Biofortified

Fooling yourself to better fool others

The biological study of human behaviour can teach us a lot about ourselves, and Robert Trivers has just written a book Deceit and Self-Deception: Fooling Yourself the Better to Fool Others (Allen Lane, Penguin Books 2011) from which we can all learn deep insights about ourselves and our fellow humans. Yes fellow humans, some of us — including even myself –can be very difficult and tricky to deal with. The first chapter of

Herbicide Resistant Johnsongrass: Coming soon to a farm near you!

Pioneer and K State are jointly releasing a set of new herbicide resistant sorghum varieties, which will incorporate resistance to ALS and FOP herbicides. Ironically, these non-genetically modified varieties invoke one of the classic bogeymen of anti-GM thinkers – herbicide resistant weeds. In the past, I’ve heard a couple pro-genetic engineering scientists give herbicide resistant sorghum as an example of a potentially irresponsible creation. This is because another Sorghum species is a notorious noxious weed

Blue Potato Chips

JetBlue airlines now gives out blue potato chips as their “official” snack.

I’m very impressed by the fact that these blue potato chips exist. It’s no small feat to create a good-frying potato with excellent agronomic qualities in itself. I can’t imagine crossing in blue coloring (anthocyanin expression) on top of this in a reasonable amount of time – especially since potatoes aren’t true to seed. Non true to seed crops like potatoes

2012: The year we make news

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

Fundrasing goal achieved

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.

Apocephalus borealis, a new threat to honeybees?

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

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

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

Send Frank around the World

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

A math club standout transforms genomics

From Tomorrow's Table

This excellent New York Times article describes Eric Lander’s journey in science to his position today as not only one of the great genome researchers but a terrific teacher and human being.

This post was syndicated from Tomorrow's Table You may comment on the original entry.

Diane Rehm Show on GE labeling

This morning on Tuesday, from 11 to noon EST, the Diane Rehm show on NPR will be discussing the issue of GE labeling, and I encourage you to tune in, and call in as well. Here is the show listing:

Environmental Outlook: Labels for Genetically Modified Foods

In 1992 the FDA ruled against requiring labels for genetically engineered foods. Join us for a panel discussion on the rationale for that decision and why some