“Double helix in the sky tonight Throw out the hardware Let’s do it right” – Steely Dan Here A CRISPR, There A CRISPR, Everywhere A CRISPR, CRISPR…. Yikes! You can hardly go through a week these days without reading some headline with “CRISPR” in the title. (Even in Time magazine!)…
Firstly, What Is A Roundup Ready® Crop? Well, let’s start out with: What’s Roundup®? Briefly, Roundup® is the commercial name for the herbicide glyphosate, first made and sold by Monsanto in the 1970’s. You can read more about Roundup® HERE. “Roundup Ready®” is Monsanto’s trade name for crops (soybean, maize,…
From Decaf Coffee Plants To Non-Browning Apples Have you ever had a really good cup of decaf coffee? Me neither. This is likely because most decaf coffee results from chemical processing of normal coffee beans. But why would anyone want coffee without caffeine? And why do plants make caffeine in…
Plant-Based Vaccines – A Great Idea It’s been over 20 years since I introduced students in my plant sciences classes to the idea of using genetically-engineered plants (GMOs) as a source of edible vaccines. Basically, the idea was that some crop plants could be genetically engineered to produce vaccines in…
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…
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…