Category Archives: Biotechnology

More to the Story — Top 5 GMO Myths

Posted on October 26, 2012 by GDS

When you hear about “Myths About GMO’s” you can usually expect a polemic from an activist.  It may be an anti-GMO activist debunking myths like “GMO’s can help feed the world” or a pro-GMO activist debunking myths like “GMO’s can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Nuking Gene Patents?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by GDS

The Myriad case – with its embedded nuclear bomb that would abolish most gene patents in the US – has been languishing on the Supreme Court’s desk ever since last year. The Supremes hadn’t accepted the appeal, or rejected the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biotechnology, Intellectual Property | 2 Comments

Decide for Yourself

Posted on February 27, 2012 by GDS

The dust has not settled after India’s decision not to approve its first genetically modified food crop.  In fact it has just been kicked up again today, with the prime minister accusing foreign NGO’s of meddling and activists responding that … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, India | 1 Comment

Bt Cotton, Remarkable Success, and Four Ugly Facts

Posted on February 12, 2012 by GDS

Of all the crops and countries in GMO controversies today, few are as important than Bt cotton in India. GMO debates keep going back to small farmers and developing countries, and India has by far the most small farmers planting … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, India | 60 Comments

A Biotech Page-Turner

Posted on January 6, 2012 by GDS

If you’re floundering around looking for a topic for your masters thesis in literature, allow me to submit for your consideration corporate media for children on GMO’s, a fascinating and understudied emerging genre. I was first introduced to this genre … Continue reading →

Posted in Biotechnology, India | Leave a comment

New GM Grass: Unregulated and Unstudiable

Posted on September 11, 2011 by GDS

The NY Times recently published “Engineering Food for All,” a gushing op-ed by professional GMO proponent Nina Fedoroff that bemoaned the increasingly burdensome regulatory oversight of GM crops.  She went so far as to link world hunger to regulation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Intellectual Property | 16 Comments

Putting the Germ into Germany

Posted on June 29, 2011 by GDS

A truly frightening outbreak of E. coli food poisoning appeared in Germany in May.  Within a month it had infected more than 2,400 people in 13 countries across Europe, killing 23. The toxic strain of E. coli is being called O104:H4 … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Feeding Hungry Indians

Posted on June 16, 2011 by GDS

News today in the Bombay press about India’s worrisome food imbalance. Too much food. It seems that India’s “buffer stocks” have more than 30 million tons of wheat and rice over what they want or can handle.  Having sucked down … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, India, Population | 17 Comments

Golden Rice, soon. Or not.

Posted on May 30, 2011 by GDS

We have a new E.T.A. on Golden Rice. Well, sort of: the institutes in the Philippines that have been conducting field tests since 2008 say they may be able to submit the needed data for regulatory approval by 2013 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Intellectual Property | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Do Not Read: GM Cotton and Indian Farmer Suicide

Posted on May 13, 2011 by GDS

More in the news this week about Indian cotton farmers killing themselves. Mainly cotton farmers. Mostly deep in debt. One every 30 minutes. According to some, the underlying cause is the spread of being genetically modified Bt cotton. It has … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, India | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments