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2013-04-11 14:21:58 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Research has shown that the majority of consumers just have more important things to worry about than GMOs, and that even when there are labels and they state they will avoid GMOs, they still buy foods with GMOs. And this is despite anti GMO folks doing their best to whip up a froth made of bad science and poor information. 

Some argue that this lack of interest is due to a lack of education on the subject. For example:

"a survey conducted last year by the B.C. Growers' Association found that 76 per cent of Canadians feel that the federal government hasn't given them enough information on GM foods. Another nine per cent said they’d never even heard of GM foods."

I can appreciate that people want more information, but this isn't 1980. There is a TON of information available online from governments and universities, as well as companies, NGOs andblogs... more »

2013-03-13 02:25:16 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 10 +1s)

Wondering about Colony Collapse Disorder? Check out this introduction by +Biofortified's resident entomologist! http://www.biofortified.org/2013/03/colony-collapse-disorder-an-introduction/

2013-02-26 21:12:52 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Need moar help!

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a great website where you can search by county to see what endangered / threatened organisms live there, and it will generate a CSV or Excel doc with the list. This is great, but what if I have a list of 300 counties!?  Right now, I'm doing this by hand, yay :(

There's gotta be a way to make a tool that will take my list of counties as input, then spit out a CSV with the organisms and associated info by county. I'd like to ask FWS for help, but don't even know what terms to use to describe what I'm looking for.

How can I summarize this in a way that a computer scientist / database person will immediately understand?

2013-02-25 21:56:13 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Seeking experienced users of ArcGIS...

I have multiple poly and line layers that represent areas that should be >10 miles away from my points. When I upload a set of points, I have been looking at each point individually and flagging those that are <10mi from the nearest feature(s) for further analysis.

If I could automate the 10mi analysis part that would save me and my team so much time!! But as a new ArcGIS user, I don't even know enough terminology to search for what I want. It seems like the Buffer Point analysis might play a role...

I'd be greatly appreciative of help! Thanks!    #GIS  

2012-12-18 14:13:55 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Is there a way to link multiple gmail adresses to one G+ account?

2012-12-06 21:27:47 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Hey genomicists! I'm trying to find out the current state of genomics in medicine. The AMA frustratingly has no statement on the topic.
Have you seen any papers on clinical use of genomics / genetic testing?
How much is it used?
Is there any evidence that patients are more likely to make behavioral changes in response to learning their genotype than they are without it? 
What about false alarms, as +Mary Mangan mentioned earlier https://plus.google.com/u/0/115686712405727979216/posts/HTLiHq3rbe1

2012-11-26 23:36:13 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Today, 6 more Notable Women in Science are highlighted at +Double X Science. 

2012-11-26 16:47:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Hoping for some statistics help....

The US Office of Personel Management (OPM) has released the results of the 2012 employee satisfaction survey (files available at the link below). Most of the suevey uses a Likert scale, and they summarize the data as "% of positive responses".

This is the first year that they've asked a demographics question for veterans: "Have you ever served on Active Duty in the Armed Forces?"

OPM has nicely provided summary information for all government employees and I was able to quickly see which questions had a significantly different response for veterans vs non-veterans (http://fedview.opm.gov/2012/Reports/MilComp.sap?AGY=ALL). However, I want to compare veterans vs non-veterans responses for just NIH.

I can get the raw data for NIH from the Public Use Data File (http://fedview.opm.gov/2012/EVSDATA/) where NIH... more »

2012-11-17 21:59:41 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

I just... arg. Don't Hansen et al know that they would be more convincing if they'd stop citing science that was incredibly badly done? I mean, Seralini and Aris? Really?

2012-11-08 21:37:19 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

+Mark Bittmann, supporter of Prop 37, has written what I think is a very important paragraph in a place that might not be seen by many (SoCal Public Radio website). Here is what he said:

[Interviewer] "For the Yes-vote campaign on prop 37, do you think they made a mistake in using the method of scaring people about what might be in their food?"

[Bittman] “I don’t know that I think it is a mistake in general to scare people about what’s in their food but I think there is very little evidence that eating foods that contain GMOs is dangerous, it doesn't mean that its not I just don’t think that its something you can categorically say at this point. I do think that GMOs are overrated and I think that they have done more damage to the environmental landscape than they have helped it. Having said all of that I think it was a mistake to sink to the level that the yesvote had ... more »

2012-11-01 04:03:37 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

This website really disturbs me. Using religion to force an agenda is never ok. It is especially not ok when the agenda is filled with misunderstanding and even outright lies about science. Shame on these religious leaders.

via @kellymoltzen on Twitter.

2012-10-18 20:16:59 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

You know what really bothers me about GMO labels (both mandatory and voluntary)? Inconsistency. It's inconsistent with regard to genetics, and inconsistent with regard to the millions of other factors that may or may not be interesting and/or biologically significant about the food you eat. 

Let's consider genetics first. The argument given by proponents of Mandatory GMO Labels is that they have a right to know about this genetic change. Yet, they ignore many massive genetic changes that occur naturally and those that are human-induced. As cool as it would be for someone like me, it is probably impractical to have the genome of all the plants and animals that go into our food (not to mention the expressome). Yet, there are major changes that we can indicate that have a far, far greater effect on the content of a food than the insertion of a single gene. Let's consider a few.
more »

2012-10-13 20:50:33 (9 comments, 4 reshares, 12 +1s)

This article is a conflicted mess.

First, the author cites the Stanford study that says organic make no difference for nutrition, then says it doesn't matter because organic is really all about the environment. He cites a paper that showed organic yields are lower than conventional (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7397/full/nature11069.html), but this journalist apparently knows better about the subject than the three experts who wrote it because he blows the whole paper off (until the last paragraph). He completely neglected to mention the more recent Oxford review (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479712004264) that also found that organic is not as good for the environment as people believe it to be.

He then proceeds to fall for the fallacy that organic is all small vegetables and conventional is all large grain for feed. He blames everythingbad... more »

2012-10-05 22:57:05 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

I've mentioned YNAB to more than a few friends in the past few months, with quite a few wanting to know more - so I wanted to write a quick testimonial and attempt to convince everyone to use this amazing software. No I am not being paid for this endorsement, but they should pay me! :)

The Problem

When I was working on my thesis, I spent a lot of money at restaurants and on other things. I was like, "I deserve it, I'm working on my thesis!" Then, I had a rather expensive cross country move. Then, I started my new job and I was all,  "I'm a grown up, I have a real job, so I can spend lots of money!" Except my "real job" actually doesn't pay that well. At all.

Understandably, my spouse wasn't happy with me. He had been attempting to budget for the past few months. Yet, before that, he was all, "I'm in lawsch... more »

2012-10-03 14:04:26 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

There are a lot of assertions made by Benbrook that just aren't supported. 

Benbrook says "Applications later in the growing season will be more likely to lead to residues in silage or forage crops. As a result, herbicide residues in milk, meat, or other animal products might become more common."
Citation, please! Also, how is this different than any other farming system that uses herbicides? Consider the example that I pointed out earlier - how can late applications of glyphosate to wheat and barley be blamed on GE when there is no GE wheat or barley?

Benbrook gives us a long list of problems seen with glyphosate (parenthetical insertions are mine): 

"A long list of environmental effects can be triggered, or made worse, by the more intensive herbicide use required to keep pace with weeds in farming systems heavily reliant on herbicide-resistantc... more »

2012-10-03 13:47:38 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

I don't know why, but Benbrook uses pounds of active ingredient as his measure of pesticides. This makes no sense at all because we all know that not all pesticides are created equal. The environmental impact of a pound of 2,4-D is not the same as the environmental impact of a pound of glyphosate. His system is like saying that a pound of aspirin is the same as a pound of morphine. Obviously they have very different effects even though the weight is the same! 

I don't personally have the time right now, but it would be very interesting to see Benbrook's analysis redone with a different measure of pesticides. For example, researchers at Cornell developed a system called EIQ or environmental impact quotient (http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/eiq/). Now, it's not perfect - no system would be. But this system takes into account the following factors:

DT = dermal... more »

2012-10-03 13:46:00 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Benbrook's thoughts on resistant weeds has some incomplete conclusions, in my humble opinion.

He says that "Glyphosate resistant (GR) weeds were practically unknown before the introduction of RR crops in 1996." This is true (see graph below - glyphosate is a glycine), but how much was glyphosate used before 1996? I'm going to guess not much. Benbrook says it was in use for 20+ years, but how much and on what crops?

