Bill Nye, the Frankenfood Myth Revisited, GMOs and Chocolate and Agrobacterium Defined: What We're Reading - March, 2015
The Washington Post reports that Bill Nye is changing his mind about GMOs. This change of heart follows the claim in his 2014 book that, “There’s something fundamentally problematic with foods containing GMO crops.” But in a recent interview, he explains that “there's a chapter in there which I'm going to revise. It's about genetically modified food. I went to Monsanto and I spent a lot of time with the scientists there and I have revised my outlook and I'm very excited about telling the world. When you're in love you want to tell the world."
Michael Thomas of Exposing the Truth explores how a GM plant is actually made – using a tomato as an example. While there are no GM tomatoes available today – the article uses this popular crop to describe the two methods used to make a GMO: Agrobacterium and the “gene gun”.
Michael explains, “Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a bacteria that has the special ability to take a certain part of its DNA (TI plasmid) and insert it into plants, and have this same DNA gain access to the nucleus…..when used, it is applied primarily to female reproductive cells, allowing the plants to pass it onto the next generation.” Now, researchers use this Agrobacterium to insert a specific DNA sequence into a plant to achieve a desired trait.
We also love another article from Michael Thomas that offers up the five things everyone should know about pesticides. Michael states, “Not all chemicals are equal, and neither are all pesticides. As in most areas, many people are misinformed by vague polarizing texts that frequently talk about ‘toxic’ chemicals without stating the dose. There are things you need to know about pesticides, and I did my best to put them all into 5 points.”
In this article Jack Bobo, Senior Adviser of Global Food Policy at the U.S. Department of State revisits the Frankenfood myth. Jack concludes:
“Genetic engineering is used every day in the laboratory to make new medicines. It is used to produce genetically modified microorganisms that produce enzymes for our beer, wine, and cheese, among other things. All of these uses take place without the least bit of controversy. If people are unhappy with past applications of genetic engineering to our food, they should embrace the technology, rather than reject it. They should make it their own and demonstrate how they believe it should be applied to address the challenges that concern them.”
In the interest of your sweet tooth, check out this article from National Geographic that explains why “a chocolate shortage, to the tune of one million metric tons, is predicted to hit within the next five years and why “it may be time to turn to genetic engineering” to save the cacao tree.
GMO Answers went to SXSW in March! Check out these articles from some of the experts who volunteered to staff the GMO Answers booth: Sarah Schultz of Nurse Loves Farmer describes her experience talking with curious “SXSWers” and Brian Smith of the Farmers Life explains why he volunteered to attend and answer consumer questions.
These are some of the articles about GMOs and biotechnology that caught our attention in March - did we miss anything? Share links to your favorite posts on our Facebook page!
