Tag Archives: StarLinkTM corn

Would Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman Have Signed that GMO Letter?

From what I have read about him, I am pretty sure that Richard Feynman would not have signed the recent letter in which a large percentage of our living Nobel laureates urged Greenpeace to end its opposition to genetically modified organisms … Continue reading

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Preparing for Regulating Future Products of Biotechnology by Learning from the Past

In response to a memorandum issued by the Executive Office of the President last July, representatives of the agencies that regulate the products of biotechnology in the United States–FDA, EPA and USDA–participated in a meeting at UC Davis today titled … Continue reading

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EPA Expresses Concern Regarding Potential Development of 2,4-D-Resistant Weeds

I am not surprised that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) went ahead and registered Enlist Duo™, Dow Agrosciences’ pesticide cocktail made for spraying on corn and soybean crops genetically engineered (GE) to be tolerant of it. Disappointed, yes. Surprised? … Continue reading

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Hyper-propagandizing crop genetic engineering in The New Yorker?

I was very disappointed with Michael Specter’s recent piece in The New Yorker called “Seeds of Doubt: An activist’s controversial crusade against genetically modified crops.” For one thing, Specter didn’t seem to understand the basics of crop genetic engineering (GE) itself, … Continue reading

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EPA Poised to Repeat Superweed Mistake

Twenty years ago scientists debated whether genetically engineering crops to be resistant to herbicides would lead to “superweeds” tolerant of those herbicides. That debate is no longer hypothetical. We now know, based on the rapid development of glyphosate-resistant superweeds, that … Continue reading

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Rebuttal to Statements Against SB 1381, The California GE Labeling Bill

Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) has introduced a bill, SB 1381, which would require genetically engineered (GE) foods in California’s retail grocery stores to be labeled starting in 2016. I’m in favor of this bill because, as stated in its … Continue reading

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A Dearth of Life-Long Animal Studies of GE Foods

I’ve been corresponding with individual email-writers and I’ll occasionally post versions of my responses here because they tend to touch upon multiple issues related to genetically engineered (GE) crops in one piece (whereas I usually focus on fewer issues in … Continue reading

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How Slate.com botched a story about genetically modified food

A few days ago, Jon Entine posted a story on Slate.com reporting that Caitlin Shetterly’s feature in Elle magazine on genetically engineered (GE) corn (AKA genetically modified, or GM, corn) “just doesn’t withstand the critical scrutiny of science.” But Entine’s … Continue reading

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Crop Genetic Engineering, Warts and All

This is a paper I wrote that was published by PBGworks October 26, 2012: Crop genetic engineering is a powerful technology that is helping scientists reveal how genes and genomes function. It could also be used to solve important global … Continue reading

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Regulating Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.: Forcing a Square Technology Peg into a Round Regulatory Hole

Despite what you may have read in The New York Times or on Monsanto’s website or in books like some written by former regulatory officials, current regulation of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the United States is not necessarily “burdensome” … Continue reading

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