Genetics & Molecular Biology

How Bt Corn And Roundup Ready Soy Work- And Why They Should Not Scare You

Last week I wrote about the  anti-science campaign  being waged by opponents of the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture. In that post, I promised to address a series of questions/fears about GMOs that seem to underly peoples’ objections to ...

Article - Michael Eisen - Jun 27 2012 - 9:58pm

GMOs May Save Us From Climate Change

While the world actually grows enough food to feed all its inhabitants, it isn't equally distributed.  Nearly 500 million people in the developing world remain undernourished and, if projections hold true, that number could to 20% within a decade  due ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 27 2012 - 4:30am

Genetic Discovery Could Make More Tomatoes Taste Like Heirlooms

Genetic modification of food has happened for thousands of year.  Tomatoes would still be the size of your thumb without genetic modification. A 2012 study may mean tomatoes of the future could get that much better. They're big business, on the order ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 28 2012 - 12:00pm

The Frankenfood Paradox

On Sunday there was considerable confusion about the alleged "GMO" grass that killed cattle.  Turns out it was not GMO grass at all, but a hybrid.  I received many inquiries about the difference between a GMO and a hybrid, as the latter sounded t ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Jun 28 2012 - 9:21am

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Skin Becomes Brain Cells

Researchers have created "Huntington's Disease in a dish" by  generating stem cells from skin cells obtained from a person with a severe, early-onset form of Huntington's disease  and turned them into neurons that degenerate just like t ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 1 2012 - 1:09pm

Atomic Gardening- The Ultimate Frankenfoods

If you are not a fan of transgenic (GMO) technologies, just wait until you hear about the freakish practices scientists and big seed companies are sneaking under the radar!  Now, scientists soak seeds or tissues in toxic chemicals or subject them to high ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Jul 7 2012 - 10:00pm

Paleo-Experimental Evolution: Resurrecting A 500-Million-Year-Old Gene

Researchers have resurrected a 500-million-year-old gene from bacteria and inserted it into modern-day Escherichia coli(E. coli)- the bacterium has now been growing for more than 1,000 generations, which has given the scientists a front row seat to observe ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 11 2012 - 4:00pm

Blind Man’s Cane Sees DNA Double Helix

This is an almost verbatim copy of a press release from the London Centre for nanotechnology. When Watson, Crick and Wilkins discovered the DNA double helix nearly sixty years ago, they based their structure on an X-ray diffraction image (courtesy of Frank ...

Article - Robert H Olley - Jul 14 2012 - 9:17am

Food Fear, Food Labels, And My Two Cents

If you want to scare somebody, convince them that there is a remote chance of danger in their food, water or medicine. Even if there is no evidence to back up the claim, people respond strongly to such information, causing them to abandon safe foods for al ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Sep 17 2012 - 4:34pm

"Arctic Grape" Genetically Altered Fruit, Escapes Public Approval

We are currently witnessing the USDA public commentary period on the Arctic Apple, a transgenic apple that does not exhibit browning upon injury or cutting.  The anti-browning trait was installed by scientists at Okanagan Specialty Fruits. A copy of the a ...

Article - Kevin M. Folta - Jul 16 2012 - 9:50pm