As use of a pesticide increases, we see an increase in resistance developing no matter whether we are talking about a herbicide and weeds, a fungicide and fungus, etc. With the advent of glyphosate resistant crops, we saw a huge increase in the use of glyphosate. Of course resistance developed. Benbrook says Monsanto reps claimed resistance wouldn't develop, but of course that's what they would say. It's silly to think resistance wouldn't... more »

2012-10-03 13:15:25 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Reading through Benbrook's latest report on pesticides and found a confusing paragraph. What do you think: 

"In light of its generally favorable environmental and toxicological properties, especially compared to some of the herbicides displaced by glyphosate, the dramatic increase in glyphosate use has likely not markedly increased human health risks. Because glyphosate cannot be sprayed on most actively growing, non-GE plants, residues of glyphosate in food have been rare, at least until the expansion ~ 2006 in the number of late-season glyphosate applications on wheat and barley as a harvest aid and/or to control escaped weeds. Presumably as a result of such uses, 5.6% of 107 bread samples tested in 2010 by the U.K. Food Standards Agency contained glyphosate residues [9]. Three samples had 0.5 parts per million of glyphosate [9], a relatively high level compared to the other... more »

2012-09-03 20:45:38 (15 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

We've all seen claims thrown around that "one pound of beef takes x pounds of grain / y gallons of water". Unfortunately, each group making these statements are using different parameters which means that the numbers lack context and can't be compared. 

In having a nice twitter convo with Jesse ‏@cowgirljesse and Amy ‏@KyFarmersMatter an idea came to me - it may be crazy but I would like to see it through if possible.

What if we made an infographic based on a scale with the two sides balancing? On one side would be all the inputs needed to bring one beef cow to slaughter (grass, grain, hay, medicine, water, etc). On the other side would be all the products that can be made from one beef cow (pounds of meat, bones with note of what they can be used for, hide, etc). 

This sort of information, if we can find an accurate source, would provide clearinfor... more »

2012-08-22 01:32:16 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Would you like to see young residents and the elderly interact more in a neighborhood?

My friend has started this drive to get a program started in her neighborhood.  She needs 500 votes and it will be completely paid for by PNC Bank. The project is pretty modest but the results could be immense in this neighborhood.

Let's see what Google+ can do. Please vote and/or share this if you want to help. Only takes a minute or two. 

http://www.pncneighborhoodwishlist.com/preview.aspx?projectID=94

2012-08-22 01:27:35 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Too exhausted to blog after writing all day for work and bored with video games, I've been on a huge reading kick lately. Thank goodness for e-books from the local library.

I just finished Raising Stony Mayhall and wanted to encourage others to read it. Zombie stories are all too typical but this one is an entirely fresh take on the undead. I can't say too much without spoiling it - but will emphatically say it is worth a read. Although, the zombie nightmare I had when I was about halfway through wasn't so great. Now I'm off to non-fiction and less scary things for a while :)

2012-08-21 00:58:58 (14 comments, 2 reshares, 6 +1s)

I'm open to other ideas, but I see GMO labeling as the same thing as vegetarian labeling (I'm vegetarian and while I'm not religious about it, I do really prefer to avoid animal byproducts). 

On the one hand, we have voluntary negative labels "GMO free" ("organic" also means made without GMOs) and "Vegetarian" or "Vegan". That goes hand in hand with voluntary labels of "contains GMO"  (such as: "engineered to contain more omega3s") or "contains animal products" (such as: "proudly made with American beef"). It's not that there is anything different health-wise about GMOs or animal products, but for various reasons, some people want to avoid them. Voluntary labeling meets that demand and provides choice.

We have existing regulations to ensure these sorts of labels are truthful, and a legals... more »

2012-08-19 23:53:24 (33 comments, 3 reshares, 5 +1s)

Reason why I don't buy organic #156. 

At the Bethesda Farmers' market this morning, I chose a stand that was selling sweet corn. It was all organic, which I normally don't buy, but the person I was with said that this stand had the best stuff. Their corn was more expensive - $4.50 vs $3 for 6 - but I didn't realize that till after I'd paid. The leaves were nice and green so I was looking forward to some yummy sweet corn. Imagine my surprise when I came home and found this. 

One ear was lovely. One had very poor tip fill. Two had insect damage at the top (one was an earworm and one was a rootworm). Two were badly damaged by insects and had various fungi growing all over the ear, so I threw them away. I do not take risks with aflatoxin, thank you very much. So, for $4.50 I got less than 4 ears of corn.

It tasted ok, but sadly it wasn't even that tastyo... more »

2012-07-23 20:28:07 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2012-07-13 18:04:49 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

Beginner Tip - Using the plus & its implications.

