Food & Agriculture Features
The GLP explores the role of genetic engineering in food production and the polarized debate surrounding it. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- Chemicals and pesticides
- Organics
- Conventional crops
- New breeding technologies
- Animal biotechnology
- Food systems
- Sustainability
- Regulations
- Politics
- Ideology
How a genetically altered virus could save Florida’s decimated orange industry from citrus greening disease
In the early 1970s there was a ubiquitous television ad promoting Florida orange juice including the line, "a day without orange juice ...
Why GMOs aren’t responsible for a spike in food allergies
What's behind the rise in food allergies? There are a lot of possible answers to this, but it's probably not ...
Viewpoint: Does ‘doxxing’ attack on geneticist Kevin Folta represent new low in anti-GMO attacks on scientists?
In the minds of activists, it doesn't matter that Dr. Folta never acted illegally or unethically. The only thing that ...
How NPR, Washington Post, Bloomberg and other media botched reporting on EPA’s ‘ban’ of 12 ‘bee-killing’ neonicotinoid insecticides
If headlines are the measure, groups claiming bees are endangered by misuse of pesticides just scored a significant victory ...
Golden Rice, Part 4: Cost-effective GMO crop can save lives and dramatically boost developing economies
Golden Rice is safe, and there is excellent human evidence that it will work ...
Viewpoint: Debunking 6 activist ‘lies’ about the GMO Impossible burger
A look at some persistent lies about bio-engineered soy ...
More than one-third of Americans do not know that foods with zero genetically modified ingredients contain genes—and why that matters
More than a third of Americans think that only GMO foods contain genes. Even worse--people aren't looking to scientists to ...
‘Circular sustainability’: Beer makers turn booze into bread to combat food waste
The efforts of the beer industry point to significant progress in the battle against food waste ...
Viewpoint: USDA GMO labeling plan is pointless, expensive—and probably unconstitutional
The scientific consensus is that mandatory GMO labeling fails every test — scientific, economic, legal, and common-sense ...
Golden Rice, Part 3: A thoroughly studied, safe and nutritionally enhanced GMO crop approved by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, but vilified by Greenpeace and ‘environmental’ activists
‘Opposition [to Golden Rice] based on emotion and dogma contradicted by data must be stopped.' ...
Scrambled DNA fragments could open doors to higher crop yields, new herbicides
Plants have shown a wide range of reactions after being edited with random bits of genetic material. Some grow faster ...
Viewpoint: Will FDA finally crack down on ‘false and misleading’ Non-GMO Project labels?
How much will mega food companies care until FDA decides to enforce the law? ...
Golden Rice, Part 2: Will nutritionally enhanced rice work and help solve malnutrition in developing countries?
For more than a quarter of a century, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been recognized by the United Nations as ...
Viewpoint: Why we can’t seem to bridge the gulf that divides pro- and anti-GMO forces
The opposition to GMOs is based not on scientific evidence, but on personal values and ideology. In effect, the two ...
Viewpoint: Lab-grown meat should replace farm animals as food
Why so many people resist cultured meat -- and why they shouldn't ...
Golden Rice, Part 1: The story of a GMO crop that could benefit billions of children a year
For billions of people, the stakes could not be higher ...
Viewpoint: Regulators should embrace the Vatican’s decade-old endorsement of GMOs
If only legislators and regulators would “get religion" and take the Pontifical Academy’s decade-old recommendations to heart ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO forces in Nigeria have abandoned reason and the nation’s best interests
Protecting health and and food security is best done through dialogue and education, not threats and smear campaigns ...
Why the ‘chemical free’ organic industry has a ‘pesticide problem’
The organic label is often touted as meaning "pesticide free" and has become a rallying cry for anti-GMO activists. But ...
Genetically engineered trees could save our forests—but it won’t be an easy fix
A biotech tree could simultaneously increase and decrease the wildness of a forest ...
Uganda’s anti-GMO activists blamed for stonewalling nation’s new biosafety rules
A campaign by non-governmental organizations is determined to keep Uganda free of GMOs ...
Does Big Ag control farmers through seeds patents? Farmers don’t think so.
Farmers have a wide range of choices for seeds, including conventional and GMO. And most, for economic and performance rather ...
Viewpoint: Defending IARC’s designation of glyphosate as carcinogenic undermines evidence-based science
The apologetics of the decision's defenders are becoming all too predictable ...
Viewpoint: 300 scientists say FDA’s plan to regulate CRISPR-edited animals as drugs will effectively shut down innovation
This proposed regulatory approach for genome editing in animals will make it cost prohibitive for both U.S. researchers and livestock ...
African farmers look to genetic engineering in fight against plant diseases and pests
The benefits of genetic engineering will not come to fruition in Africa if the opponents of the technology continue to ...
Censorship of biotech researchers? Geneticist Kevin Folta excluded from gardening workshop after orchestrated anti-GMO social media attacks
Folta says this incident is typical of the harassment biotech researchers have experienced at the hands of US-RTK and other ...
Taming wild plants with CRISPR gene editing in quest to find new foods
A pilot project with groundcherries demonstrates the huge potential in gene editing wild plants for food ...
