Science Controversies
CRISPR crop: Disease-resistant cassava staple could help tackle hunger in Africa
To prove that a new-gene editing technology could be used to alter the cassava plant, scientists in the St. Louis ...
Glyphosate herbicide may negatively impact beneficial soil bacteria in certain situations, study finds
As farmers battle in their above-ground war on weeds, they may inadvertently create underground casualties – unintentionally attacking the beneficial ...
Genetics brought to bear in fight against modern cholera outbreaks
Although cholera is a disease that is thought of as mostly extinct, it still persists today in underdeveloped areas. The ...
Google’s self-learning AI starts with blank slate and ‘creates knowledge itself’
Google’s artificial intelligence group, DeepMind, has unveiled the latest incarnation of its Go-playing program, AlphaGo – an AI so powerful that ...
Canada decides not to add further restrictions on dicamba herbicide, as US did
Health Canada will not be further regulating the use of dicamba herbicide sprayed on growing crops, as has happened in ...
Consumers confused about ‘organic’ and ‘non-GMO’ labels—but willing to pay more for both
Consumers are confused between foods labeled as “organic” and “non-genetically modified,” according to a new study led by a University ...
Disease-resistant GMO potatoes could hit Ugandan markets in 2020
Scientists have said the first batch of locally grown genetically modified potatoes will be on sale in Ugandan markets in ...
European Commission seeks 5 to 7 year renewal of glyphosate herbicide—down from 10
The European Commission will seek to extend the license of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide — for between five ...
Glyphosate levels in Californians’ urine increased in last 20 years—no adverse health effects shown
Levels of the herbicide Roundup in human urine have increased dramatically among California residents in the past two decades, a ...
Glyphosate-gate: Policy and science implications of IARC’s ‘predetermined’ cancer finding
Where high-stakes issues involve powerful beliefs, financial reward and opportunities for advancement, neither individuals nor agencies can be assumed to ...
Monsanto sues Arkansas Plant Board for restricting dicamba herbicide use
A major agribusiness company sued Arkansas regulators ... for banning its version of an herbicide that's drawn complaints from farmers across several ...
Big data meets CRISPR: ‘Cloud biology’ platform could speed up gene editing crop improvement
Benson Hill Biosystems, an agricultural technology company, reports the launch of Edit, which is powered by CropOS™, a computational platform ...
Bangladesh to provide incentives for farmers to grow more GMO Bt eggplant
The government plans to incentivise farmers to produce more genetically modified (GM) brinjal [eggplant].... [Eggplant, also known as brinjal and ...
Android intimacy: Drawing the line between science and human
Today, the technical ability to produce a robot that truly looks and moves and speaks like a human remains well ...
‘Supercharged’ GMO rice could increase yields 50 percent with improved photosynthesis
Researchers from Oxford University have taken an important step in a long-term project aimed at improving photosynthesis in rice. In ...
Time to stop treating men and women the same when it comes to drug treatments
Studies have shown that males and females metabolize drugs differently, suggesting we should be spending more time studying those differences ...
Talking Biotech: Uganda farmer-scientist on benefits of GMO disease resistant bananas
Kevin Folta in Uganda interviews scientists and farmers about bananas resistant to crop disease and the likelihood of commercialization ...
Activist case that glyphosate herbicide causes cancer mired in scandal
A perfectly useful herbicide could be banned in Europe thanks to a tangled network of lobbyists, lawyers and activists. … ...
Video: How gene editing could help Kenyan farmers combat crop disease
In Kenya, maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND) has plagued crops and affected yields to the point where food security has ...
First alien life forms we encounter could well be robots
[T]he first aliens we encounter are likely to be machines, and they’ll be almost unimaginably old. Susan Schneider of the ...
Could MRI brain scans prove you’re innocent?
Lie detection using a functional MRI machine, which measures and creates an image of brain activity, is a topic of ...
If you lose any of these 7 organs, you’ll probably be OK
The human body has dozens of organs, with some clearly more critical than others. But there are several you can ...
Growing cancer drugs in chicken eggs could lower costs by 90%
Researchers in Japan may have found a way to produce cheaper drugs that could be used to treat a range ...
Plant growth genes identified that could lead to increased crop yields
Scientists say the discovery of a group of hormones in plants could revolutionise food production by improving yields. The Universities ...
Food industry aims to win public trust of CRISPR gene-edited crops and animals
There’s a genetic technology that scientists are eager to apply to food, touting its possibilities for things like mushrooms that ...
Dow to sell new variety of GMO soy seeds in US despite no import approval from Europe, China
Dow AgroSciences will launch a genetically engineered soybean seed that has been barred by major importers under tight controls in ...
Genetically modified skin grafts could monitor glucose, end needle sticks for diabetes
Painful and inconvenient, needle sticks are part of daily life for many people with diabetes. Wouldn’t it be great if ...
