Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

A number of strange, devastating and lethal diseases are caused by prions. The most famous of these disorders in animals is Bovine Spongiform Encelapathy,  or “Mad Cow Disease”. Unlike other infectio…

 Male cattle (bulls) convert feed calories to weight gain more efficiently than females (cows). If more bulls could be put into beef production, the process would be even more sustainable. Dr. Alison…

In 2001 the Earth Liberation Front bombed the office of Dr. Toby Bradshaw at the University of Washington.  The damage was massive, especially toward non-targeted labs.  This is a great story of how …

Most organisms on earth evolved under constant intervals of light and darkness. The regular intervals led to the evolution of internal clocks that are trained by the light/dark patterns, and conditio…

Dr. Alan McHughen has been a leader in biotechnology education for decades, and has served in public academic research as well as an advisor to the State Department in the Obama Administration.  He h…

The documentary space is littered with videos that misrepresent science, especially around agriculture. Dr. Hidde Boersma is a trained scientist that has taken up the mantle of making high-quality do…

Analysis of populations of animals can be problematic, especially when individuals of different species share similar visual characteristics. Dr. Melinda Baerwald has developed a field-friendly way t…

Dr. Ilaria Capua is one of the world’s most prominent virologists, and a Professor at the University of Florida and the Director of the One Health Center of Excellence.  In this week’s podcast she up…

Today’s podcast marks five complete years of podcast episodes, and there’s no better guest than someone on the Mount Rushmore of plant genetic engineering.  We’re joined today by Dr. Robb Fraley, who…

Aflatoxin is a natural poison emitted by several species of fungi. They infect grain, and exploit insect damage.  Millions of people are affected by these toxins that invade world food staples, mostl…

Today’s podcast starts with answering your questions, covering biodynamic farming, cover crops and my financial transparency.  The second part discusses a battle between sensitivity to endangered spe…

Vance Crowe has a background that shifted between the Peace Corps in Kenya, a deckhand on an ecotourism ship, and a position with the World Bank. All had a common thread of situational communication …

Throughout the COVID19 pandemic we have heard various opinions about wearing face coverings and protective masks. Some see them as critical components of public health. Others see them as a senseless…

Leah McGrath is a Registered Dietitian with a great presence in social media. She is the corporate dietitian for a major grocery chain, and has had an important role in shaping the messaging around t…

From the dawn of the pandemic there  has been a notable rise in false information that clouds public perception and harms trust in scientific guidance.  To remedy this situation it is critical that w…

The wartime response of the Manhattan Project streamlined production of weapons to revolve World War II.  The plan involved massive redundancy, streamlining and parallelization of approaches to ensur…

Weeds are a tremendous problem in agriculture, costing farmers billions a year in crop loss and the cost of control.  In Europe one of the critical weeds is black grass, which causes great losses in …

Cattle are currently used for meat, milk, hide products and as work animals.  Where did they come from?  Who are the wild relatives?  Dr. Hans Lenstra from the Utrecht University describes the domest…

Western Africa holds many nations of substantial population and an emerging economies.  The nation has recently approved the use of the Bt cowpea to farm without applied insecticide, and with the new…

The meta-analysis is traditionally considered to be a high synthesis of extant scientific literature. Their implicit power places them in headlines and they are used to sway policy and reshape fields…