Top 6
COVID and immunity: How long will it last if you get a vaccine or were infected?
The COVID vaccines are working. Data from Israel and Scotland shows that they are protecting people and may also be decreasing ...
Ideological rigidity is hampering efforts to leverage the regenerative agriculture ‘revolution’. Here are two paths forward
Does regenerative agriculture require a completely new economics of farming to achieve scale? Or should the focus be on the ...
‘In nature, everything is connected’: Can synthetic biology reverse the decline in our depleted marine ecosystem?
Our blue planet runs on ocean ecosystems that are currently in steep decline. In the last 50 years, the amount ...
The central challenge for regenerative agriculture advocates: Not undermining the movement by ‘overselling’ its limited and targeted advantages
The term regenerative farming first popped up in the mainstream media in a 1987 New York Times article about what ...
Regenerative agriculture: The movement dedicated to unseating intensive, ‘industrial farming’ by claiming it has comprehensive sustainability advantages
For the last century, each generation has produced an alternative approach to farming that is aimed at a central challenge ...
Vaccine equity: This is what the US is doing to ensure widespread global access to COVID-19 vaccines
The U.S. is expected to soon have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses on hand to fully vaccinate just about everyone in ...
Viewpoint: Livestock—an underrated solution to climate change
Climate change is real and in many instances, agriculture’s livestock is often tagged as being a leading emitter, but what if ...
Viewpoint: ‘Dump Dimorphism’ — Challenging orthodoxy, neuroscientists claim 30 years of studies show ‘no meaningful male-female brain differences’
Everyone knows the difference between male and female brains. One is chatty and a little nervous, but never forgets and takes ...
Is there a difference between a gene-edited organism and a ‘GMO’? The question has important implications for regulation
The controversy over genetically engineered organisms (sometimes called “genetically modified organisms,” or “GMOs”) is genuine, not faux — but only ...
From lab bench to dinner table — How do you create cell-based prime rib eye?
In March of 2021, researchers at the University of Tokyo announced that they had successfully grown steak in a lab ...
Viewpoint: Vaccine resistance is a growing concern. So far, the US is bungling its response
Research shows that vaccine skepticism appeals to people who already distrust authority. Solutions proposed during the COVID-19 pandemic may be ...
Good and bad news: What we know about vaccines and containing COVID variants
Glimmers of hope are beginning to shine through the gloom of the past year. That was evident in a recent ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming offers some sustainability benefits, but ‘fear-driven marketing campaigns’ exaggerate advantages and demonize acceptable alternatives
When the “Risk-Monger’s Dirty Dozen” list of pesticides used in organic farming was published, I had broken a taboo. Before ...
The Green Revolution was built on manipulating genes to breed higher-yielding, disease resistant crops. Here’s an ode to one of its pioneers, Sanjaya Rajaram
Few people are aware of the heroes behind the surge in yields of wheat and other crops that began in ...
Viewpoint: COVID lockdown denialists are immune to the hard realities of a relentless virus
I am no lockdown junkie. I’d like to get that straight before I explain why the most extreme variant of ...
The age of genetically-enhanced children is approaching. Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro imagines a have-and-have not future, and it’s not pleasant
Biotech interventions to help sick children—like gene therapy—are approached with supreme caution. If a treatment has a reasonable chance of ...
Viewpoint: Advocacy disguised as journalism? Meet Carey Gillam, the prolific purveyor of crop biotechnology and agri-chemical disinformation
When it comes to science, how much do media narratives influence public opinion and policy? The answer is, a lot ...
‘The One’ on Netflix claims to find your soulmate based on your DNA. What’s the reality?
The Netflix drama The One centres around a geneticist who invents a new matchmaking service. It uses DNA to help people ...
Debating the possible origins of COVID-19: A lab-escaped bioweapon? Animal poop? Random mutations of an existing virus?
“Virus outbreak: research says COVID-19 likely synthetic,” shouted the headline in the Taipei Times on February 23, 2020. The idea ...
Organic farming has a sustainability problem — and now the EU is in a dilemma of their own making
European Union (EU) agricultural scientists are in a bit of a pickle. I’m not sure to what extent it is ...
Sierra Club endorsement of disease-resistant chestnut tree divides the anti-GMO movement
Across the eastern seaboard, the majestic American Chestnut tree once dominated forests. A main source of timber for cabins, shipbuilding, and ...
Viewpoint: ‘The Dirty 8’ — Which are the most notorious advocacy groups spreading disinformation about food, farming, biotechnology and agricultural sustainability
When it comes to food safety, there's no shortage of well-funded advocacy groups stirring up public concern. Under the guise ...
Natural GMOs: Plants and animals ‘steal genes’ from other species during process of evolution, mimicking transgenics
Little did biologist Gregor Mendel know that his experiments with sweet peas in a monastery garden in Brno, Czech Republic, would ...
Viewpoint: 6 debunked anti-GMO talking points activists should abandon for good
The public still accepts some blatant untruths about biotechnology, food safety, and sustainability ...
Rural, Republican America deeply skeptical about the reality of COVID and the importance of vaccines. Here’s why
At 70, Linda Findley has long been active in her small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, which sits more than ...
Viewpoint — ‘Selective skepticism’ and media hypocrisy: Why are liberal news sites vigilant in challenging COVID misinformation but give anti-biotechnology and chemical scare-mongers a free pass?
In recent months, the mainstream press has been on a crusade against COVID vaccine skepticism, tenaciously promoting science-based medicine and ...
Would you agree to be infected with COVID for science? Intentional ‘challenge’ studies underway as researchers explore new vaccines and treatments
Lauren Thomas, who just turned 26, is trying to get into a clinical trial at the University of Oxford, where ...
