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: How politics pollutes the FDA’s genetically modified animal regulations and stifles innovation
AquaBounty's fast-growing salmon and Oxitec's disease-fighting mosquitos are two examples of why genetically modified animals should be regulated by the ...
The human cost of the anti-GMO movement: Why one scientist is quitting GE crop research
Constantly confronting people who think my research will harm them is profoundly distressing ...
‘Boneless watermelons’? What this new ‘hot fruit’ can teach us about non-GMO labels and fear-based marketing
Nowadays labels extol the absence of something that never was there in the first place. Such marketing schemes manipulate the ...
Viewpoint: Will the crop biotechnology revolution pass Nigeria by?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is creating a new era, fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds. Breakthroughs in different fields ...
Viewpoint: How Germany’s anti-GMO, pro-organic politics benefit US ag companies
Editor's note: The following is a satirical letter written by Reinhard Szibor, professor emeritus of human genetics and forensic medicine at the ...
How ‘open source’ seed producers from the US to India are changing global food production
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds ...
Did the EPA and Monsanto conspire to hide glyphosate’s health risks?
A recent op-ed in the Sacramento Bee repeated the debunked conspiracy theory that Monsanto manipulated the EPA to hide evidence ...
Far more toxic than glyphosate: Copper sulfate, used by organic and conventional farmers, cruises to European reauthorization
Over the past months, the European Union and several member nations have vigorously debated re-authorizing glyphosate, the herbicide maligned by ...
Viewpoint: Unlikely alliance between environmentalists, farmers and big ag companies aims to improve soil health
Here are three startling facts about the planet Earth: It currently hosts seven and a half billion people. Its carrying ...
Should we worry about trace pesticides on fruits and vegetables?
An anti-GMO funded study promoted by Vani Hari--Food Babe--that found parts per billion trace residues of the herbicide glyphosate in ...
Europe missed out on GMO biotech revolution. What’s going to happen with gene editing?
As a plant geneticist in Europe, I must carefully pick my way through some of the most onerous constraints to ...
Viewpoint: Gene editing poised to revolutionize agriculture—if we can fix biotech regulations
In his speech at the recent American Farm Bureau convention, President Trump said his administration was "streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting-edge ...
Uganda’s researchers ready to taste test their GMO vitamin A-enriched banana
The East African cooking banana is one of the major food crops eaten by the people living in central Uganda ...
From GMO hater to biotechnology advocate: One person’s Facebook journey
An anti-GMO, pro-organic mom became a staunch defender of modern agriculture following a social media encounter that prompted her to ...
Current biotech regulations create animal and crop approval blocks and bottlenecks but gene editing may open new doors
The cost of current biotech industry regulations might not be obvious to consumers, but it’s clear to researchers. “We’ve got ...
Meat wars: Sourcing from animals may not be what distinguishes meat from ‘meat alternatives’
The US Cattlemen's Association is making a pre-emptive strike against potentially misleading marketing for the next wave of meat alternatives ...
How Russia tried to turn America against GMOs and agricultural biotechnology and sow ideological discord
How serious was secret Russian interventionism when it comes to creating public discord over US farming and agricultural trade policy? ...
Viewpoint: Regulatory overreach looms as obstacle for New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) in agriculture
The fast-moving world of plant breeding — fueled by advances in CRISPR and other techniques — has tossed a wrench ...
GMO coffee is on the horizon—but will we drink it?
Remember the Gros Michel banana? If you're under the age of seventy, you probably don't. That's because in the 1950s ...
Viewpoint: Bans on neonicotinoid insecticides may not actually help bees
Public pressure is growing in Australia to ban the sale of pesticides called neonicotinoids because of their harmful effects on bees. The ...
15 surprising GMO and gene-edited crop advances underway in South and Central America
Latin America is a vital region in the global production of genetically modified (GM) crops, with Brazil and Argentina ranked ...
Engineering more digestible grass could reduce livestock pastures and give us cheaper biofuels
The problem with grass is that it has tough cellular walls that make it difficult to digest. But researchers say ...
Africa could become a world agricultural leader in CRISPR and other new breeding techniques (NBTs)
It is 8:30 East African Standard Time. I disembark from a van filled with science journalists from Kampala, Uganda and ...
Review of Whitewash (or Hogwash?): Carey Gillam’s glyphosate book betrays science, undermines our understanding of cancer
Last fall a new book hit the shelves, timed to coincide with public hearings on the European Union’s re-authorization of ...
Viewpoint: How European activists lobby for a glyphosate ban despite findings of its safety
In January, the European Parliament announced that it will set up a Special Committee on the Union’s authorization procedure for ...
USDA data confirm organic yields significantly lower than with conventional farming
Government data comparing yields of organic vs. conventional farms finds a sharp yield edge for conventional on more than 84 ...
Why a global decline in genetic crop variety matters for the future of food
Preserving the genetic diversity of edible plants could help us develop new crop varieties, with useful traits such as drought ...
