Comments on: April Fools 2009 at Biofortified

By: Biofortified » Real berries, fake news!

Biofortified » Real berries, fake news! — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:30:21 +0000

[...] to maximize the number of affected individuals. Last year on Biofortified we were subjected to a hostile takeover by Greenpeace, and this year I was hoping to do some sort of joke on the blog, but my trip across the world was [...]

By: Lendman April Fooled

Lendman April Fooled — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:32:04 +0000

[...] since then. Still, I would not be happy myself if I based a conspiratorial argument on a marginally funny April Fools joke, but at least I would admit that it was fake and post corrections all over the [...]

By: Are GMOs a plot to rule the world?

Are GMOs a plot to rule the world? — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 05:21:57 +0000

[...] note: The following post was part of an April Fools Joke. Go here for more [...]

By: Risks of the gaps

Risks of the gaps — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 05:20:42 +0000

[...] Note: The following post was part of an April Fools Joke. Go here for more [...]

By: Karl Haro von Mogel

Karl Haro von Mogel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:59:31 +0000

Mary, I’m glad you’re here to prod me/us. I’m in contact with someone who has written and spoken about open source seeds and we’ll probably have some stuff about that her on this blog. Open source for both conventional and transgenic plants.

Perhaps we need to get in contact with York Labs and find out from the horse’s mouth what exactly their data was. Although it was ten years ago, perhaps some more definitive stuff could be dug up.

I think I just found the link to the Irish Times article, but the article is behind a subscription wall.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:50:38 +0000

The closest I could find to the whole story was this reference in the comments: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009/01/windschuttle_hoaxed_the_update.php

York Laboratories sounded like something governmental, but it was a company that sells allergy tests and had a new one coming out. The Irish Times link (which is now broken) suggests the PR guy was misquoted.

But it keeps getting used as if it is real. I can’t figure out how to reach the believers.

The other thing that I really need is for your field to start rebranding and talking about open-source seeds. I am also unable to get people to separate the M-word from any discussion of the technology, and it shuts down their brains every time.

By: The Inoculated Mind » Blog Archive » April Fools all around

The Inoculated Mind » Blog Archive » April Fools all around — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:06:27 +0000

[...] This year had a few good pranks. In a blatant attempt to out-do myself from last year, I decided to have the new Biofortified Blog be taken over by Greenpeace. Go here for the details. [...]

By: Karl Haro von Mogel

Karl Haro von Mogel — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:05:15 +0000

Yes, the soy allergy claim keeps coming up, and it is easy to recognize the flaw in it – the soy food allergies supposedly jumped up in 1999, before the GE soy was grown and harvested. Given that this was reported by a commercial company along with Greenpeace… and that there was not a scientific study involved, means that it was a case of Science By Press Release. I wonder what the actual soy allergy data from the government was? This would be a very good thing to research thoroughly and debunk.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:01:41 +0000

Thanks for the reference. I knew it was snark, but that particular allergy whack-a-mole has been driving me nuts. I was hoping it was going to turn into a debunking thread.

I keep hearing it and I can’t believe that otherwise rational people are using it as “evidence”. It would really help me in discussions on political blogs if there was a “debunk” category that I could point to on this topic.

Thanks!