Science Controversies
GMO canola high in omega-3 oils up for regulatory approval in Australia
The first genetically modified canola with health benefits is being scrutinised by [Australia's] Office of the Gene Technology Regulator. The ...
Viewpoint: Will Europe botch regulation of gene editing as it has GMOs?
Plant biologist: Europe's precautionary stance toward agricultural biotechnology has all but blocked the introduction of GM crops and could provide ...
Talking Biotech: A former skeptic’s struggle to bring GMO crops to Bolivia
Educator Cecilia Gonzalez: Bolivia has had to import GMO corn from Argentina due to crop failures. Insect-resistant Bt crops could ...
Natural insecticide created with spider venom and genetically modified yeast
Scientists have noticed the powerful punch some spider venoms pack, and have started looking to them for inspiration for all kinds ...
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week – Nov. 6, 2017
Viewpoint: Why GMO crops are planet’s best ecological choice | Eshna Gogia When genetic engineering came of age: World’s first GMO—GE ...
Dicamba herbicide drift damaged 3.6 million acres of soybean crops in 25 states
A weed killer called dicamba has damaged more than 3.6 million acres of soybean crops, or about 4 percent of ...
Creating a brain cell ‘periodic table’ from live tissue
There are 86 billion neurons in the human brain and no two of them are exactly alike. If doctors and ...
View from the farm: Why there is no advantage in saving seeds
A common criticism of GMOs is that corporations force farmers to buy new seeds every year. But do farmers actually ...
No signs of resistance to GMO Bt corn in Europe after 16 years of use
The majority of Bt maize production in the European Union (EU) is concentrated in northeast Spain, which is Europe’s only hotspot where ...
Universally shared biodata could create powerful ‘internet of living things’
Imagine students in universities becoming the first “sequencing line of defense” by detecting bacteria resistant to antibiotics and educating their ...
Viewpoint: Confirmation bias, conflicts of interest plague ‘science’ behind glyphosate cancer claims
Anti-biotech activists hate the herbicide glyphosate, sold by Monsanto under the brand name Roundup. Those activists won a victory in ...
CRISPR gene-edited cassava could help stave off food crisis in Nigeria
Cassava brown streak disease can keep a cassava farmer awake at night. It can lead to complete crop loss, is difficult to ...
Rooting racism and sexism out of artificial intelligence
In 2016, Microsoft released a “playful” chatbot named Tay onto Twitter designed to show off the tech giant’s burgeoning artificial ...
South African saga: Anti-GMO activist groups’ disinformation campaign against new disease-resistant corn
South Africa's corn is already more than 90 percent GMO. An application to introduce an improved, disease-fighting variety has revved ...
Gene silencing could control disease, contamination in wheat and other crops
Fusarium graminearum is a major fungal pathogen of cereals worldwide, causing seedling, stem base and floral diseases, including Fusarium Head ...
Viewpoint: ‘GMO paranoia’ blocking scientifically sound solutions to food system problems
According to NPR’s All Things Considered, [genetically engineered pigs] could save farmers millions of dollars on heating and food. ...
Australia imports over 60 GMO food crops—but farmers can only grow one
Food derived from 60 genetically modified crops can be imported into Australia, but local growers can only grow one GM ...
The race to grow meat without slaughtering animals—can genetic engineering help?
Operating with a team of just 10 (though it's expected to grow to 40 in a matter of months), [Memphis ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO activist Doug Gurian-Sherman’s Food Evolution review misrepresents Uganda banana research
[Editor's note: Patricia Nanteza is a science communicator at Uganda's National Banana Research Program. The following is excerpted from her letter to ...
Two US Congressional committees ask IARC cancer agency to testify, citing ‘scientific integrity’ concerns
Two influential U.S. Congressmen have asked the World Health Organization’s cancer agency to get ready to testify about its work ...
Will advanced breeding technologies render GMO crops obsolete?
Genetically modified (GM) crop technology is not the answer to helping UK farmers produce more food, according to the head ...
Controversy walks hand-in-hand with the artificial womb, but is it warranted?
Research into the development of an artificial womb has sparked a wide range of conjecture from bioethicists who worry about ...
Gene circuit triggers immune system to battle cancer
A research team at MIT has used synthetic biology to create a gene circuit that triggers the immune system to ...
Keeping aging at bay by killing ‘zombie cells’
[Jan] van Deursen and his colleagues at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, [had] an idea: could killing off these 'zombie' ...
Fighting malaria: Bacteria targets parasites in mosquito gut
Using a bacteria strain that colonizes the mosquito digestive tract and spreads rapidly throughout the populations, scientists have successfully inhibited ...
How one farmer stood up to anti-GMO activists and the Italian state—and won
As chair of the local farmers federation [Giorgio Fidenato, a small-holder farmer growing corn, tomatoes and soybeans in Italy] pushes for ...
Toxin-neutralizing GMO peanuts could solve serious food safety issue in Africa and Asia
Aflatoxin contamination in peanuts poses major challenges for vulnerable populations of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Developing peanut varieties to ...
