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
Science setback? What’s next now that European court rules gene-edited crops are GMOs?
With the European court ruling that CRISPR crops and other gene-edited foods must be treated as classic transgenic GMOs, scientists worry ...
Was there Russian collusion? When it comes to prominent anti-GMO groups, the disturbing answer is ‘yes’
Modern genetic engineering techniques applied to agriculture are making stunning advances. This year, after decades in (gratuitous) regulatory limbo, the ...
Did anti-GMO groups plant ‘rogue’ GMO wheat in Canada to deliberately disrupt markets to manipulate public opinion?
In the summer of 2017, a contractor applied the popular weed-killer glyphosate (brand name Roundup®) to clear some weeds along ...
Why we don’t all need to be vegans in the pursuit of sustainability
Humans are unique in the degree to which they can manipulate their surroundings. And agriculture is one enormous way to ...
Viewpoint: We should just retire the whole ‘feed the world’ thing when it comes to promoting GMOs
How often do we hear something along the lines of "We won't be able to feed 10 billion people by ...
Déjà vu all over again: Germany’s ‘regulatory stranglehold’ on New Breeding Techniques mirrors its policy on GMOs 20 years ago
Biotechnology applied to agriculture is beginning to yield all manner of products, including fruits and vegetables that are disease-resistant, more ...
‘Clean meat’: How lab-grown foods can feed us in the future
For long enough, I have been fascinated with the idea of growing stuff in the lab whether it’s milk, egg ...
How to change consumer perception of crop biotechnology and GMO foods
Genetically modified (GM) foods for human consumption have long been a subject of intense public debate, as well as academic ...
Kenyan Farmer: On Cusp of a Biotech Revolution, Africa Faces Resistance from Europe and Anti-GMO Activists
Gilbert arap Bor, Small-Scale Farmer in Kenya, University Lecturer, Kleckner Award Winner | July 11, 2018Highlights: Kenya and much of ...
Viewpoint: Scott Pruitt gone from EPA because of ethical transgressions but regulatory reform of ‘rogue agency’ might be his lasting legacy
Scott Pruitt, who lost his job as head of the Environmental Protection Agency last week after a flood of complaints ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO activists crave a return to ‘simpler times’ in farming. Here’s why that would be disastrous.
The appeal of simpler times, as imagined by wealthy white guys ...
Viewpoint: Neonicotinoid use on field crops should be reined in
Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. corn belt is drawing to a close. As they plant, farmers are participating ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why organic farming needs GMOs
“Civilization has been built on genetically modified plants.” — Nina V. Fedoroff, Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientists View of Genetically ...
‘Environmental progress without organic’: Rachel Carson’s testy relationship with the organic food and farming movement
Rachel Carson, who launched the modern environmental movement with her 1962 book “Silent Spring,” was a highly private person. But ...
Searching for biotech solutions to problems plaguing livestock in Africa
In Africa, scientific research involving biotechnology innovations in agriculture has largely focused on finding ways to produce better crops. But, ...
Viewpoint: US EPA rebuffs activist lobbying, finds neonicotinoids not key driver of bee health problems
In The Neonic Ban: A Scientific Fraud Becomes Enshrined In EU Regulatory Law, I described the many elements of corruption that ...
Viewpoint: EU’s neonicotinoid ban is a ‘scientific fraud’ and won’t protect bees
Five years after the European Union imposed a temporary ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, an “experts committee” of the member states ...
Viewpoint: Questioning Nature’s publication of anti-glyphosate letter
On March 21, 2018, Nature published a letter by French journalists Stéphane Foucart and Stéphane Horel, “Risks associated with glyphosate ...
What’s in the CRISPR drawer for farming and food?
Most of us have heard of the gene edited non-browning mushroom that passed through USDA review without the regulatory hurdles ...
Why glyphosate and herbicide-tolerant GMO seeds aren’t threats to bees
Glyphosate is a herbicide, in other words, it is toxic to plants. Its target enzyme is not found in insects ...
Can new IARC director bridge gap between controversial cancer agency and rest of scientific community?
A look at IARC’s recent record suggests that skepticism is in order ...
Wheat and celiac disease: Modern breeding not to blame for gluten—but gene editing could help
New research shows that the immune-reactive agents of modern wheat have been around a long time, and are not necessarily ...
Will Gene Editing and Other New Breeding Techniques Provide a ‘Second Chance’ for Worldwide Embrace of Genetically Engineered Crops?
Jon Entine, Executive Director of the Genetic Literacy Project | June 13, 2018Highlights: Anti-GMO activists, aided by Russian propaganda, have ...
Anti-GMO groups draw FDA rebuke over misrepresentation of Golden Rice nutrition
Finally, the FDA weighed in on Golden Rice, with its May 24 announcement approving it for use in the United ...
The future of meat: Can science replace animals?
All economic activities related to research, development, production, trade and consumption of plants, animals and all other living things are ...
Viewpoint: The faulty logic behind popular anti-GMO meme ‘it just feels right’
I don’t know about you, but I have never liked the sound the letters TO, TWO, and TOO makes. Maybe ...
Viewpoint: French media’s ‘fake news’ on glyphosate herbicide endangers science in Europe
In Europe, technical matters which should be science-based, such as the authorization of marketing for chemicals or genetically engineered plants, ...
