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
Disease-resistant GMO tomato that could eliminate need for copper pesticides blocked by public fears
Field trials have shown that a disease-resistant GMO tomato variety eliminates the need for copper pesticides that pollute soil and ...
Conventional agriculture holds multiple ecological advantages over organic, analysis shows
Conventional farming outperforms organic in several key measures -- particularly crop yield, according to a meta analysis of 164 research ...
Kevin Folta looks back 5 years after release of controversial Séralini GMO rat study
The heavily criticized and retracted paper linked GMO consumption and glyphosate exposure to cancer in rats. The brouhaha that erupted ...
Do GMOs, pesticides cause cancer? The Amish would say ‘no’
Amish farmers may not get cancer as much, but it's not because they don't use pesticides or GMOs. In fact, ...
Guided evolution of wheat and other grains could feed growing population
Can we breed wheat and other cereal grains with the ability to fertilize themselves? Researchers report promising results that could ...
GMO seeds could be critical for extended space travel, colonization
If we hope to colonize space, scientists must figure out how to feed astronauts on journeys that could last years ...
Creating ‘super wheat’: Genetic modification supercharges photosynthesis
A growing global food demand is challenged by the problem of limited crop-growing space. Could GMO-edited wheat meet this need ...
Viewpoint: No, Big Ag doesn’t ‘control’ the world’s food supply
Is there truth to a common anti-GMO narrative that large multi-national companies seek to “control the food supply” through patents ...
GMO that’s not all GMO: Monsanto’s rootworm-fighting corn seed uses RNA interference
The EPA's relatively quick approval of a new Monsanto seed trait drew criticism from anti-GMO groups that complained about a ...
Tale of two neonicotinoid bumble bee studies—And how science can be massaged
Are neonics dangerous for bees? Two studies published on the same day reached sharply different conclusions. Guess which one got ...
Viewpoint: ‘Blistering’ USDA organic report suggests ‘movement’ needs major reforms
The USDA report detailing poor oversight by the agency’s National Organic Program challenges the belief that consumers can trust organic ...
Targeting weeds at the genetic level aids battle against herbicide resistance
Understanding how weeds evolve to become invasive and herbicide-resistant at the genetic level can help scientists design better weed controls ...
Ugandan journalist: How do you report on crop biotechnology when critics spread misinformation?
Genetic engineering could help Uganda combat some of its toughest food security challenges. But anti-GMO activists' misinformation campaigns are standing ...
Did GMO connection prompt Gates Foundation to halt support for corn-aflatoxin breakthrough?
When Gates Foundation reviewers rejected a researcher's bid for new funding, one of the reasons cited was a concern over ...
Left and right share anti-science instincts, rooted in fears of ideological misuse
Anti-science views have been increasingly embraced by political factions, left and right. Both harbor deep suspicions of government, industry and ...
9 misdirected arguments against GMOs
When discussing GMOs, many arguments are put forth on why they are “bad” and should be avoided. A molecular geneticist ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO online series promotes fear and ‘less sustainable’ farming
Works like the recently released "GMOs Revealed" are making it more difficult for new agricultural techniques to gain widespread acceptance ...
Hidden hunger: How anti-GMO activists are blocking humanitarian biofortification in Africa and Asia
Many crops grown in the developing world are deficient in nutritional qualities--which makes biofortification critical if we hope to improve ...
Suffering for the love of birds: A scientist’s battle to save birds — and now her career
PETA begins to harass and intimidate a rising researcher in the field of animal behavior, scientist Kevin Folta urges the ...
Viewpoint: Outdated regulations responsible for recall, destruction of harmless GE petunias
An outdated policy leading to the destruction of 50 varieties of harmless flowers provides evidence that regulatory GMO practices need ...
Does Uganda need GMOs? Scientists look to gene editing to spur innovation
Even as scientists in Uganda and other African countries aggressively push for approvals of new disease-fighting GMO crops, the focus ...
Monsanto shill alert: Does industry funded GMO research bias findings?
Can consumers trust "independent" studies funded by corporations that have found genetically modified foods safe? Anti-GMO activists say 'no.' But ...
Uganda: From scorching drought to ravaging worms, poor pay the price for missing out on a biotech solution
The food and famine crisis is finally bringing to a head the clash between anti-GMO activists, mostly European based, and ...
Vulnerable system? What if world’s breadbaskets experience crop failure at same time?
Less than 25 percent of Earth’s cropland produces nearly 75% of the staple crops that feed us. Are globalization and ...
The story behind the well-funded opposition to block AquaBounty’s sustainable GMO salmon
Opposition to the world's first GMO animal approved for human consumption was fueled by a variety of sources --from quacks ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO movement—and label demands—lose steam under Republican administration
The new administration has chosen to follow the analysis of the National Academy of Sciences, which found no material or ...
Why we need peaceful co-existence between GMOs and organics
Could organic and GM farming step past the rhetoric and vitriol, and co-exist? The science says yes ...
