by Karl Haro von Mogel on 25 January 2012 The last three years have been fun and exciting for us here at Biofortified. Even more so the last three weeks – as we have raised almost $2,500 in personal donations (and blog schwag purchases) to keep the blog going and expand our projects into new areas. I have thanked all of our donors personally, and taking it all together, I can’t sufficiently express in words how thankful I am that so many people have been willing to support us, and for so much. If you thought we were wildly happy back when we won the Changemakers contest in 2009, we’re so much more excited now!
We have some ambitious goals ahead of us, from art to videos, tax-exempt status and more, but there is one more thing that I think we should strive for in the coming year – making the news. We are indexed by Google News, so in that sense we are making news as we report and comment on what goes on in the world. But what I mean is making a big enough impact in the world that other news organizations start reporting on us. The more reaching out we can do, the more people may come here and exchange ideas, contribute articles, and learn about science. I know that we have a good following amongst scientists, and it would be great if we could bring more people into the discussion.
Continue reading…
by Frank N. Foode on 22 January 2012  Hi everyone! It’s me, the one and only Frank N. Foode – and I have got some great news for you! A few weeks ago, we announced a fundraising drive for Biofortified with some lofty goals in mind. Hosting, videos, interview transcripts, artwork, and fees to incorporate as a 501(c) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, and more. Our editors figured out that this could all be possible if the blog raised $2012 for the coming year.
There were many ways to contribute: Paypal donations, merchandise, telling your friends, and good ol’ fashioned checks in the mail. Bit by bit donations were rolling in, and I can also tell you that someone, somewhere, is the proud owner of a calendar featuring cheesecake shots of yours truly. 
A week ago we got to less than $100 of our goal, but then at the end of the week we suddenly passed it and then some. With the fundraising drive now at a close, we come to the moment you have all been waiting for. How much did Biofortified raise toward our goal for 2012?
Drum roll please……
Continue reading…
by Joe Ballenger on 10 January 2012 If you’re not a long time reader of Biofortified, you might not know that I study parasitoid wasp physiology when I’m not armchair-quarterbacking head louse treatment studies. It’s not often that parasitoids end up on the news, so when they do I get super-excited. I’ll be writing this from the perspective as a parasitoid biologist. A shorter article which does an excellent job of tackling misconceptions about this paper discussed here can be found at Biodiversity in Focus.
 Frank likes bees too. When I was an undergraduate, I spent about a year or so working as a beekeeper. It was a fun job, and I learned all sorts of fun facts about bees. By this time I had been interested in parasitoids for nearly a decade and a half, having raised parasitic wasps out of caterpillars since I was five. Naturally, I attempted to see if there were any parasitoids which attacked Apis mellifera but I always ended up empty handed and disappointed. This always confused me because there were parasitoids which attacked ants, termites and caterpillars living in ant nests. I never understood why parasitoids had never been documented attacking honeybees.
This changed earlier this week, when a description of a parasitoid fly which attacks bees was published in PLOS ONE: A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis by Core et al. Unfortunately, the authors tried way too hard to connect the fly to Colony Collapse Disorder, but I’ll discuss that later. First…
Continue reading…
by Frank N. Foode on 4 January 2012  Clockwise from bottom left: Benny F. Broccoli, Stem Cell, E. coli, Bookworm, Chanten A. Carrot, and Frank, hanging around their metal holiday cactus! Happy New Year one and all! Frank N. Foode here to give you an update on Biofortified’s fundraising drive for 2012. We’ve got big plans for the blog for this next year, and that means taking in some big money to make it possible. Last week, we announced that we wanted to raise $2012 for 2012, and almost one week later, I am pleased to announce that we are almost all the way there!
Donations have been coming in from all over the place. Word of mouth has spread amongst public scientists, who have been providing the bulk of donations. We’re sending along a little blog shwag to a really generous group that is part of a nonprofit breeding foundation, who not only gave personal donations, but also encouraged their colleagues to do the same! I think we may have picked up some readers in the process too.
PZ Myers, possibly the most cuddly cuttlefish in the world, stepped in to promote our effort on Pharyngula, and soon enough some science blog supporters came in and moved the needle as well! Thank you PZ, and thank you everyone from the Pharyngulation horde!
Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. As of today, Biofortified has raised $1765.79 toward our $2012 goal! That’s almost 88% of the way there, with only $246.21 left to go. I know we can do it! Just look at the corn plant in the sidebar – the tassels are just starting to bloom!
Continue reading…
|
About Biofortified Biofortified's volunteer authors are devoted to providing factual information and fostering discussion about agriculture, especially plant genetics and genetic engineering. The site is written by grad students, professors, and guest experts. Meet our authors on the Authors page.
|
Why did The Atlantic publish this piece trying to link miRNAs and GMOs?
Editor’s note: republished with permission from The Biology Files.
By Emily Willingham
Rice.
A study from a Chinese group led by Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanking University and published in Cell Research, has uncovered the fascinating result that when people eat rice, they can absorb microRNAs (miRNAs)–tiny sequences of RNA–from the rice into the blood. These rice-originating miRNAs turn up in blood and tissues of people who eat rice and…here’s the kicker…one type of rice miRNA interacts with human proteins that are responsible for removing LDL (“bad” cholesterol) from the blood (!). It’s the first report of plant miRNAs ending up in people by way of diet and the finding that at least one of them alters an important process in the body.
The implications could extend in many a direction, but not as far as writer Ari Levaux would like to take them in this remarkably confusing article published on the Atlantic Website. Before taking on the errors and the overstretch that are that piece, let’s look at something far more interesting: miRNAs themselves.
Continue reading…