue cultured banana varieties in major Australian growing areas and to ...
Should we phase out bee-killing pesticides in our food system?
We love our bees. They make honey and pollinate our flowers and crops. But bees are dying at an alarming ...
China’s spending on genetics research making huge advances in biotech
Years of pouring money into its laboratories, wooing scientists home from overseas and urging researchers to publish and patent is ...
Evidence mounts of ancient Jewish roots of Beta Israel Ethiopian Jewry
Many historians are convinced that Ethiopian Jews are medieval converts from Christianity. But mounting genetic evidence, and new scholarly research, ...
Myth busting Foodie Farmer: Do conventional farmers “douse” fields in chemicals?
Conventional farmers, especially those who grow genetically modified crops, are often accused of "dousing" or "drowning" their fields in chemical ...
France bans glyphosate sales at garden centers
France has announced a ban on over the counter sales of a brand of weedkiller from garden centres after the ...
Could spray on DNA barcoding contain health contamination crises and trace GMOs?
Food contamination outbreaks could be better tracked with a new technology: spraying DNA barcodes directly onto food. It could also ...
Farmers need to regain control of seeds, public plant breeding research
During last year’s Farm Bill debate, Sen. Jon Tester introduced an amendment to clarify a proposal from the previous Farm ...
