Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

Podcast 112 was a discussion of the dicamba situation. Since that episode was recorded I attended a conference from the North Central Weed Science Society in St. Louis, and heard more information fir…

Over the last two years we have heard reports of herbicide damage to Midwestern crops, bearing the signatures of damage from dicamba.  Dicamba is an older herbicide, an auxin analog that mimics a pla…

Over the last century there was an incredible rise in the number of seed companies, driven primarily by the profitability of hybrid seeds in regional markets.  After the 1980’s, there has been great …

The promises of gene therapy have been slow to reach the public for many reasons.  Technologies conceived in the 1980’s had a substantial regulatory and proof-of-concept road ahead of them, leading t…

In this week’s podcast Dr. Jonnny Dalzell guest hosts from Tanzania.  He visits with scientists from IITA that are helping devise solutions to nematodes.  Nematodes are microscopic soil worms that ar…

Gene editing has been the center of attention, affecting everything from plants, to mushrooms, to livestock, to human medicine. However, when we discuss gene editing we typically describe the CRISPR …

Bolivia shares farming similarities with other South American countries.  They have diverse land races and native crops that they wish to preserve. At the same time some wish to take advantage of mod…

In today’s podcast we speak with science journalist and author Mark Lynas.  Mark has been a central figure in the discussion of biotechnology, particularly in regard to its role in ensuring food secu…

Uganda is at an interesting precipice.  They have invested in biotech solutions to solve problems in their central food staples, namely the matooke.  The matooke is a starchy banana, and while a corn…

Simple solutions can sometimes have tremendous impacts.  In this episode Bret Rierson from the World Food Programme discusses a solution to enhancing food security in Africa and around the world.  Mo…

The evolution of weed and insect resistance to traditional controls has brought about the need for new approaches in crop protection.  Today’s guest is Dr. Doug Sammons (@wiltedweeds) is a biochemist…

The American Chestnut dominated the Appalachian landscape, ranging from Georgia all the way to Maine.  In the late 1800’s a pathogen imported on a tree to the Bronx Zoo spread rapidly into wild popul…

The diamondback moth is a formidable agricultural pest, causing tremendous losses on farms and requiring significant cultural and chemical-based management on both conventional and organic farms.  Dr…

Any podcast’s 100th episode is reason to celebrate.  In Talking Biotech’s 100th episode Chris Barbey interviews its originator, Dr. Kevin Folta, Professor and Chairman of the Horticultural Sciences D…

The herbicide glyphosate has been used for over 40 years and is a relatively safe and effective method to control weeds on the farm, in municipal areas and around the home.  It has been approved for …

Modern cats are a lot like their wild counterparts, with specific traits that were gained through domestication.  Prof. Eva-Maria Geigl is a paleo-geneticist who examines ancient DNA sequences from m…

The annual report by agricultural economists Brookes and Barfoot is a helpful resource to understand the impacts of agricultural biotechnology.  The peer-reviewed report is dense, and contains substa…

Regulation of new technology in food crops is important for many reasons. It is critical to ensure safety, but a robust regulatory system also shapes consumer sentiment.  Today’s guest is Dr. Robert …

Understanding animal stress is important for many reasons.  If we know how the animal brain responds to change it helps us understand habitat destruction and climate effects on population dynamics, a…

Back in 2012 a paper rocked the scientific community.  The claim was that small RNA molecules in dietary plant products could escape digestion, move through the bloodstream, and cause regulatory chan…