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: Genetics and AI have launched an agricultural revolution. But ‘blind techno-optimism’ could have harmful consequences
Depending on who you listen to, artificial intelligence may either free us from monotonous labour and unleash huge productivity gains, ...
Our Stone Age ancestors thrived on ‘chunks of meat,’ but plants were just as key to their survival
Early humans wouldn't be able to survive without glucose from plants ...
Podcast: COVID killed anti-GMO activism? Environmentalists split over glyphosate; Predatory journal Pokémon hoax
Could the COVID-19 pandemic end anti-GMO activism as we know it? Environmentalists are split over the controversial weedkiller glyphosate; some ...
Battle over 15-year GMO ban extension rages in Peru as farmers breed and cultivate illegal biotech seed
In the midst of a ferocious debate over the future of biotechnology in Latin America, the Peruvian Congress recently extended ...
Viewpoint: Despite its ‘social justice pretense’ agroecology promotes poverty in developing countries
The world is made up of sunshine and butterflies, roses and rainbows. If we can stop Father Profit from raping ...
Podcast: Lockdown skeptics are COVID ‘deniers’? Plant burgers don’t cause ‘man boobs.’ GMOs and terrorism
If you oppose lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID, are you a science denier, a covidiot? Potentially dangerous genetically ...
Viewpoint: AquaBounty’s GM salmon slated for 2021 debut, but animal biotech still stymied by byzantine regulation
After 30 years, AquaBounty's genetically engineered (GE) AquAdvantage salmon may be just months away from hitting US grocery stores, making ...
Push to reform EU biotech crop rules gains strength as some environmentalists, public officials endorse gene editing
After two decades as "the center" of GMO skepticism, it seems the EU may be ready to acknowledge the benefits ...
Viewpoint: Italy’s GMO restrictions cripple efforts to expand sustainable farming
GMO and GE technologies are complementary and indispensable for the release of new plants able to solve new emergencies that ...
Viewpoint: Climate change threatens our forests. Smarter fire control and sustainable logging can help us fight back
There has been an ongoing debate about the viability of tree planting and forest restoration to fight climate change. But ...
Podcast: GM salmon coming soon? Food ingredients you can’t pronounce are safe; Monsanto patent lawsuit myths
Monsanto never sued farmers because their fields were accidentally contaminated with the company's GM seed. AquaBounty's genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon ...
Monsanto wrongly sued farmers for patent infringement? Federal courts put down David v Goliath myth for good
Does greedy Monsanto sue small-time farmers for patent infringement because their fields are accidentally contaminated with the company's GM seeds? ...
Viewpoint: How postmodernism birthed Europe’s anti-GMO movement
Tounderstand why Europe is restricting the use of some technologies, while the United States are not following the same path ...
Viewpoint: 3 biotech foods you can’t buy at Costco thanks to anti-GMO activism
The opponents of this method of improving food have been successful in suppressing even the most logical applications ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO groups exploit COVID to block access to biotech crops
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on our lives in so many ways, including diminished social contact, disrupted ...
Podcast: One couple’s journey to vaccine skepticism; Partisan COVID science; Neophobia and GMOs
How do well-meaning, educated parents become vaccine skeptics? One hypothetical couple's journey may shed light on the process. Some scientists ...
David v Goliath? What reporters and activists got wrong about 3 high-profile Monsanto patent suits
Anti-GMO folk hero and canola farmer Percy Schmeiser was the best-known avatar of the idea that Monsanto, now part of ...
High-yielding plants that survive temperature swings may be our next weapon against climate change
Sally Mackenzie spent her childhood summers walking through the vast fields of bright, red, ripe tomato crops: They grow best ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s ‘nonsensical regulatory system’ blocks GMO seeds but circumvents biotech ban to exempt gene-edited COVID vaccines
As consumers, we all want to be reassured that the products we purchase are safe for us to use and ...
Conspiracy promoter Mike ‘Health Ranger’ Adams built online disinformation Natural News online empire that subverts science, report finds
Alternative health guru and conspiracy theorist Mike Adams, founder of the popular website Natural News, has been identified as the ...
How needless precaution kept a GMO ‘superfood’ off the market: Q&A with Golden Rice author Ed Regis
Seeing what has happened to Golden Rice over the course of 20 years, nothing would surprise me going forward ...
Viewpoint: We’ve got 10 years to prevent ‘irreversible’ climate change damage. Here’s how CRISPR can help
Ten years – that is the timeline scientists have given us to either address climate change or suffer irreversible damages ...
Podcast: Some vaccine skeptics aren’t science deniers; Animal-free ice cream; Plant burgers are ‘meat’?
If you reject vaccines, you're a science denier! Not necessarily. Some people may have legitimate reasons to be skeptical. Scientists ...
Viewpoint: Anti-Monsanto biopic ‘Percy’ tells misleading tale about GMOs and seed patents
As any experienced moviegoer knows, "This film is based on a true story" is more of a disclaimer than a ...
Don’t eat it if you can’t pronounce it? Avoiding ‘scary-sounding ingredients’ won’t make you healthier
"If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!” We are told that steering clear of scary-sounding ingredients is a simple, ...
‘Hero of progress’: How agronomist Norman Borlaug almost banished famine from Asia
Norman Borlaug’s work undeniably changed the world for the better ...
COVID halts global GM crop approvals, hitting poor farmers in developing countries hardest
The demand rising from COVID-19 has ramped up vaccines using various genetic modification technologies, but when it comes to agriculture, ...
