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
Viewpoint: GMO, CRISPR-edited crops can cut pesticide use—if environmental activists do not block them
Anti-GMO activists should take a step back and look closely at some of the benefits that new genetically modified crops ...
Viewpoint: Organic industry anti-pesticide ‘propaganda’ threatens to cripple American agriculture
Misleading half-truths and outright misstatements offer a teaching moment about “advocacy research.” ...
Viewpoint: Hidden conflicts of interest cripple IARC’s biased glyphosate-cancer evaluation
IARC has no clear understanding of what a conflict of interest is (or doesn’t care) ...
NY Times’ Eric Lipton defends anti-biotech, anti-vax Moms Across America, which harasses scientists
Journalists like Eric Lipton need to recognize where the real danger lies ...
Plans to introduce GMO crops in disarray, legislators angry after Uganda’s president rejects GMO cultivation law for second time
The lawmakers could attempt to enact the legislation without the president’s signature ...
Podcast: Food snobbery vs the Impossible Burger: A skeptical look at health claims about plant-based meat
"Natural food" advocates have blasted Impossible and Beyond as unhealthy. Let's look at their arguments ...
Viewpoint: How trial lawyers rigged IARC’s cancer monograph program to fuel lawsuits targeting glyphosate, other chemicals
IARC is a troubling example of a UN agency used for personal profit ...
Podcast: Do it for the kids? Federal children’s health research grants fund anti-pesticide, organic food activism
How would taxpayers feel about funding organic food activism masquerading as children's health research? ...
Education, politics, religion may have no impact on our acceptance of GMOs
A study examining the public's 2006 views on GMOs offers a glimpse into the evolution of the ongoing debate over ...
CRISPR and other new breeding techniques could be key to unlocking potential of global wheat production
Scientists and policy makers are calling for wider use of new breeding techniques ...
CRISPR breathing new life into wheat and other crops—can it avoid GMO controversy?
The food industry is hopeful the new gene-editing technology can help create new crop variants without running into the activist ...
Viewpoint: Produce is sugary, GMO ‘poison’? Scientific American embraces long-debunked food safety tropes
The lies and distortions start early in this appalling Scientific American article -- and they keep going to the end ...
Restaurants struggling to keep up with demand for Impossible Burger, alternative ‘meats’
There is no better illustration of the pent-up demand for alternatives to meat ...
Viewpoint: Organic food movement ‘shoots itself in the foot’ by rejecting CRISPR gene editing
By making rejection of technology part of their 'brand,' organic food producers may put themselves at a severe competitive disadvantage ...
Viewpoint: Our favorite Cavendish banana may be heading towards extinction—Scientists say only a biotech solution, blocked by anti-GMO activists, can save it
Shall we just resign ourselves to the eventual demise of the banana, or take steps to save it? ...
Viewpoint: Why the Non-GMO Project label is little more than a marketing tool that deceives consumers
The presence of a Non-GMO Project seal of approval doesn't really tell consumers anything about their food ...
Following approval of GMO crops, Nigeria sets sights on other biotech advances, including gene editing and synthetic biology
Africa's most populous nation has achieved significant strides in biotechnology ...
Podcast: Food 5.0—GMOs, robots and the future of farming with agronomist Robert Saik
The high efficiency of modern agriculture has a downside: most consumers don't know the first thing about farming ...
Viewpoint: Pouring greed on an ethical fire—Questionable ‘litigation finance’ scam funds glyphosate-cancer lawsuit mill
Greed is being poured on an ethical fire ...
‘GMOs are banned in Europe’ and 3 other popular biotech crop myths busted
“What do you wish people knew about GMOs that would completely surprise them?" ...
Viewpoint: Why GMO crops are planet’s best hope for sustainability
Future crops will need to withstand conditions like climate change, low water availability, rising soil salinity, and attacks by pathogens ...
How the quest to bake a better banana bread helps us understand GMOs
A simple analogy can help explain how genetic modification works ...
Why efforts to contain Ebola through experimental vaccines could change Uganda’s opposition to GMO crops
Uganda appears to be in a stalemate over genetically-engineered crops. Could Ebola change that? ...
The ‘magic mix’ of ingredients responsible for the Impossible Burger’s taste and texture
The actual science behind the Impossible Burger is fascinating ...
Milkweed: Mother’s milk for monarch butterflies, but yield-robbing weed for farmers
Can we encourage a resurgence in butterfly-friendly milkweed populations without making farming even more challenging? ...
Podcast: Glyphosate, cancer and ‘corporate conspiracies’–“Regulatory capture” by anti-science activists in the Roundup controversy
Our useful threat-detection instinct has been warped into a serious handicap as we attempt to evaluate risks to our health ...
The world faces ‘pollinator collapse’? How environmental advocates and the media get the science about the ‘bee-apocalypse’ wrong time and again
With neither the facts nor the science on their side, environmental advocacy groups are simply pounding the table ...
