Talking Biotech
Podcast: Trash transformation — Here’s how researchers are turning plastic waste into vanilla flavoring
We have two major problems. Vanilla is mostly produced in a narrow set of unstable economies and the supply chains ...
Podcast: Pig and cow organs for human transplant? From valves to tendons, xenotransplanted animal parts are common, but so is rejection due to alpha gal meat allergies. Gene-altered pigs could change that
[A recent] episode covered Alpha Gal Syndrome, the tick-induced allergy to beef and pork. The same immunological response could also ...
Podcast: Vaccines take years to develop? This one took 43 days
Most experts agree that the COVID19 pandemic will not end until a vaccine is available. But traditionally, vaccines take a decade ...
Talking Biotech: The story of a vitamin-infused sweet potato that helped cut Africa’s infant mortality 25 percent
The 2016 World Food Prize went to a group that coordinated the breeding, promotion and distribution of the orange-fleshed sweet ...
Talking Biotech: Mexico’s complicated relationship with GMO corn
Mexico is the center of origin for maize, and there is a substantial interest in protecting the genetic integrity of ...
Talking Biotech: The genetic factors that makes sweet corn sweet
Geneticist Curt Hannah: Sweet corn was specifically discovered and selected because of its sweetness. But how does a kernel of ...
Talking Biotech: How USAID uses GMO crops to improve food security around the world
USAID science advisor Angela Records: Disease-resistant GMO cassava, bananas show promise in improving food security in developing countries ...
Talking Biotech: ‘Farm Babe’ Michelle Miller takes on critics of GMOs, modern farming
Writer Michelle Miller: The 'Food Babe' is critical of those who marginalize farmers and farming, and a powerful voice for ...
Talking Biotech: Can Oxitec’s genetically engineered insects combat fall armyworm crop damage and famine in Africa?
Oxitec's Simon Warner: Engineered male fall armyworms contain a gene that prevents female offspring from reaching adulthood, reducing wild pest ...
Talking Biotech: Know Ideas Media gives scientists platform to discuss future of food and farming
Canadian filmmaker Nick Saik is taking the 100+ hours of footage he recorded for his Know GMO documentary and turning ...
Talking Biotech: 91-year-old geneticist Maxine Thompson aims to expand fruit diversity with new berry breeds
Oregon State fruit breeder Maxine Thompson: A trailblazer in plant science, now retired from academia, she continues to work on ...
Talking Biotech: Bayer geneticist Ray Shillito on communicating with the public about agricultural biotechnology, and more
Bayer plant scientist Ray Shillito: Educating the next generation of scientists about how to communicate with the public will help ...
Talking Biotech’s best biotechnology science stories from 2017—and what to expect in 2018
Talking Biotech hosts Kevin Folta and Paul Vincelli talk about their favorite stories from 2017, and what to look for ...
Talking Biotech: How genetic engineering can reduce cancer-causing contaminants in peanuts
Plant pathologist Dilip Shah: GMO peanuts could help eliminate a potent threat to human health in the developing world ...
Talking Biotech: Science Moms documentary explores how parents can navigate GMO and food disinformation on the web
Filmmaker Natalie Newell: Despite the film being funded entirely by an online crowdfunding campaign, the Science Moms have been attacked ...
Talking Biotech: Soil-worm resistant GMO crops in Africa hindered by politics, public fears
IITA scientists: GMOs could help fend off nematode crop pests in Africa, but educating policymakers and public about the benefits ...
Talking Biotech: TALEN gene editing to make more nutritious food crops
Calyxt's Dan Voytas: Using TALEN gene editing to create soybeans with healthier oil, high fiber wheat and canola with lower ...
Talking Biotech: Former anti-GMO activist Mark Lynas on how resistance to crop biotechnology hurts small African farms
Mark Lynas, Cornell Alliance for Science: "Moral injustice" of NGOs preventing Africans from adopting GMO crops driven by "green ideology" ...
Talking Biotech: Uganda farmer-scientist on benefits of GMO disease resistant bananas
Kevin Folta in Uganda interviews scientists and farmers about bananas resistant to crop disease and the likelihood of commercialization ...
Talking Biotech: How Africa can move beyond subsistence farming
World Food Program's Bret Rierson: Inexpensive storage options could dramatically help developing world farmers manage, store and sell surplus crops, ...
Talking Biotech: Is genetic engineering the best way to resuscitate the American chestnut from blight?
Plant biologist Jared Westbrook: 4 billion American chestnut trees have died because of blight in the 20th century. Now, there ...
Talking Biotech: Kevin Folta on fruit breeding—and being the target of anti-GMO activists
University of Florida's Kevin Folta on fruit breeding and defending modern agriculture--and himself--against anti-technology activists ...
Viewpoint: Activists push glyphosate cancer scare as proxy to limit use of genetically engineered crops
Monsanto pediatrician and toxicologist Dan Goldstein: As the glyphosate-cancer debate has grown louder, it's become less scientific ...
Podcast: How agriculture spurred the domestication of wild cats
Geneticist Eva-Maria Geigl: Early grain farms attracted rodents—and wild cats that were social enough to hunt them near human settlements ...
Podcast: Global ag biotech snapshot: Is GMO adoption on the decline?
UK researcher Graham Brooke on the rising economic and regulatory costs of crop biortechnology--Is it worth it? ...
Podcast: Can the US learn from Canada’s ‘product-based’ GMO regulatory system?
Biotech legal expert Robert Potter: How GMOs are regulated differently in the US and Canada ...
Talking Biotech: Domesticating wild plants to seed new crops and foods
Brazilian plant physiologist Lazaro Peres: Using genetic technology to identify desirable traits in wild plants and create new crops ...