tags: GMOs
2015
June
- 2015 Jun 3
- Ian Malcolm and GMOs
As background, I'm not one of those anti-science anti-GMO activists who think that GMOs are going to kill us all in some unspecified genetically-engineered bioapocalypse. But neither am I some breathless biotech cheerleader who thinks that GMOs are the only way to prevent a world population crash due to global mass starvation and that anyone who opposes GMOs is de facto anti-science. (For one thing, the simple Malthusian model that predicts unlimited exponential growth until resources run out is unrealistic. Verhulst's sigmoidal curve from the logistic equation is a more realistic way to model population growth, but that never really enters into arguments on Facebook anyway.)
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2016
June
- 2016 Jun 10
- Polyphenol oxidase
I only just learned about Arctic® apples, marketed as non-browning apples. They achieve this by adding extra copies of the polyphenol oxidase gene, thereby inducing gene silencing.
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July
- 2016 Jul 18
- Fix the Distribution System Instead of Just Increasing Yields
Standard disclaimer: I am not anti-science by any means and I do not believe that GMOs are intrinsically toxic but I am wary of those who push GMOs without question and who are quick to label those who are wary of GMOs and Big Ag in general as anti-science, especially if they are (1) worried about a Malthusian catastrophe, (2) think that increasing yields is the only way to prevent starvation, and (3) think that laissez-faire capitalism is the only way to efficiently distribute food.
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