Studies linking genetically modified crops with adverse effects on the environment or animal health are based on “contested science”, according to a report by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), which was supported by Anne Glover, the EU’s chief scientific advisor. The report
Recently, 300 people occupied the meeting of the Brazil National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio) in Brasilia, which was convening to discuss the release of three new varieties of transgenic plants in Brazil including a request by FuturaGene to legalize their genetically engineered eucalyptus trees.
Now, this isn’t an attempt to claim every conspiracy is simply illusion. Individuals conspire all the time in private, economic, and political settings to maximize personal profit, and both big tobacco and big oil have conspired to discredit science and skew public perception about
My text about why GMOs are not your enemy gets a LOT of flack. Despite the fact that Exxonmobil makes literally over 10 times more money than Monsanto (or Syngenta, or Novartis), it is unable to sway the scientific consensus that the world is
You have probably heard that we have 93% fewer food crops available today than 100 yeas ago. That a great portion of our food diversity has gone extinct and disappeared. It seems logical when you look at the infographic above based on a 1983 survey of
Yesterday, November 4th, midterm elections were held throughout the United States. The overarching message is that the republican party has gained political dominance: gaining control of both Congressional houses for the first time since 2006. The state level results on ballot questions is more interesting though:
You’d think that in the age of the internet and science, people would not make totally unfounded claims about nutrition. Unfortunately, sites like NaturalNews and others pump out a continual stream of disinformation, completely unsupported by science. Now science is not perfect, but examining the
The modification of plants using selective breeding, phytohormones which change how cells react or perceive themselves and their environment, for instance allowing an older plant to bloom or grow new roots, and even genomic editing are nothing new to the world of agriculture. The
Discussions about genetic engineering tend to focus around pesticide resistance and Monsanto. Much like with electricity, genetic modification is simply an enabling technology: its ethical repercussions are dependent on what is being done and how. With the emergence of Australian genetically modified bananas, which
Organic farms, although not necessarily always quite as health-friendly as advertised, harbor approximately 34% more diversity of species than conventional farming, according to a recent study by Oxford University. They are actually even more important than that: according to the U.N (report here, summary
