Ag Biotech Communications
Survey: Younger consumers open to trying foods crafted by gene editing
Consumers under age 30 and consumers with incomes above $125,000 a year are less likely to avoid gene-edited foods, meaning ...
Whole Foods Magazine joins the ‘let’s peddle anti-GMO disinformation scare stories’ movement
Whole Foods Magazine published a June story titled GMOs: Basics to Know. “Although GMOs have been deemed safe,” the author alleged, ...
Almost 20 million: That’s how many lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines, experts believe
COVID-19 vaccination “fundamentally altered” the pandemic by saving nearly 20 million lives in the first year that vaccines were available, ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ scaremongering — Consumers reject fear-based environmentalist disinformation
Consumers encounter so many mixed messages on produce, ranging from the Dirty Dozen‘s disinformation to the just-eat-your-veggies slogan. How do we ...
Glyphosate detected in 80% of urine? Reason for alarm or deceptive data distortion?
Vilifying the safe herbicide glyphosate has been a long-time proxy for attacking modern conventional agriculture. Sold under the brand name ...
Australia mulls use of ‘controversial’ gene drives to rid country of feral cats
Synthetic biology and genetic technology could be a safer, more humane way of curbing invasive species. Feral cat populations, for ...
Viewpoint: ‘Depression and now anarchy’ — How rejecting agricultural technology and vanity of ‘green’, organic farming led to Sri Lanka’s collapse
The anarchic scenes in Sri Lanka are enough to make the blood of any world leader run cold. President Gotabaya ...
Viewpoint: Solved! Busting pro-organic, anti-GMO myths
Over the years, we have experienced a massive increase in the consumption of organic foods, with many people painting conventional ...
Viewpoint: Our binary system of classifying what’s ‘cancerous’ fails. Here’s what might replace it
Concern over substances that may cause cancer has led to various classification schemes to recognize carcinogenic threats and provide a ...
Viewpoint: France’s Le Monde leads media frenzy hyping flawed study claiming trace pesticide residues wipe out benefits of eating fruits and vegetables
A recent study suggested that pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables could counteract some of the nutritional benefits of consuming ...
‘43% lower yields’: Challenging common wisdom, organic farming is ‘less efficient, more expensive, and worse for the environment’
Consumers are misled about the alleged benefits of organic farming. Organic food is thought to be healthier (it isn’t) and ...
Viewpoint: Is science itself at the heart of infodemic plaguing ‘misinformation culture’?
It’s all too easy to make outsize claims that sidestep the process of peer review. Misinformation and disinformation often start ...
Many parents reluctant to get their young children vaccinated are not Republican anti-vaccine science rejectionists
More than a decade before the coronavirus pandemic, I began researching how parents decide to reject recommended vaccines for their children ...
What’s the most effective way to convince unvaccinated people to get a shot? Funny memes
Pro-vaccination messaging may be surprisingly effective when delivered through humorous internet memes, according to new findings published in the journal ...
Viewpoint: What are the keys to full consumer acceptance of food grown from genetically modified seeds?
“Bioengineered and gene-edited foods might be more successful in the marketplace if they have visual disclosure on the package (the ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture has become a popular buzzword. Here’s what needs to be done for it to become a transformative, sustainable movement
There isn’t a standard definition for regenerative agriculture, but it represents a holistic framework to understand and respond to global ...
Appeal to nature: Daily Kos Logical Fallacies Bootcamp dismantles myth that natural products are automatically better for us
The argument is a simple one, and one that you’ve probably come across before. It runs along these lines: X is ...
Viewpoint: ‘The true Charles Darwin was neither the atheist’s hero nor the fundamentalists’ parody’
Darwin was a convinced and convicted monogenist because his family, the Wedgewoods, were deeply devout Bible believers who supported and ...
Viewpoint: Anti-innovation activists have all sorts of rhetorical tricks to warp debate on food safety and genetically modified crops
Deliberations over our food production – please let’s not allow them to become a culture war – will follow a ...
Podcast: Gene editing and public acceptance — Agricultural economist Brandon McFadden on regulatory differences in agriculture and medicine for using CRISPR
Gene editing with CRISPR/Cas, TALEN or other tools allows scientists to make directed and precise changes in DNA. The technologies ...
Is science racist? Genetics, evolutionary human differences and ‘critical race theory’
The killing of George Floyd at the knee of a policeman last May ignited a global wave of protest. Almost ...
Viewpoint: New Zealand’s ban on GMOs and gene editing aligns it with Europe — but is out of step with science and its citizens
Attitudes [about GMOs] within New Zealand appear to be slightly shifting towards being more liberal. Surveys conducted between 2000 – 2009 ...
Book review: ‘The Rise and Reign of the Mammals’ is Steve Brusatte’s sweeping history of how mammals took over the world
[In] The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, paleontologist Steve Brusatte’s [recounts the] sweeping history of the animals that have, ...
How politics can impact health: ‘Stark partisan divide’ in premature death rates among Democrat and Republican voters
In an ideal world, public health would be independent of politics. Yet recent events in the U.S., such as the ...
Viewpoint: ‘Unfettered optimism’? A tiny cancer trial reports a ‘100% cure rate’ with immunotherapy — but are headlines overstating the promise?
When the New York Times tripped off a cascade of upbeat stories this week with its reporting on a 100% ...
Consumer paradox: As media turn less negative on genetically modified crops, Canadian consumers remain ambivalent about innovative food products
Canadians have high trust in Canada’s food safety system, but not new food products Gauging consumer attitudes to genetically modified ...
What are the Challenges Facing Modern Farming Around the World?
Mary Boote, Chief Executive Officer of the GlobalFarmer Network | June 12, 2018Highlights: Agricultural biotech solutions are being denied to ...