Now on ScienceBlogs: Oxytocin: Starting with the basics
An interactive discussion of current issues and technologies in biotechnology
This blog is sponsored by Invitrogen.
What's New in Life Science Research is managed and written entirely by Seed editors and expert guest bloggers. Read more about them here.
January 19, 2009
If GE crops are considered safe by most scientists, why not simply label the produce from these crops and let people decide for themselves? Most people like to know what they are eating and make their own choices. I am a label reader. If there is an excess of added sugar or too many ingredients with names that I don't recognize then I don't buy the product. Not all information, however, is useful....
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 7:47 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 12, 2009
Expanding on Janet's discussion of the power and politics of food labeling, what if American consumers saw this when they went to their local store to buy a can of tomato puree? I suspect it would turn many people away, or at least prompt them to start questioning the extent to which we buy and consume GMO foods on a daily basis, and why and if this a problem in terms of health, nutrition, and the politics of food production. So, if you want to know more, where do you start? First, with the basic knowledge that while European countries...
Posted by Alexandra Stern at 12:27 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: genetic engineering
For all the ballyhoo about genetically modified organisms (food, in particular) making the world a better place, there's also the fact that GMO technology is big money.
Posted by Hsien-Hsien Lei at 11:16 AM • 19 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 11, 2009
Category: genetic engineering
Bt toxin could harm aquatic ecosystems.
Posted by Mike at 12:01 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 9, 2009
Let's assume imagine that there are good ways to handle all the worries about GM-crops in the world that I raised in my last post -- that there won't be collateral damage among the non-targeted species, that the targeted species won't become resistant, that the GM crops will be sufficiently isolated from non-GMO crops that their genes won't end up in the larger agricultural gene pool counted upon by seed savers and other non-corporate-licensee farmers. Let's further assume that the GM crops are nutritionally sound with no unforeseen consequences (e.g., allergic reactions) to those consuming them. Will the consumers want...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 12:45 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 8, 2009
Category: genetic engineering
The technology for creating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is appealingly clever, and it opens up a host of possibilities for engineering crops and livestock to order. But how things work in theory (and in the lab) does not necessarily tell us all we need or want to know about how things will work in the world. Consider transgenic Bt corn, corn genetically modified to express the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin, which is poisonous to many insects. The appeal of Bt corn is that it makes its own pesticide, poisoning the voracious insects that might try to eat it without the need...
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:20 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: genetic engineering
The potential of genetically engineered organisms—particularly in the areas of medicine, biotechnology and agriculture—is seemingly limitless. Is your soil too acidic for your eucalyptus trees? No problem. Just introduce genes from carrots, which thrive in slightly acidic soil, to your trees—and voila, healthy eucalyptus! Cells can't produce growth hormone? Genetically engineered bacteria can do that for you. Need to know where a specific protein is directed to within a cell? Just tack on the gene for green fluorescent protein—taken from jellyfish—to the DNA of the cell in question, and you'll find the answer illuminated. Genetically engineered organisms may seem like...
Posted by Erin Johnson at 11:00 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
