Food & Ag 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
Viewpoint: Zombie ‘Moms Across America’ tries to link non-carcinogenic glyphosate to Celiac disease, autism and other health disorders
I can’t wait for the day when anti-science activists decide to cling to an entirely different pesticide to fixate on ...
GLP podcast: EPA wrong about ‘forever chemicals’? Heatwaves and drugs don’t mix; Idealistic activism harms public health
The EPA is facing a new crop of lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who say the agency's new guidance on "forever ...
Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer
A jury decision, while significant, is not a substitute for scientific research ...
Glyphosate legal update: Meta-study used by ambulance-chasing tort lawyers targeting Bayer’s Roundup as carcinogenic deemed ‘junk science nonsense’ by trial judge
Trial lawyers suing over a popular weedkiller saw six words they never want to read in a court document approving ...
Was there Russian collusion? When it comes to prominent anti-GMO groups, the disturbing answer is ‘yes’
Strong and disturbing evidence is emerging that anti-biotechnology groups have succeeded in muddying the media and scientific waters by aligning ...
Are bananas at risk of extinction? Many varieties are, but gene editing offers a solution
Bananas are one of the world’s most widely available fresh fruits. They are particularly popular with children and are a ...
Viewpoint: Why green activists’ tactics of zero-compromise, slurs, insults and ideological disunity feed unrealistic expectations
2023 was a horrible year for the European environmental activist community. On pesticides, their StopGlyphosate campaign failed to resonate with ...
Viewpoint: Organic chemicals don’t harm essential soil microbes — but glyphosate does? Propaganda claims collapse after real-world study
Is glyphosate damaging essential microbes in soil? A multi-year study sought to answer the question using real-world conditions ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Viewpoint: After nearly two dozen Roundup trials, what have juries learned about the link between glyphosate and cancer?
A lawyer who claims his client, a government union employee, got cancer from using the common weedkiller Roundup, is whining that his ...
Viewpoint: ‘Environmentalists are wrong on opposing technological tweaks to agriculture’: How activists undermine society’s need for more climate-adaptive sustainable farming
Public concern about the environment has not always been part of the social conscience in North America. After all, European ...
Viewpoint: As the worm turns — Don’t get your science from the guy who says a tapeworm ate his brain
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK Jr.) isn’t known for subtlety. As the ringleader of America’s anti-vaccine movement, the rogue presidential ...
Viewpoint: Uncomfortable truth — ‘Organic farming takes too much land to have any chance to feed the world in a climate-changed environment’
Science for Sustainable Agriculture (SSA) was recently asked by the farming media to comment on a policy paper issued by the ...
