Kathleen Hefferon
Avian flu virus detected in raw milk from infected dairy cows. Are we in danger of it spreading to our food supply?
It was three months ago when we wrote about the surge of the H5N1 bird flu strain that had by then already ...
Tales from the front lines in the ‘vaccine wars’: Review of Peter Hotez’s Book, ‘The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science’
“If I don’t write this or stand up for vaccines, then who will?” That is what motivates the activism of ...
Here’s how we can genetically modify soil microbiomes to reduce use of synthetic fertilizers and improve yields
There has been a great deal of buzz in recent years about the importance of the human microbiome; much of it ...
Viewpoint: As concerns about plastic pollution in the ocean mount, there is a yet untapped solution — genetically-engineered bacteria that “eat” plastic. Will activists and the government block it?
Spain’s northern coast has been fighting a months-long assault from a ‘white tide’ of plastic pellets dumped by a Dutch-registered ...
How the FDA decimated the entire biotech sector of genetically engineered animals — and what needs to be done to revive it
In part 1, we learned that avian flu is killing birds globally in record numbers, has crossed the species barrier ...
Regulatory death march: As the avian flu crosses the species barrier and targets animals and humans, a gene editing solution is in focus. Here’s why it’s unlikely US regulators will embrace the moment
Avian influenza is surging again, but with an even deadlier twist: the scourge that has led to hundreds of millions ...
Viewpoint: Anti-biotechnology, pro-organic dark money web — Tort lawyer-funded, Charles Benbrook-created Heartland Health Research Alliance co-opts academic and government institutions to subvert independent science
The Heartland Health Research Alliance (HHRA) an ideologically-focused research groups funded by ‘dark money’ support from the organic industry and ...
Viewpoint: Crop biotechnology and chemical pseudo-science exposed — Here’s how the ‘dark money’, tort-lawyer funded Heartland Study dupes journalists and co-ops universities
Until the 1990s, research was often low-budget, done in government agencies or industry funded. But as universities acquired expensive analytical ...
Viewpoint: Never heard of the Heartland Health Research Alliance? Here’s how the organic- and tort-lawyer funded sham research center generates disinformation about glyphosate and other farm chemicals
Where would science be if an influential institute today was established by tort lawyers to produce research solely for use ...
Viewpoint: As the BBC spews organic farming propaganda, the world’s poor suffer
How many people around the world are currently living in poverty? The World Bank reports that a little over 9%, ...
Reduce synthetic fertilizers and improve yields? The microbiome revolution comes to agriculture
If manipulated correctly, they can help us cure cancer, understand how we can adapt to rising temperatures, play a role ...
What are the prospects that we might soon face another coronavirus-like viral pandemic?
There are signs of a mid-summer surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly in the Midwest and West, that have some experts ...
Biopharming can help pioneer new treatments but cumbersome, outdated regulations block innovation
Obtaining medicines from plants is not new. Aspirin was first isolated from the bark of the willow tree in the ...
Not out of the woods on COVID threats: Animal reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 pose unknown risks to humans
The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most devastating events in public health in the U.S. over the last ...
Viewpoint: Switching to organic food because it’s healthier, safer and better for the environment? Think again
Many consumers are committed to organic products for reasons that are more emotional than logical. They frequently define their purchasing ...
Viewpoint: ‘Discrimination against new crops’: India speeds up approval process for gene-edited crops — but still disadvantages safe GMOs
The Indian government exempted crops with certain kinds of genetic modifications introduced by genome editing from cumbersome and time-consuming regulations previously imposed ...
Viewpoint: India’s ‘foreign DNA’ delusion — Why the country needs to modernize genetically modified crop regulations
India has a long and dubious record of regulating genetically altered crops for agriculture. While the nation began at the ...
Viewpoint: George Washington University School of Public Health and anti-pesticide economist Charles Benbrook caught in ethics breach
A recent public release from a graduate student at George Washington University claimed insights from old data answers new questions in newly published research. These ...
What are acetogens? And how could synthetic biology turn oil, coal and other fossil fuels into green, carbon-negative chemicals?
When most people hear about oil, as in petroleum, they think of what gets refined to produce gasoline. But it’s ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming best addresses climate change? Why the popular consensus is wrong—and why GE crops should be agriculture’s future
Popular wisdom is often wrong. Consider, for example, how it views organic agriculture, which has grown to a $48 billion a ...
Viewpoint: Essential to feeding the world, synthetic fertilizers have negative environmental impacts. Here’s how genetic engineering can change that
Much of the world is preoccupied with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but there are other global challenges, including climate change, ...
Viewpoint: Canada poised to join expanding number of countries endorsing crop gene editing. That’s encouraging — but global reform remains elusive
Gene editing, which allows precise edits to the genome, has been widely used for a variety of applications in laboratories ...
Viewpoint: Climate change-fighting agricultural tools are delivering enormous benefits — but anti-biotechnology activists continue to vilify them
Following the recent COP26 séance in Glasgow, climate change issues remain prominent for governments and the public. Agricultural practices have ...
How did Sri Lanka’s organic-only debacle begin? Simple — ‘uninformed, flawed decisions based on wishful thinking’
All of us have had the experience of learning things, as the saying goes, “the hard way.” That phenomenon has ...
Viewpoint: After years of misreporting, NY Times embraces safety and efficacy of GMOs — but still stumbles on nuance and key facts
Genetically engineered (GE) crops, which have been commercially available for 25 years, have been widely misunderstood and under-appreciated, especially by ...
AquaBounty saga: The troubling story of why it took 25 years and $100 million to bring a fast-growing, sustainable genetically-engineered fish to market
The first U.S. sales of the AquAdvantage salmon, a faster‐ growing, genetically engineered fish, have finally begun. The farmed fish ...
Viewpoint: Farm-to-Fork plan suggests Europe wants sustainable farming. So why do EU politicians ignore the ‘green’ benefits of GM crops?
There is ongoing disagreement between the popularly elected European Parliament and the executives in the European Commission over approvals of ...
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 ...
