Now on ScienceBlogs: Casual Fridays: What makes a good writer, and what motivates them?
On this web log I explore topics related to genetics, food and farming.
Pamela Ronald is Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of
California, Davis, where she studies the role that genes play in a
plant's response to its environment. Her laboratory has genetically
engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding,
both of which are serious problems of rice crops in Asia and Africa.
She also serves as Vice President for the Feedstocks Division and
Director of Grass Genetics at the Joint Bioenergy Institute. Ronald is co-author with her husband, an organic farmer, of "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetic and the Future of Food".
Article, The New Organic in The Boston Globe
Article, Making Rice Disease-Resistant in Scientific American
Speaking schedule and recent appearanches
November 18, 2009
Category: Africa • Genetically engineered crops • International Agricultural Development • organic farming
An article in the Harvard International Review by Paul Collier paints a stark view of African peasantry. Collier presents a convincing argument that for African agriculture to become more productive, it needs modern agricultural technologies and new modes of organization
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 7:07 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 17, 2009
Category: Genetically engineered crops • genetics and society • sustainability
An appropriate technology, as asserted by the economist Schumacher in his book Small is Beautiful, should promote values such as health, beauty, and permanence. Low cost and low maintenance requirements are also of prime importance in Schumacher's definition.
Considering both Schumacher's observations and the goals for ecological farming:
• Produce abundant, safe and nutritious food
• Reduce harmful environmental inputs
• Provide healthful conditions for farm workers
• Protect the genetic make-up of native species
• Enhance crop genetic diversity
• Foster soil fertility
• Improve the lives of the poor and malnourished
• Maintain the economic viability of farmers and rural communities
, it is apparent that GE will sometimes be appropriate for crop improvement and sometimes not. This is because GE is simply a tool that can be applied
to a multitude of uses, depending on the decisions of policy makers, farmers, and
consumers.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 4:26 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 8, 2009
Category: GMO • Genetically engineered crops • genetics and society • labeling
Guest blogger Rob Hebert is a second-year student at Georgetown Law. Before moving to DC, he lived in Brooklyn, NY, just blocks from a bar that had over twenty-five beers on tap and thirty arcade machines that all played for a quarter. He can draw you a pretty interesting graph relating "Drinks Consumed" to "Last Score on Pac-Man."
Consumer advocacy groups are a strange animal. It seems that for every influential lobbying group with a senator's ear, there are hundreds or thousands with only vague mission statements and no clear agenda for attaining their stated goals. I once spent a summer working for the latter type. A hallmark of this kind of crew is the use of the petition (bonus points if it's online and has been circulating for more than a year). Issue-specific petitions almost never work when directed at agencies; they are often unsophisticated (in a legal sense) and rife with ambiguous language and emotional rhetoric. If I were more cynical, I might point out the possibility that many people in charge of these groups are aware of their petitions' miniscule chances for success and instead use them to gin up controversy and interest in their cause, which is always a great way to get a few email addresses or financial contributions--some petitions even have a convenient donate button right next to where you "sign" your name!
A quick google search for "gm labeling petition" pulls up, well, more petitions than I really care to count. Most make seemingly modest demands about the "right to know," consumer education, and truth in advertising. Is that an accurate view of the debate: Consumer education versus corporate secrecy? Truth is, the legal reality is a little more complex than these petitions would seem to indicate. Below, I've written a short synopsis of the government's current stance on GMO labeling. It's written for people without any legal training, so it's only a sketch. I've also listed a few helpful resources at the bottom for anyone who wants to dig a little deeper. This is exclusively about U.S. law, but in future posts, I'll discuss recent developments in the biotech laws of Canada, the European Union, and Japan.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 9:47 AM • 36 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 7, 2009
I am traveling now far away from home towards a large lake in Zurich. What a perfect time to receive this poem from Jan Visser.
Le Lac (written in 1820 by Alphonse de Lamartine)
Ainsi, toujours poussés vers de nouveaux rivages,
dans la nuit éternelle emportés sans retour,
ne pourrons-nous jamais sur l'océan des âges
jeter l'ancre un seul jour?
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 4:33 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Bangladesh • GMO • Ronald research • genetics and society
The Daily Star of Dhaka reports today that flood-tolerant rice will soon be officially released in Bangladesh.
The flood-tolerant rice varieties (called Sub1- rice) can help farmers, many who live on less than $1/day, dramatically increase yield during floods.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 3:08 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 5, 2009
Category: Ronald research • innate immunity
In plant and animal innate immunity, like many of the dances of life, it takes two to tango. A receptor molecule in the plant pairs up with a specific molecule on the invading bacteria and, presto, the immune system swings into action to defend against the invasion of the disease-causing microbe.
Unwrapping some of the mystery from how plants and bacteria communicate in this dance of immunity, hardworking scientists in my laboratory here at the University of California, Davis, have identified the bacterial molecule that matches up with a specific receptor in rice plants to ward off a devastating disease known as bacterial blight of rice.
The publication describing these results will appear tomorrow in the journal Science.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 4:05 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 4, 2009
Category: GMO • Genetically engineered crops • genetics and society • labeling
The Changemakers international online community selected biofortified, a group website devoted to providing factual information and fostering discussion about plant genetics, especially genetic engineering, as the grand prize winner in the GMO Risk or Rescue Competition. This would not have been possible without the leadership of Karl Haro von Mogel, graduate student and blogger Anastasia Bodnar, our Australian colleague David Tribe and the votes of the science blogging community. Thanks all.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 12:45 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 3, 2009
Category: GMO • Genetically engineered crops • genetics and society • organic farming • sustainability
Kent J. Bradford, Professor of Plant Sciences and Academic Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis, is today's guest blogger.
Ever since our ancestors adopted an agricultural lifestyle about 10,000 years ago, our own sustainability has been intimately tied with that of our food production systems. Those systems currently support 6.7 billion humans, or more correctly, adequately support about 5.9 billion with another 800 million or so suffering from food insecurity, malnutrition or hunger. Compare that with the 1960's when the world population was 3 billion, with 1 billion inadequately fed. Developments in agricultural technology have increased productivity sufficiently to feed an additional 3.9 billion people over the past 40 years while slightly decreasing the number in need and using less than 10% more land. However, food shortages, price increases and riots across the globe in 2008 were stark reminders that agriculture must be continuously successful or dire consequences quickly follow.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 9:26 AM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 30, 2009
Category:
Frank N. Foods reports that Biofortified, a science-based blog about plant genetics, gathered more votes than the closest challenger on the changemaker "GMO risk or rescue" competition by a 2-to-1 margin. How did this happen? The science blogging community Pharyngulated the competition thanks to a post by PZ Myers. When the opposition protested in a somewhat unethical manner, PZ hit them again. Although the votes are not final, it looks like biofortified may have won the grand prize- a conversation wtih Michael Pollan about plant genetics. Thanks everyone for your support.
Posted by Pamela Ronald at 4:48 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
PZ Myers 11.19.2009
Tim Lambert 11.18.2009
James Hrynyshyn 11.20.2009
PZ Myers 11.14.2009
Ed Brayton 11.20.2009
