Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

There is a vanilla crisis.  The familiar flavor agent is a mixture of chemicals from an orchid- and there’s not enough being produced to satisfy demand.  But Dr. Alan Chambers knows that crisis and o…

In framing effective discussions about any subject it is important to understand human psychology, and the mistakes we make in debate.  It also is important to understand how ingrained human tendenci…

The herbicide glyphosate has been in use for over 40 years.  It is non-selective (kills all plants), it is inexpensive and has extremely low toxicity.  These attributes made it an important tool for …

This last week podcast host Kevin Folta found himself in a difficult predicament.  There was palpable outrage by those affiliated with a science website where he participated in some of their activit…

Malaria is a tremendous world health problem, affecting the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the developing (and industrialized) world. One of the most effective therapies is derived from a…

The chicken is by far the most abundant animal farmed on earth, grown for meat and eggs.  But where did it come from?  What kinds of birds were domesticated?  When?  Where?  What were the traits that…

Plant disease resistance is a complicated arms race between the plant and pathogens.  Bacteria, viruses and fungi evolve in lock-step with plants, creating new ways to overcome new disease resistance…

Dr. David Just studies human behavior and how psychology ties in with economic decisions.  His work at Cornell examines the interesting overlays that cause consumers to behave how they do.  In this p…

Alfatoxins are a significant threat to human health and world food security.  They are naturally-occurring toxic compounds produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus and other species.  These fungi th…

The 2016 World Food Prize went to a group that coordinated the breeding, promotion and distribution of the orange-fleshed sweet potato in Africa.  One of person on the team was economist Dr. Jan Low.…

Barley is an important grain, with prominent roles as the foundation of bread and beer.  Dr. Sheila Adimargono shares the interesting stories around barley’s history, the traits that early domesticat…

When social scientists examined messaging in new media around GE crops, a few trends became apparent.  Surprising evidence emerged that showed that the Russian Federation is actively participating in…

Mark Lynas believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing.  He was joining others in tearing out field trials of GE crops, and effectively arrested research and development around crop biote…

The race to determine the structure of DNA has a dark subtext that is frequently ignored when discussing this seminal discovery in biology.  Competing groups at Cambridge and King’s College set their…

 Mexico is the center of origin for maize, and there is a substantial interest in protecting the genetic integrity of this limited resource.  At the same time Mexico’s population is growing, and farm…

The internet claims that the increases in celiac disease is rooted in modern wheat varieties, as human intervention in plant genetics must be the cause of human disorders.  But what does the evidence…

Are food labels adding clarity or confusion?  Focus groups show that consumer sentiment toward food labels is changing.  Colleen Parr-Dekker is the Director of Communications at Elanco.  They have pe…

Dr. Devang Mehta has been working in virus suppression in cassava, a key food staple in the Developing world.  In this week’s podcast he speaks about the RNAi and gene editing approaches that are use…

Those that live in the affluent countries of the West have little clue of the challenges of farming in the Developing World.  In this special episode, Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam (@biobeef) of the Unive…

The Extension arm of the Land Grant University system provides a link between university research and the farm.  Extension specialists are professional liaisons that understand pressing issues, and s…