research « Biofortified

Genes that keep out transgenes?

by Anastasia Bodnar on 30 August 2009

In the midst of literature review for a long, complicated post on gene flow between maize and teosinte (yes, this is how I spend my Saturday nights / Sunday mornings, thanks), I came across the following article in Science Daily from 12 October 2000: Gene Barrier In Corn May Boost Trade, Environment.

Working with teosinte, a wild cousin of maize, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist has found a molecular barrier that, bred into modern hybrid corn, is capable of completely locking out foreign genes, including those from genetically modified corn.

Frog legs

by Anastasia Bodnar on 25 June 2009

Another mystery of science has been solved, which gives me hope that the origin of CCD is only a little research away, or perhaps just a flash of inspiration. Strangely, the only coverage of this discovery that I could find is at the BBC Legless frog mystery solved, even though mysteriously deformed frogs have been found all over the world. Since the late 1980s, frogs have been found with missing legs, additional legs, and other deformities (actually, hideously deformed frogs have been found much earlier than that, but the numbers seemed to increase in the late 1980s). Various causes were suggested, but most people were convinced that the cause was chemical in nature.

Carrots in all shapes and sizes

by Anastasia Bodnar on 2 June 2009

Carrotmob is a startup company that unites consumers and businesses with common goals, enticing a business to do something environmentally or socially responsible with the reward of shoppers. I think it is a wonderful idea, or at least one that appears to be newsworthy, as their actions have appeared in rags like Time and The Guardian. On a more individual level, I’ve always been a fan of “voting with my dollar”. When I eat

Mouseopause

by Anastasia Bodnar on 28 May 2009

How do you improve crop yields without actually improving crop yields? Control rodents that are eating grain in the fields. This is exactly what Dr. Loretta Mayer and her graduate student Heidi Miers intend to do with a chemical called VCD (4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide), commonly used in tires, polyesters and plastics. VCD basically degrades ovaries, similar to how the ovaries degrade during menopause – hence “mouseopause”. Simply place VCD bait stations in fields, rodents

Purple tomatoes!

by Anastasia Bodnar on 28 October 2008

As I write this, I munch on organic blue corn chips and homemade pico de gallo, made with purple peppers from Small Potatoes Farm (along with heirloom tomatoes and flat leaf Italian parsley and with a glass of local wine from Summerset Winery, yum!). Why choose blue and purple? Anthocyanins, of course. These natural plant compounds are nice to look at, and there is a lot of evidence that they have protecting health qualities for those who eat them, protecting us from diseases like cancer, diabetes, and obesity. So, what do we do to make sure that people can get recommended amounts of anthocyanins?

Anthocyanin-rich berries are delicious but expensive and only available during certain times of year. Most people do not seek out red cabbage or brightly colored heirloom varieties of veggies like carrots and cauliflower. In the US, the most frequently eaten vegetables are potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes. Purple tomatoes exist, but heirloom tomatoes have issues like splitting and little time till spoilage. This is fine if you buy them at the farmer’s market and eat them the next day, but is not suitable for things like pasta sauce production (cans and bottles are where most people get their RDA of tomatoes, but it turns out they are healthier that way!). Varieties like Cherokee purple, while awesome, don’t produce anthocyanins throughout the fruit.