Biotechnology
Viewpoint: ‘Radical change’ needed to make global food system sustainable
The Green Revolution of the post-World War II era has rightly been hailed as a huge achievement for humankind. Transformation ...
‘Living tattoo’ made with 3D-printed bacteria responds to stimuli
A team at MIT has genetically modified bacteria cells and developed a new 3D printing technique to create a "living ...
Quantity vs quality: Burkina Faso’s problems with Monsanto’s insect-resistant GMO Bt cotton
In 2000, farmers in Burkina Faso, Africa’s top cotton grower, were desperate. Their cotton fetched top prices because its high-quality ...
Organic movement schism? Fight over hydroponics puts $50 billion industry in limbo
The USDA's ruling that crops grown using hydroponics and aquaculture can be labeled organic set off a heated debate over ...
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week – Dec. 11, 2017
Viewpoint: 12 ways organic activists mislead consumers | David Zaruk How anti-biotech environmental groups are trying to kill roll-out of AquaBounty’s sustainable ...
Top 5 most ridiculous types of Non-GMO Project labeled products
The stuff with no G to M It would stand to reason that any Non-GMO Project certified item would have ...
Women in science: Geneticist Pamela Ronald, developer of GMO flood-resistant rice
[T]he breakthrough that finally created rice seeds strong enough to stand up to blight and flood came when Pamela Ronald ...
‘Roundup Facing the Judges’: Documentary promotes glyphosate conspiracy theories, pseudoscience
[Editor's note: Øystein Heggdal is a Norwegian agronomist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and natural resources. He is ...
Future of heart medicine: Stem cells to grow cardiac muscle and smaller medical implants
If heart transplantation - 50 years after Christiaan Barnard carried out the first operation - has become routine, what exactly ...
Viewpoint: EU’s glyphosate herbicide fight reveals limits of Europe-wide governance
Glyphosate, the ubiquitous herbicide, may not really be poison, but it could well be the most politicized substance in Europe. In ...
Neonicotinoid seed treatments ‘best option’ for soil pests, but should be used judiciously, study says
The topic of neonicotinoid seed treatments (NSTs) continues to keep researchers searching for answers. A study from the University of ...
CRISPR gene-editing technology expected to accelerate crop development
Genetically modified crops are continuing to spread across the world’s agricultural land. Last year they covered a record 185m hectares, ...
Anti-GMO group March Against Monsanto promotes, profits from anti-vaccine ads
Visit the March Against Monsanto website and you'll see a strange ad peppering the pages, among the usual dubious stories about ...
Fighting poverty with GMOs: Filipino farmers turn to insect-resistant Bt corn to boost yields, income
Agricultural choices don't just affect food availability. They also have significant economic and social ramifications. A case in point is the ...
Could humans learn to love sex robots?
Kate Devlin says she does, occasionally, get a little weary of being pigeonholed as “that sex robot woman.” … “There’s ...
Should organic farming embrace new plant breeding techniques like CRISPR?
Over the last few years, new tools have rapidly created possibilities in plant breeding. These New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) ...
DIY gene therapy? FDA is not a fan
A few biohackers (fans of do-it-yourself (DIY) science experiments) recently designed a gene therapy for HIV. Not only that, they posted a video ...
Viewpoint: Food Evolution movie shows GMO supporters ‘you’re not alone’
If you have the opportunity to see the documentary “Food Evolution,” do it. It has been the most talked-about food and agriculture ...
Economist: EU’s GMO crop ban likely led to lower corn, soybean yields in Europe compared to US
Is it true that a ban on GM crops in the European Union has hurt productivity? Most likely yes, retired ...
Era of unregulated stem cell therapies may be coming to an end
Is the Wild West of stem cell therapies coming to an end? Newly released guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggest ...
Exorbitant costs of gene therapy raise payment concerns for patients and government
[Editor's note: Executives from several companies developing gene therapies gathered for a panel discussion at the recent Forbes Healthcare Summit, ...
Climate change fighting plants: Genetically modified crops could trap half of human CO2 emissions in soil
The Salk Institute has enlisted a new ally in the effort to address the anticipated dangers of climate change — plants. Scientists ...
French farmers: 3 years too short to develop viable replacement for glyphosate herbicide
President Emmanuel Macron’s promise to rid France of controversial weedkiller glyphosate within three years has left some farmers in the ...
What can other African countries learn from South Africa’s experience with GMO crops?
Despite promotion of GM crops, adoption has been slow across the continent. South Africa began using the technology in the ...
Genomics AI tool: Google’s DeepVariant released as open source
A novel artificial intelligence tool that can accurately call out variants in sequencing data was released as open source on the ...
Judge dismisses lawsuit against Dannon alleging consumers misled by ‘all-natural’ dairy products from cows fed GMOs
A judge has granted Dannon’s motion to dismiss a high-profile false advertising lawsuit alleging shoppers were misled by its ‘all-natural’ ...
Viewpoint: 12 ways organic activists mislead consumers
Does the organic food industry use deceptive marketing practices to scare wealthy customers away from conventional agriculture and GMOs? The ...