Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

Drug pipelines are thick with novel compounds that may have an effect on our most insidious diseases.  However, most either fail early trials or are withdrawn because companies don’t see the return o…

The classical assumption was that the modern dinosaur lineage led directly to today’s reptiles. However, a growing suite of evidence has shown that modern birds more closely emulate prehistoric creat…

We must be dedicated to fighting back against false information in food and medicine.  Jeffery Smith is a personality with no scientific training that has used disinformation to taint an important pu…

In this week of technical failures and personal challenges, this week’s podcast investigates the merits of civil conversation.  In an angry online environment, can we use the tools of trust building,…

There is no such thing as bad food, it is just bad diets, so says Craig Good.  Various life events caused him to rethink his relationship with food, and a keen skepticism led him to carefully evaluat…

How does misinformation about genetically engineered crops (GMOs) start and how do we correct it?  These are questions asked by Prof. Robert Bird of the University of Connecticut.  Prof. Bird discuss…

The herbicide glyphosate has been used for decades, with increased use paralleling the adoption of genetically engineered crops. The compound has a strong safety record and international regulatory c…

Today’s podcast features two interviews about COVID19.  The first is an interview with Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.  Commissioner Fried has been an outspoken critic of the state’s…

 Many cancers are much more curable if detected early. However, the current suite of detection methods are slow, expensive and can’t detect a problem until it is advanced. Dr. Steven Quake of the Cha…

Yay for gremlins!  Technical difficulties precluded the planned podcast, but that didn’t stop two good interviews from materializing a the last minute. Cameron Siggs is an attorney in south Florida. …

 The role of Cas9 as an editing/deletion nuclease has been well established, but can it be used to turn genes on?   Dr. Yiping Qi of the University of Maryland has developed a system where Cas9’s spe…

COVID19 is the spectrum of pathologies caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus.  While the pandemic moves well into its second year, the importance of detection in populations cannot be overstated.  However, t…

 Cassava is a staple for one in ten people on earth, grown mostly by small famers tending a few acres. One of the challenges is insect-vectored virus Cassava Brown-Streak Virus that destroys the root…

 He jet-sets around the planet and writes letters to government officials, brandishing academic and military credentials. He speaks with authority as an affiliate of a land-grant university.  His cla…

 The Genetic Literacy Project is a popular science news website.  A diverse set of articles and viewpoints are presented, with original articles and news aggregated from the internet.  Over the last …

 Jack Bobo has been studying food, farming and the associated psychology for decades, asking questions about the choices people make around food. His recent book Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choice…

We have two major problems.  Vanilla is mostly produced in a narrow set of unstable economies and the supply chains are especially vulnerable.  There is massive demand for vanilla flavoring.  The oth…

 Analysis of massive genomic DNA sequence data indicates that gene transfer between similar species actually happened, and did so at a surprising rate.  Today’s podcast with Dr. Luke Dunning of Unive…

 One of the major objections to genetic engineering is that a DNA segment is transferred to the crop, and lands in a somewhat random location.  That’s because genetic engineering largely uses Agrobac…

 Dr. Dan Wilson is a rising star of science communication. His popular YouTube channel Debunk the Funk provides entertaining and evidence-based dissection of issues around science, vaccination and CO…