Science Controversies
EU delays vote on whether to extend license for glyphosate herbicide
Health experts from European Union countries [were] expected to discuss whether or not to extend the license for herbicide glyphosate ...
Matrix phobia? Scientists put fears to rest—we are not living in computer simulation
Just in case it’s been weighing on your mind, you can relax now. A team of theoretical physicists from Oxford ...
Is ‘dark DNA’ lurking as ‘missing’ mystery force in animal evolution?
In some animals, stretches of essential DNA seem to be missing. However, this "dark DNA" is not really missing, it's ...
Viewpoint: Postmodern movement targets science ‘because truth isn’t always convenient’
[Editor's note: Heather Heying is an evolutionary biologist at Evergreen State College. She and her husband, Bret Weinstein, were targeted ...
Are ‘free-from’ (gluten, GMO) food labels informative—or misleading?
What could be conceptually simpler than labeling a food product? You tell the customers what’s in the product, or maybe ...
Guided evolution of wheat and other grains could feed growing population
Can we breed wheat and other cereal grains with the ability to fertilize themselves? Researchers report promising results that could ...
Once and for all, Ashkenazi Jews have limited Euro-Asian Khazarian heritage
Since the late 19th century, the so-called “Khazarian theory” has promoted the idea that a bulk of Ashkenazic Jews living ...
Brazil regulator says Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto could be ‘detrimental to competition’
A unit of Brazil’s competition regulator Cade said the $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co. by German life sciences firm ...
Synthetic bionics: E. coli pills could boost body’s ability to absorb ammonia in the gut
Synlogic of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company behind the unusual study, is testing what it calls “synthetic biotics,” or bacteria engineered ...
Collapsing bubbles may have given rise to life
The origin of life is a profound mystery. Once life arose, natural selection and evolution took over, but the question ...
GMO soybean oil causes less obesity in mice than conventional oil
Long-term tests in mice indicate that a genetically modified (GM) brand of soybean oil causes less obesity and insulin resistance ...
Scientists urge US Interior Department to lift ban on GMO seeds
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), one of the world’s top science and technology think tanks, along with a ...
GMO seeds could be critical for extended space travel, colonization
If we hope to colonize space, scientists must figure out how to feed astronauts on journeys that could last years ...
Male fertility likely declining, but we haven’t figured out why
Studies tell us that difficult-to-measure male fertility has dipped in recent decades. But with many unknowns, we need to resist ...
India should allow GMOs to boost lagging soybean yields, US says
“For India to increase production, it should allow the use of innovative technologies, including GMOs,” said Scott Sindelar [the agriculture ...
Plant scientist: ‘Needless and expensive’ GMO crop regulations hurt less-developed countries
[Editor’s note: Graham Scoles is a plant science professor at the University of Saskatchewan.] About 30 years ago, Canada and other ...
Russia trying to reduce dependence on imported seeds—without GMOs
Many growers use specialized seeds designed to resist pests, disease and drought, but more than half for some crops come ...
GMO algae—environmentally-friendly alternative to palm oil—runs into resistance
When green cleaning company Ecover announced the launch of a new laundry liquid containing an oil made from algae, as ...
Why Indian farmers are buying unapproved herbicide-resistant GMO cotton seeds
If market and industry estimates are true, Indian farmers have, in the current kharif season, bought and planted about [350,000] ...
Beyond designer babies: What’s the future of ‘bio-modifications’?
Vanderbilt University professor Michael Bess's presentation, “Our Grandchildren Redesigned,” was presented at the Dawn or Doom conference on [September 27]. Bess ...
Viewpoint: Conventional farmers take better care of soil health than media portrays
[Editor’s Note: Amanda Zaluckyj is a practicing attorney and farmer's daughter who shares her family's story at The Farmer's Daughter ...
Many consumers mistakenly believe organic and non-GMO labels are interchangeable
[Editor’s Note: Jayson Lusk is a food and agricultural economist and head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University.] ...
Calls to ban glyphosate, neonics highlight need to ‘protect science’, say French corn farmers
At a meeting hosted on Wednesday [27 September] by CEPM, the maize lobby in Europe, maize farmers stressed the need ...
Lava tube cities could be key to colonization of Moon and Mars
[R]esearchers at the European Planetary Science Congress, an annual meeting of that serves as a “dissemination platform” for new space studies, ...
Treating aggressive brain cancer with poliovirus
The idea of using a modified poliovirus as a treatment for glioblastoma brain cancer isn't new. But recent research shows ...
After settling with farmers, Syngenta turns attention to Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland GMO corn lawsuits
Syngenta AG moved closer to putting a troubled biotech corn seed launch behind it with a $1.5 billion settlement with ...
European Commission works to garner support for glyphosate herbicide re-authorization
The European Commission is exploring ways to bridge the gap between different member state requests regarding the re-authorization of the ...
