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
How should Europe regulate CRISPR, new breeding technologies (NBTs)?
The precautionary principle-minded European Commission may end up guiding the regulatory fate of new biotechnologies, like CRISPR gene editing, crucial ...
FDA approves GMO potato that resists blight that caused Irish potato famine
The FDA announced Wednesday their approval of second generation Innate potato. A major step for a crop that has seen ...
Why there are no long term GMO studies on humans
A very common criticism of GMOs is that the government doesn't require clinical trials the same way we do for ...
Could genetic engineering be a valued tool against climate change?
How can genetic engineering help against climate change? By many, many ways, but only if we let it ...
Why the concept of GMOs is meaningless
European Union legislation on agricultural genetics and biotechnologies is hopelessly warped — and it threatens to get worse with the introduction ...
European Union reviews, rebukes bizarre Ayyadurai claim of formaldehyde in GMO soy
The "study" claiming that formaldehyde accumulates in genetically modified soybeans--widely touted by anti-GMO activists-- is an example of junk science--no ...
Permaculture: Our ecological future or unsustainable hobby for exurban agroecological activists?
It's advocates claim permaculture is a key agroecological movement that will help pivot world food production from 'industrial agriculture' to ...
Global food shortage? How advanced breeding could domesticate 50,000 wild, edible plants
We rely on less than 150 of the world's edible plants for most of our nourishment and just three make ...
Recapping the 2015 GMO debate: Science eclipses ‘Dark’ voices of anti-biotech hysteria
The year ends with a Congressional battle over GMO labeling after the historic approval of the first animal modified for ...
As Chipotle struggles with poisoning crisis, it’s under fire for GMO and sustainability claims
Chipotle has made than a food poisoning crisis--it's also yet to face up to its deceptive marketing around its use ...
Séralini feed contamination study: PLOS under fire for not following own guidelines on data access
Have PLOS editors abandoned their "requirement" that researchers make all of their data available in open access papers? ...
Myth busting: There is no such thing as GMO sugar
Advocacy groups that encourage consumers to avoid sugar derived from GE sugar beets target small, farmer-owned businesses ...
Anti-GMO Mexican activists target biotech researchers with bomb attacks
A new Mexican pro-GMO organization was the target of bombing attacks, suggesting an escalating level of aggression from GMO opponents ...
How anti-GMO activists use monarch butterflies as ideological pawn
The anti-GMO movement blames GMOs on the decline of the monarch butterfly, but the problem is more complicated--the result of ...
Opponents of GMOs might learn from the disastrous legacy of Soviet era Lysenkoism
Opponents of GM foods no doubt believe they stand on the side of science, but independent evidence suggest they are ...
Bungled science: Why you should wrap GMO salmon in The New York Times
The New York Times said in an editorial that they have a 'right to know' what they are eating when ...
Trade and economic growth, not pesticides, major driver of beehive declines?
Declines in bee health have been blamed on pesticides and other factors. A new study suggests that economic changes may ...
It’s all bug spray in the end: Organic pesticides not necessarily safer for bees
Many critics of conventional agriculture claim organic food is grown with "natural" and "botanical" pesticides that are safer than synthetic ...
Engineering debates on GMOs: How to change minds when emotions overrule science
Discussions about GMOs often degenerate into shouting matches, especially on line. The science minded should consider the psychology of how ...
Is Europe’s opposition to importing GMOs violating trade agreements?
The World Trade Organization ruled that the EU violated treaties when it banned GM imports. What's happened since? ...
EPA, for now, revokes approval of GMO-paired Enlist Duo herbicide, citing “synergistic effects”
Excerpted Andrew Pollack's New York Times article: The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to revoke the approval of a herbicide ...
Nutrigenomics: Can diets be tailored to an individual’s genetic make-up?
The answer, in the future, is "yes," but refining our understanding of personalized genomics means it will take time to ...
Scientists react to FDA approval of genetically engineered salmon
Independent scientists have been overwhelmingly supportive of the FDA's decision, after much delay, to approve the world's first genetically modified ...
AquaBounty salmon backgrounder
What is the AquAdvantage salmon? Who is the company behind it? How is this animal biotechnology regulated? ...
Legal, PR battles commence to block FDA approved GMO salmon from dinner plate
The world's first genetically engineered fish approved for human consumption arriving in supermarkets within two years. Now the legal fireworks ...
GLP Slate investigation that opened door to AquaBounty salmon approval
Will the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy’s John Holdren investigate the White House after violations of the Executive ...
Are GMOs to blame for the loss of nutrients in our fruits and vegetables?
Mineral and nutrient depletion, blamed on GMOs by anti-biotech activists, began long before GMOs were introduced. Time to look for ...
