Genetic Literacy Project
GLP podcast/video: ‘Industrial’ seed oils unhealthy? A mom’s guide to anti-GMO myths; Opposites actually don’t attract
Are so-called "industrial" seed oils slowly killing us? Probably not. One mom and farmer says other parents shouldn't be scared ...
Treating mental health disorders: Is CRISPR a long-hoped-for silver bullet?
“I was born with the murder gene.” That’s the chilling statement in a true-life story featured in Esquire years ago ...
Multiple evolutions? Does all life on Earth descend from the primordial soup or have different insects, plants and animals evolved separately but concurrently?
Did life evolve more than once? The origin of life is a central question in modern biology, and probably the ...
Video: Are synthetic pesticides harmful to the environment and human health? Here’s a nuanced review of the science
Starting with the premise that any substance can be poisonous depending on the dose, Josh Gilder, founding partner of Reach ...
GMWatch: Anti-biotech ‘news hub’ goal is to ‘remove all GMO crops and food’
Anti-biotech site seeks to counter what it sees as propaganda by the GMO industry and its supporters in mainstream media ...
‘Museum of Agriculture’? Could that be the fate of European farming if Greenpeace and other environmental activists succeed in blocking deregulation of crop gene editing?
The war between science and anti-crop biotechnology advocacy groups has escalated since the summer release of the European Commission Report ...
‘Unlocking creative potential’: Why the first 10 minutes of sleep are so important
There is a stage of sleep where we still have a toe in the waking world — remaining able to ...
GLP podcast: Lab-grown meat bad for the planet? California’s backwards pesticide rules; Presidential debates should focus on farm policy
Recent research shows that lab-grown meat may not live up to its environmental hype, requiring far more energy than its ...
Viewpoint: Many web-surfing gardeners are concerned about the scary claims they read online about the herbicide glyphosate. An independent university weed scientist addresses the controversy
I did a class for the Cypress Landing community a few weeks back and one of the questions was about ...
Could a cup of yogurt replace a colonoscopy? Engineered bacteria can detect and deliver treatment for some pre-cancerous colorectal polyps
A cup of yogurt — containing engineered bacteria that can detect and deliver a treatment for colorectal polyps or cancer ...
The Transcendent Brain: How spirituality and science can work together to explain the human experience
We may have mystical moments science can’t explain, but Alan Lightman still believes in a universe ruled by natural law ...
Four ways to strip carbon out of agriculture and limit farming’s climate impacts
Carbon is a “hot topic” in an age of Climate Change (pun intended). That is playing out in unique ways ...
Charles Benbrook: Agricultural economist and consultant for the organic industry and anti-biotechnology advocacy groups
Independent scientists rip Benbrook's co-authored commentary in New England Journal calling for reassessment of dangers of all GMO crops and ...
Viewpoint: Land sharing vs land sparing — The UK needs to reevaluate farmland use in order to reach climate and biodiversity goals
It is 12 months since I highlighted the scientific evidence pointing to the urgent need to take forward a land sparing ...
GLP podcast/video: Nutrition myths, debunked; Could ChatGPT spread vaccine misinfo? Treating mental illness with CRISPR might be a bad idea
The public accepts a lot of myths about nutrition. Let's examine 10 of the most common, but scientifically dubious ideas ...
With COVID cases rising, grand-standing legislators propose criminalizing mRNA vaccines or banning mask-wearing
It is not uncommon for legislators to introduce bills that they know won’t pass but that have symbolic value of ...
Insects are disappearing from UK farms. Why, and what can be done?
Insect populations are declining worldwide at a rate of almost 1% per year. This decline is alarming. Insects play a ...
Sweetness and bitterness: The evolutionary story of how our sense of taste evolved
The sweetness of sugar is one of life’s great pleasures. People’s love for sweet is so visceral, food companies lure ...
Greenwashing or greening agriculture? Food companies developing efforts to prevent carbon in soil from leaking into the atmosphere
Jason Johnson, Stonyfield Organic’s farmer relationship manager, fires up the AgriCORE soil sampling tool in a pasture with sweeping views ...
Genetic doppelgängers? Identical twins separated apart can be very much alike or very different. Here’s why
What do the lives of twins tell us about heritability, selfhood and the age-old debate between nature and nurture? ...
‘The single most notorious killer of humans’: What are the true origins of the 14th century Black Plague?
It’s rare that compelling clues converge to illuminate a longstanding medical mystery: the origin of the Black Death, a bubonic ...
Pesticides and Food: It’s not a black or white issue — How do organic pesticides compare to synthetic pesticides?
Many consumers choose to buy higher-priced organic produce because they believe organic foods are not grown using pesticides and therefore ...
Viewpoint: Outdated organic technology? By rejecting gene editing, growers left with more disease-prone, pest-infested crops
East Yorks mixed farmer Paul Temple suggests that in closing its mind to new genetic technologies, the organic sector may ...
GLP podcast and video: Hawaii’s wildfires explained; Why more young people are getting cancer; Aspartame hysteria could boost sugar intake
Invasive grasses are the key to unraveling the cause of Hawaii's devastating wildfires, according to a local expert examining the ...
Mask up again? As COVID cases rise, look to science and not pundits
I can’t believe we’re having this discussion in September 2023, just as the fall respiratory virus season commences, but the ...
Social justice environmental activists move to block gene editing to control invasive species and promote biodiversity. Here’s why they’re misguided
Hawaii has emerged as ground zero for efforts to raise the awareness of the dangers of invasive species. Just last ...
Science vs spirituality: The case of the severed head
There’s a ghastly severed head in St Robert’s Roman Catholic church, just down the road from me in Catforth, northern ...
Viewpoint: ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ — How AI is already skewing news coverage of complicated science issues like the safety of glyphosate
Here's a great example of how bad reporting and the war on glyphosate play hand-in-hand. I don't know anything about ...
