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
Biotechnology forestry revival projects now include elms along with American chestnuts
There was a time when the stately elm was a symbol of American and European small-town prosperity and pride. It ...
Viewpoint: GMO skeptics abuse UN Biodiversity Conference to promote anti-biotech agenda
Countless people continue to suffer and die needlessly as a result of the arbitrary and unscientific restrictions forged at the ...
Viewpoint: How organic farming exploits consumer demand for ‘authenticity’
Seeking 'authenticity' is fine -- unless it deprives you of something beneficial ...
Podcast: WHO was wrong about COVID; Pandemics make women cheat? Rampant fraud threatens organic farming
Infectious disease experts have blasted the World Health Organization for telling the public that asymptomatic patients rarely spread COVID-19. Pandemics ...
How GMO, gene-edited crops can keep cancer-causing heavy metals out of staple foods
One of the most pressing issues in public health is the presence of toxic elements in food, which potentially risk ...
Viewpoint: Why the world needs GMOs—4 farmers make the case for biotech crops
The lopsided conversation between experienced farmers and clueless activists has severe consequences ...
USDA relaxed its GMO, gene-edited crop rules—but not enough to foster biotech innovation
USDA's SECURE rule fails to move beyond process-based regulation ...
Podcast: Retracted hydroxychloroquine-COVID studies backlash; Obesity cancer drugs? ‘Unbiased’ Guardian takes animal rights money
Two major studies which found that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine doesn't treat COVID-19 have been retracted. What does that mean ...
Insect-resistant Bt cotton failed in India, claims study. Geneticist says anti-GMO authors designed research to seed doubt about crop biotech
Farmers around the world have cultivated genetically engineered (GE) crops for nearly thirty years. In that time, researchers have gathered ...
Next food revolution: Will synthetic proteins eliminate animals as food?
The impact of this disruption on industrial animal farming will be profound ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR crop revolution provides counterpunch to ‘misinformation’ promoted by anti-GMO campaigners
Gene-edited crops usually can't be distinguished from conventionally-bred varieties. Opponents of NBTs may never comprehend this basic lesson of plant ...
Viewpoint: 70% of consumers say ‘natural’ food is healthier, but there’s no science behind the marketing hype
When looking at labels, be wary ...
Podcast: Pesticides prevent cancer. Growing drugs in GMO plants; battling diabetes with CRISPR
Rapid advances in biotechnology could help prevent hundreds of thousands of diabetes deaths every year. Growing drugs in GMO plants ...
Landmark approval of GMO Bt insect-resistant cowpea leads Nigeria toward sustainable farming
Cowpea is an incredibly important source of protein for millions of people across Africa. In December 2019, Nigeria approved the ...
Viewpoint: News or propaganda? UK newspaper the Guardian paid over $800k to publish anti-farming ‘investigation’
Publishing propaganda as news is dishonest and lets readers down. Dr. Henry Miller, the founding director of the FDA's Office ...
Podcast: Fungi destroy $60 billion worth of food each year. Are natural biopesticides the answer?
Food waste plagues both farmers and consumers. Americans throw out much of what we buy at the grocery store—roughly 133 ...
Podcast: Cancer-causing baby powder? USDA cuts GMO rules; plant-based meat less healthy than you think
In an effort to keep up with rapidly evolving technology, the USDA has revamped its biotech crop rules, sparking a ...
Drug factories: GMOs and gene editing are poised to transform medicine. Here’s how.
On the hunt for plant-produced vaccines ...
Viewpoint: The Impossible Burger has sparked an ideological rift between anti-GMO critics
Redrawn battle lines expose a growing ideological rift in a once-cohesive anti-GMO movement and appear to signal a shift in ...
Podcast: Ban ‘factory farming’? GMO mosquitoes coming this summer; anti-biotech groups aren’t ‘grassroots’
As clinical trials begin of several candidate coronavirus vaccines, a former FDA scientist says the agency could speed up its ...
How the halo effect around plant-based meat leads us to exaggerate its nutritional benefits
Healthy food, unhealthy ingredients? ...
Viewpoint: Why GMOs? Biotechnology yields a drought-tolerant rice that conventional breeding couldn’t produce
“Photosynthesis: a feat of chemical engineering underpinning creation’s entire cathedral.” ― Richard Powers, The Overstory ...
Viewpoint: Expanding organic agriculture could make another pandemic more likely
Modern technology and agricultural intensification are the proven path to a safer future ...
Viewpoint: Norman Borlaug knew technology could fight hunger. In the biotech age, we ignore his wisdom at our peril
Borlaug’s brilliant insights were double-cropping and dwarfing, his incredible focus and hard work are a matter of record, and then ...
Podcast: COVID-19 a global communist plot? Glyphosate didn’t cause the pandemic. Time to embrace agricultural biotechnology.
While public health officials and policymakers struggle to contain the novel SARS-COV-2 coronavirus, anti-vaccine activists claim the pandemic was orchestrated ...
Coffee of the future? Lab-made ‘molecular’ version might feed the world’s caffeine habit while sparing the environment
The coronavirus pandemic has led to many shifts in how we eat, but our collective coffee habit remains strong. As ...
Rescuing Africa’s staple orphan crops—sorghum, millet, cowpea, cassava and sweat potato—with biotechnology could help feed millions of people
The year is 2100 and Africa is home to the world’s largest population of young people, with its current leader ...
