Science Controversies
Proteins could keep gut cells alive after chemotherapy or radiation attack
A protein that keeps gut cells alive could be key to surviving acute radiation syndrome. Tests in mice of a ...
Proposed biotech reactor would produce enough fake meat to feed small town
The movement to sell locally sourced, artisanal food and drink has picked up steam in recent years as many consumers ...
Sequencing cancer genomes, rather than testing specific genes is future of treatment
In the march toward personalized medicine, genotyping cancers has become more and more complex. Panels that pick up variations in ...
Synthetic bio breakthrough: Flies that make new amino acids
The genetic code of the fruit fly Drosophila has been hacked into, allowing it to make proteins with properties that ...
Sharks’ immune system proteins may help treat and diagnose cancer
Sharks and humans last shared a common fishy ancestor about 500 million years ago. Ever since, the two lineages have ...
GM key to battle growing impact of climate change on farming
Climate change is turning farm fields brown in the Midwest and around the world just as global demand for food ...
Critics challenge South Australian Agriculture Minister’s anti-GMO stance
Critics have challenged South Australian Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell to “put up or shut up” on the science and safety ...
GM alfalfa’s release in Canada delayed as farmers reject it
A GM version of alfalfa, a staple in livestock feed, was supposed to be launched in Canada this year. The ...
Are GMOs the left-wing’s climategate?
When Vermont became the first state last week to require labeling genetically modified foods, it was hardly alone. Maine and Connecticut have already passed ...
How insects evolve resistance to GMO Bt cotton
An international team has discovered what happens on a molecular basis to insects that evolved resistance to genetically modified cotton ...
Consumers prefer GMO sweet corn, grown without insecticides, to conventional corn in independent trial
In a farm-to-fork trial conducted jointly by the University of Guelph and Birkbank Farms in Canada, genetically engineered (GE) Bt ...
Genes matter: People marry mates with similar DNA but different immune systems
DNA research suggests that the adage that opposites attract is off base when it comes to marriage. Humans pick spouses ...
Oregon counties vote on measures to ban GMO farming to guard organic farmers from ‘contamination’
In Oregon's May 20 primary election, the spotlight is on Jackson and Josephine counties with residents voting on measures that ...
Should consumers be concerned about the healthfulness of the non-browning GMO Arctic Apple?
Non-browning apples are likely to be the next genetically modified food approved for sale--which has some people jittery. What's the ...
National Geographic ignoring crop biotechnology in ‘Future of Food’ series
Although it’s headquartered in the United States, National Geographic is a global publication. For more than 25 years, I’ve read it here ...
Farmers stage protest against GMOs in Ghana
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) staged a demonstration in Tamale to express their disapproval with the introduction of ...
GMO labeling push unsuccessful in GMO-producing Midwest
Calls to label genetically modified food have rumbled loudly through the East and West Coast states but have produced only ...
GMO labels: When having more information can be bad
There are a variety of contexts where the government mandates the kind of information that companies must put on their ...
Video: Non-browning GMO Arctic Apple maker defends its safety and nutrition while some Canadian retailers reject it
Federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada are expected to soon give approval to the non-browning Arctic apple, but a group ...
Fourth-generation Australian farmer: GM, chemicals and organic methods needed for sustained food security
Skepti-Forum has begun featuring essays by readers on the GMO controversy. We’re going to be featuring some of them on the GLP ...
Bacteria in isolation mutate more
Bacteria that have no friends don’t get sad; they get weird. When E. coli cells sense fewer other bacteria around ...
“Foreign” genes naturally jump between species, clouding anti-GMO criticism
In the paste of Roquefort and on the surface of Camembert, the microscopic filamentous fungi Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium camembertii ...
Japan’s STAP stem cell controversy deepens as accusations of misconduct focus on investigating panel
Members of the RIKEN institute committee that found Haruko Obokata -- of STAP stem cell infamy -- guilty of misconduct ...
University report blames Greenpeace, radical environmentalists for blocking GM Golden Rice, costing millions of lives
A University of California report has exposed the injustice that prohibits a genetically engineered additive to rice. Without it the ...
Former US Secretary of Agriculture Glickman criticizes organic industry for misleading marketing
A blockbuster report by the scientific-integrity watchdog Academics Review examines the last 25 years of academic and organic industry market ...
Dispute erupts over report Chinese military may ban GM food to ‘protect soldiers’ health’
Genetically modified (GM) grain has been banned for security reasons from consumption by military personnel in the city of Xiangyang, ...
Consumer Union’s Michael Hansen accused of misleading legislators on GMO safety
The ideologically driven, anti-technology campaign to restrict access to safe, sustainable and affordable foods improved through biotechnology got a boost ...
