August 12, 2015

Signal to Noise Special on GMOs

A new issue of Signal to Noise is all about GMOs - from the basic science to patents and environmental impact.

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

One of the most rewarding things I did in graduate school was to join a group called "Science in the News," which is entirely run by graduate students and has the ambitious aim of educating the public about science. One of these initiatives is Signal to Noise, an online magazine released a few times a month, and the most recent issue is all about GMOs!

The articles here start from the basics: what foods are genetically modified, and how long have we been doing this? We next look at the GMO foods available now: how does eating GMOs affect organ toxicity and allergies? And what’s the health impact of the pesticides that we use on GMO crops? We also asked about the environmental effects of growing Roundup Ready and Bt crops, and the potential for GMOs to have an unintentional effect on genetic diversity. We looked at legal and policy issues—how does the patenting process affect companies and farmers? How are GMOs regulated in the US and in Europe? How have GMOs changed farming culture? And finally, we took a look at the future of GMOs: How can GMOs help us to fight world hunger and nutritional deficits in the developing world? And what technologies will we see in the next wave of genetically engineered crops?

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The sum of all of the articles is a pretty nuanced position, that I think is basically right (and what I've been saying for a while now). In essence, genetic engineering is a technology that has great potential, and already has important applications. At the same time, as with any technology there are possibilities for abuse or misuse, and we need to be mindful of those.

Am I crazy in my perception that cooler heads are beginning to prevail on this issue? Also btw - did they steal the idea for the logo from my back?

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