Science Controversies
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week – Oct. 23, 2017
Genetic engineering and gene silencing could fight deadly crop mycotoxins—if not blocked by activists | Andrew Porterfield When does life begin? Here ...
IARC bombshell: WHO cancer agency ‘edited out’ draft findings glyphosate non-carcinogenic
The World Health Organization's cancer agency dismissed and edited findings from a draft of its review of the weedkiller glyphosate ...
Should cancer be treated based on what part of the body it attacks—or its genetic make-up?
[D]octors have organized their notions of cancer according to that fundamental principle of real estate: location, location, location. Oncologists often ...
Bayer to allow public access to pesticide safety information
[Editor's note: Adrian Percy is the Global Head of Research and Development for Crop Science, a Division of Bayer.] After ...
Bipartisan group of 79 congressmen urge EPA, FDA to streamline agricultural biotech regulations
In a letter to three federal agency heads on Tuesday, a group of 79 bipartisan members of the United States ...
Why ChemChina’s Syngenta takeover doesn’t mean China will quickly embrace GMO crops
The head of one of China’s biggest chemicals companies has played down expectations the country will become more open to ...
Could artificial intelligence, machine learning help detect sepsis early?
Driven by the nation’s aging population, the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, and the growth of medical interventions, sepsis has become ...
When does life begin? Here are 17 points in time to consider
The US Department of Health and Human Services has taken the official position that life begins at conception. Here's a ...
Ethiopia’s successful GMO cotton field trials prompt move towards commercialization
As [indicated by reports released by] Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), [Ethiopia's] field trial towards Bt cotton has now ...
There’s ‘Big Ag’ and ‘Big Organic’—How much does ‘big’ matter when it comes to sustainability?
It's the way crops are farmed not the farm's size that matters when it comes to sustainability ...
Gene therapy that reboots body’s immune cells to fight non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma approved by FDA
The Food and Drug Administration on [October 19] approved the second in a radically new class of treatments that genetically reboot ...
Born to exercise? ‘Fitness’ genes may help lower breast cancer risk
A growing number of studies show that exercise offers protection against breast cancer. Research on mice suggests that some of ...
Viewpoint: Overly strict human gene-editing regulations let patients suffer and die
[Editor’s note: Henry Miller is a physician and molecular biologist, and a Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He ...
Monsanto, DowDuPont execs discuss transformative impact of gene-editing and data science on farming
To find out more about the potential of [new gene-editing and data science technologies], The Wall Street Journal’s Dennis Berman ...
‘GMO’ petunias: Ridiculousness exposed and explained
Italian researcher offers satirical look at the story of the GMO petunias that were ordered destroyed. How would you explain ...
One-fourth of cow genome descendant from snakes and lizards, study shows
There are genes known as retrotransposons that can copy themselves and paste the duplicates in other parts of our DNA, ...
Synthetic incompatibility: Preventing GMO mosquitos from spreading their genes
A major obstacle to applying genetic engineering to benefit humans and the environment is the risk that organisms whose genes ...
Nigeria to commercialize GMO cowpeas and cotton by 2018
The National Agriculture Seed Council (NASC) has commenced sensitisation of Nigerian seed companies in preparation for the commercialisation of Genetically ...
Will EPA’s new restrictions on dicamba herbicide quell drift problems?
On the back of drift complaints, the filing of class-action lawsuits and, most recently, new EPA requirements for dicamba-tolerant crops, Monsanto continues to ...
John Deere acquires precision ag technology that could reduce pesticide use by 90 percent
Tractor giant John Deere just spent $305 million to acquire a startup that makes robots capable of identifying unwanted plants, ...
We’re a long way from Blade Runner-like organic androids
[Editor's note: Fumiya Iida is a lecturer in mechatronics at the University of Cambridge.] The new Blade Runner sequel will return ...
Genetic engineering and gene silencing could fight deadly crop mycotoxins—if not blocked by activists
Aflatoxins are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses annually. Farmers have struggled to control the troublesome ...
Rothamsted Research calls for more GMO trials or global food security will suffer
Genetic modification of plants will be essential to avert future food shortages, conclude a group of agricultural scientists who have ...
African scientists push governments to embrace GMOs to address fall armyworm crop losses
Over 17 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda have reached emergency food insecurity ...
Insects can build resistance to Bt crops in as little as five years, study shows
While organic farmers have used Bt proteins in sprays successfully for more than half a century, some scientists feared that ...
GMO hornless cow awaits approval amid FDA policy changes
[In 2016], Recombinetics, the 35-person company [geneticist Scott Fahrenkrug] founded in 2008 with three other geneticists from the University of ...
French grain farmers’ union opposes glyphosate ban, calling herbicide ‘essential’
With France set to vote against EU glyphosate re-registration this month, a group of French farmers have said they will ...
