Spraying RNAi To Silence Target Genes In Crops (And Insect Pests)… Many object to GMO crop plants, at least in part, because they contain foreign genes artificially – and permanently – inserted into the plant’s genome. But what if you could TEMPORARILY modifY plants (and even their insect pests) by…
Another Take On The Term “Rewilding”? In the previous post, we explored the concept of crop “rewilding” as it pertains to genetically resurrecting “wild” plant genes by reintroducing or by re-activating them in some modern crop plants. One of the main justifications for doing so is to develop new crop…
A Blast From The Past? Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot about the so-called “rewilding” of crop plants in the news lately? (Please see here, for example.) I think I first heard the term “rewilding” about 20 years ago in a Biology Department seminar…
Flowers That Change Color Over The Course Of A Day Are transgenic plants a curse or a blessing? Many people in the industrialized countries believe the former, despite ample scientific evidence to the contrary. But I really don’t want to get into this thorny issue here, mainly because it’s been…
“On Thursday, Dr. Kent Brantly thought he was going to die. It was the ninth day since the American missionary worker came down sick with Ebola in Liberia. His condition worsening by the minute, Brantly called his wife to say goodbye. Thankfully, the call was premature.Brantly is back on his…
We’re In A Jam Let’s face it, humanity is NOT going to back off anytime soon on it’s production of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels. Just last year, for example, atmospheric CO2 emissions increased at their fastest rate for 30 years. So, how are…
A DNA Cloud? In the recent (and brilliant) Richard Powers novel Orfeo, composer Peter Els attempts to encode a digital rendition of one of his musical compositions into a strand of DNA, then splice it into the genome of a living cell. This, he hopes, will perpetuate his music for…
DIY Plant Biotech It’s been over three years since I first explored the field of do-it-yourself plant biotechnology in a blog post entitled DIY Plant Genetic Engineering? Since then, interest and activity in DIY biotech has grown. For instance, please see a more recent blog post on the subject Bio-Hacking…
Plants “Stink” One of the really cool things about plants, which I think most people don’t realize, is that they emit many kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some of these VOCs we can smell, such as flower fragrances and pine scents. But many, such as the plant hormone ethylene,…
To Label, Or Not To Label, That Is The Question Political “slings and arrows” manifested as junk mail and newspaper, radio and TV ads are raining down on the poor folks in Washington state these days. And “outrageous fortunes” are being spent by opposing sides of one of the most…