science communication
Neophobia: The psychological barrier that inspires knee-jerk rejection of GMOs and other food technology
Psychologist Michael Siegrist and nutrition scientist Christina Hartmann have compiled research on the psychological and societal factors that influence consumer ...
Trust in scientists high globally, Pew survey finds, but public still skeptical of GM crops
The good news is that there’s widespread trust in scientists and a strong desire to act on their findings on ...
Podcast: Monsanto v Percy Schmeiser; Experts spread misinformation, too; Fasting a fad diet?
Just-released courtroom drama 'Percy' tells the David vs. Goliath story of a Canadian farmer's battle against Monsanto. Did the film ...
Viewpoint: ‘GMOs change your DNA’ and 7 other anti-biotech myths debunked
There are quite a bit of misconceptions and myths surrounding that term and what GMOs actually are. But it’s important ...
Viewpoint: Modern-day Luddites: How precautionary activism and reporting paint a misleading picture of biotechnology
We live in a precautionary era in which technological breakthroughs poised to dominate the coming decades—from artificial intelligence and nanotechnology ...
Scientists should consider public’s values when discussing GMOs, communication experts say
Scientists' inability to effectively engage with the public has partly contributed to public misunderstanding of gene technologies. This is according ...
Podcast: Arguing with vaccine skeptics works; Ban GMO labels? Agroecology keeps Africa poor
Contrary to popular belief, arguing with anti-science activists on social media helps combat the spread of misinformation. Organic food groups ...
Infographic: GMO tomatoes? There’s no such thing. Here are the only biotech crops grown in the US
Are you paying more for “non-GMO pasta?” Then you’re not using your noodle. What are the facts? There are only ...
Human bias against new ideas amplifies safety concerns about GMOs, study confirms
Recency bias states that more recent memories come to mind more quickly. But specific ideas and objects that have “stood ...
Podcast: Retracted hydroxychloroquine-COVID studies backlash; Obesity cancer drugs? ‘Unbiased’ Guardian takes animal rights money
Two major studies which found that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine doesn't treat COVID-19 have been retracted. What does that mean ...
This journalist once ‘detested’ GMOs. Here’s what changed her mind
I can actually relate to people being averse to agricultural biotechnology on the premise that it is not natural and ...
Podcast: Why scientists have an obligation to teach the public about GMOs
Dr. Maha Arujanan is the global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and also ...
Viewpoint: How ‘fraudulent, poorly designed, and biased’ studies sow doubt about GMO, gene-edited crops
Research in crop science in recent years has advanced at an unprecedented rate, and the intermingling of old and new ...
Viewpoint: Crop biotech advocates should stop pushing organic industry to embrace gene editing
Farming is not nature; we learn from nature and use that knowledge to produce the goods that we need. Farmers ...
Viewpoint: How the rural-urban divide helps ‘anti-farming groups’ spread myths about agriculture
Farmers are arguably the best environmental stewards we have in our economy .... With livestock, it makes little sense to ...
Despite biotech expert protest, anti-GMO activist Vandana Shiva gives unopposed Stanford speech condemning ‘industrial agriculture’
Environmental activist Vandana Shiva delivered her talk “Soil not Oil: Biodiversity-Based Agriculture to Address the Climate Crisis” on [Jan. 23] ...
Biotech industry aims to avoid backlash from GMO-wary consumers as CRISPR-edited crops near mass commercialization
The biotechnology industry wants to avoid repeating mistakes with gene editing that it made nearly three decades ago with transgenic ...
Want consumers to embrace CRISPR? Don’t call it a gene-editing ‘revolution,’ explain its agricultural benefits
How can you talk to consumers about gene editing when most have little understanding of how plants are bred? The ...
Viewpoint: Confused about GMOs and pesticides? Here’s a science-based handbook for combating anti-biotech fallacies
The risk posed by junk science meant to skew our perception of food safety and biotechnology cannot be overstated ...
Public will accept CRISPR if they trust scientists who develop the technology, sociologist says
As a sociologist who studies food and agriculture, I’m frequently asked whether the public is going to accept gene-edited foods ...
‘Natural health’ and conspiracy sites exploit social media to fester opposition to GMO crops. Here’s a study about what can be done to stop it
The unsatisfactory answer to 'How do we control the spread of disinformation?" may be, "We don't know yet." ...
Crop gene editing needs proactive communication plan, scientist warns
Effective science communication is critical to ensure gene editing technology does not suffer from the perception problem now facing GMOs ...
Viewpoint: ‘Bombarding’ public with facts won’t end opposition to GMO crops
In a paper published early this year in Nature Human Behavior, scientists asked 500 Americans what they thought about foods ...
Viewpoint: Non-browning Arctic apple rollout offers ‘template’ for ending GMO debate
“Everybody thinks, 'GMOs … consumers are all against that,' ” Neal Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, was quoted on ...
Never swayed by science? Why arguing with anti-GMO activists could strengthen their skepticism
Genetic engineering is revolutionizing crop farming, bringing benefits to farmers, the environment and consumer health. Its opponents, however, are not ...
Will warming planet, population boom push skeptical consumers to embrace GMO, CRISPR crops?
As part of an agricultural charm offensive by the US government, a group of British journalists was invited into the ...
Viewpoint: How ‘insect Armageddon’ stories erode public trust in science
When I was growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, long before we spent our evenings drawn to the soft glow of ...
Consumer-focused CRISPR-edited crops may be key to building public trust in biotech
Gene editing has the potential to change agriculture, but only if consumers believe it’s a beneficial technology....The best way and ...
