Featured in Weekly Newsletter
Book review: In Biotech Challenges, ‘technological optimist’ Catherine Regnault Roger outlines the history of genetic modification in agriculture — and what awaits us
The discovery of CRISPR in 2012 accelerated the evolution of genetic engineering. Distinctions are now made between first-generation biotechnologies developed ...
What’s next for GMO corn and herbicides in the wake of Mexico’s latest presidential election?
Thomas Jefferson famously noted that "[T]he greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its ...
Is tilapia a human-made freak that we should avoid — or an evolutionary rockstar?
Posts were appearing on my Facebook feed warning against the dangers of eating tilapia. So I decided to do a ...
GLP podcast: Can you trust ‘industry-funded’ science?
Popular science news is often shot through with the assumption that industry-funded research is inherently suspect because companies value profits ...
Functional precision medicine: What is it, and can it work to treat cancer?
Despite many efforts to find better, more effective ways to treat cancer, it remains a leading cause of death by ...
Genetically-modified poplar and chestnut trees: Contrasting organizations navigate regulatory maze in search of government and popular acceptance
When you think of GMOs, controversial products like Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant RoundupReady corn might spring to mind. However, the world of ...
Playing music ‘in the zone’: Brain scans can tell us how jazz musicians get into the flow
Flow, or being “in the zone,” is a state of amped-up creativity, enhanced productivity and blissful consciousness that, some psychologists ...
Viewpoint: The disinformation-promoting Non-GMO Project takes on synthetic biology on behalf of the consumer. Are they really on your side?
The Non-GMO Project is a pay-for-certification scheme masquerading as a 501(c)3 organization. It allows food manufacturers to decorate their packages ...
Green politics and sustainability: Rising costs and other trade-offs
“Green” policies designed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels may not as much of a good thing as you ...
GLP podcast: About that lousy glyphosate-damages-sperm study; Social media can be good for teens? ‘Carnivore’ diet facts and myths
A recent study and subsequent news coverage alleged that the weedkiller glyphosate causes reproductive damage in men. As usual, there ...
Viewpoint: ‘Organic products are safer for consumers than conventional products?’— In Canada, 46% of organic produce tests positive for pesticide residue
Over and over, the term ‘organic’ is used as an umbrella for a variety of qualitative features in food. There ...
The escalating arms race between viruses and humans: Why a universal coronavirus vaccine is so critical
The arrival of the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if. "COVID-19 was the third major and serious coronavirus epidemic ...
90% of genomic studies use DNA only from white people. Here’s one project addressing this gap
When he recently walked into the dental clinic at the Medical University of South Carolina donning a bright-blue pullover with ...
Viewpoint: ‘The fight to save America’s iconic chestnut tree has become a civil war’
For the past two decades, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons has raised seedlings of the American chestnut in research orchards along the ...
Many of us would give an arm and a leg (and maybe a finger or two) to know what humans can learn from cockroaches
I've admired the cockroach’s ability to regrow lost legs since learning about them while working on my PhD in developmental ...
Bean farming revolution? Unique innovations could leverage lentils and chickpeas to lock in growth-promoting nitrogen in soil
From lentils to chickpeas, and even the humble baked bean, pulses are perhaps best known as an alternative, plant-based source ...
With the cell-based meat revolution lagging, snake meat offers an alternative to help lower our carbon footprint
Biotechnology has solved many problems, from recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibody-derived drugs, to gene therapy and stem cell transplants, to ...
Viewpoint: Chemophobia at the Wall Street Journal: Why did the WSJ assign a finance journalist to author a hit piece on a former EPA official-turned-consultant that misreports the science consensus on glyphosate and PFAS chemicals?
Every now and then an article is published that is so regrettably polarizing, so tilted to a “Good vs Evil” ...
GLP podcast: Mother Jones blasts AAP anti-GMO report; Animals mistreated on organic farms? Why did humans evolve to love music?
Once fiercely skeptical of "Big Ag," even adamantly progressive media outlets like Mother Jones are beginning to embrace the use ...
How the media portrayed a study: “High Levels of Glyphosate Found in Sperm” – What data actually show: Almost no chemical traces and no effect on sperm
The headlines explode in horror and the anti-glyphosate mobs spring to action. The headlines scream: Males may not be able ...
‘Heightened alert’: Avian flu detected in water supplies, virus found in the meat of one cow, and flu-tainted milk has infected mice and cats
Since the beginning of the year, the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain that previously had killed tens of millions ...
Let’s review the (faux) claims of a pesticide-caused insect collapse
If you keep up with the news in the mainstream media, you might think it’s time to ditch the flyswatter ...
Viewpoint: Optimism fades that Europe will significantly reform its current near-ban on gene-edited crops
The genetic modification, or genetic engineering (GE), of plants and animals by selection and breeding has been practiced by humans for ...
Headlong rush in health care to embrace AI opens trap door to legal disputes
When AI contributes to patient injury, who will be held responsible? ...
GLP podcast: Is ChatGPT writing fake studies? Vegan restaurateur serves meat, sparks outrage; We need better IVF regulation
Researchers are increasingly relying on Chat GPT and other AI platforms to write their peer-reviewed studies, raising yet another serious ...
Fat + sugar’s irresistible combination has a biological basis in the gut-brain connection
You know those moments when you’re faced with a gooey chocolate chip cookie or a crispy slice of bacon, and ...
Speed of how you talk — rather than trouble remembering words — is more accurate indicator of brain health as you age
A recent study suggests that the speed of speech, rather than difficulty in finding words, is a more accurate indicator ...