I've been using Google+ for a few days and I think it's a game-changer for talented professionals for a handful of reasons. One of the most important of which is the opportunity for one little "@" or "+" character to pull really talented people into real conversations that have a valuable outcome. If you do nothing else with Google+, definitely learn to WISELY use this ONE feature. Basically, type a "+" in front of the name of someone using Google+ to automatically link them to your post and also let your readers find them too.

The ease-of-use, direct connection to experts & talent on a given topic/task, in an ad-hoc & casual environment and the mix of real-time but in-depth information that you can share and others re-share and dissect is definitely a different experience.... more »

2012-07-13 13:54:34 (12 comments, 4 reshares, 5 +1s)

"Previously isolated gene pools from some of the 25 distinctly different species of apples found throughout the world are now brought in contact with each other and gene transfer among apple species occurs. Agriculturalists are charmed. Naturalists are alarmed." 

In what year did this happen? 2000? 1990? Nope! 8000 BC :D Some things never change. Lovely history of apples from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/maia/history.html 

Wondering what ancient apples look like? Check out a rose bush after the petals have dried. Apples are the same part of the plant as the rose hips. You can see the resemblance in the image below of crab apples. Yes, apples and roses are related. They're both members of the family Rosaceae.

Now, think about the genetic and physiological changes that had to happen, all driven by humaninte... more »

2012-07-13 13:17:07 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Trying to figure out how to start a shared circle for discussion of how to conduct targeted science communication for thought leaders such as Michel Pollan and Mark Bittman.

2012-06-22 15:37:48 (18 comments, 3 reshares, 13 +1s)

#sciencegirlthing  is pretty horrible, but I wanted to offer an anecdote as a caution against assuming it's all bad.

After the USA Science and Engineering Festival (Washington DC in April), I got on the metro and found myself sitting across from a little girl age 7 or so with her dad. Right before the doors close, in walks a Science Cheerleader. The girl's face lit up with a huge smile.

For about a 10 minute metro ride, the two discussed the science experiments that they had conducted at the festival, the cheerleader talked about her day job as a scientist, the girl talked about how she liked doing science at school... it was just so awesome how excited the girl was about science. I don't think cheerleading ever came up, but it was an effective icebreaker.

Would I have been as compelling a role model to the girl, in my plain jeans and top? Maybe. But thati... more »

2012-06-20 22:15:45 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

A question from Twitter: do you buy organic?
Short answer: no. But as with everything with me, it's complicated/nuanced.

I don't have a problem with organic per se. Farmers seeking out methods that are better for the environment and choosing to sacrifice a little yield in order to grow better tasting varieties is pretty fabulous, and I'm glad we have a label that allows consumers to seek that out. Unfortunately, what happens in practice doesn't match that fantasy. Are industrial organic farms actually better for the environment, for farm workers, for consumers? Maybe in some cases, and maybe not in others. Then we have the issues of yield to deal with - do we really want to use more land to produce less food, even if it is better food? Organic encourages an inflexible system that arbitrarily avoids synthetic inputs even when we know the synthetic is safer than or at leaste... more »

2012-06-19 18:59:08 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Dear GMO labeling proponents,
Everyone would be a lot more amenable to mandatory GMO labeling if you'd focus on the science and stop calling anyone who disagrees with you a shill. Avoiding making things up would be nice too. 
Love,
One genetic engineer

2012-06-13 19:14:15 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 4 +1s)

Regarding biotechnology, the view of so many (too many) people seems to go like this*:

  There isn't enough research! I know this because I looked on random homeopathic website x and on mainstream news y! I want to run around and talk about how bad GMOs are but I can't be bothered to look at the primary literature or to talk to a scientist or farmer unless they already share my POV!

  Oh, all that research you just showed me? It's all compromised because it's industry funded. Oh, it's not all industry funded? Well, it's compromised because industry funded a building two blocks away from where that one scientist worked. And the rest is compromised because all the scientists want to get a job with Monsanto someday so they all make things up to satisfy their future corporate masters.

  Anyway, we need long term studies! Oh, those multi generationstu... more »

2012-06-12 13:14:57 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

This post is in response to @permagriculture's question" "In your view has any genetic material from #GM Soya found it's way into organic crops?"

The heirloom tomato farmer must keep unwanted pollen from non-heirloom tomatoes from his flowers if he wants to collect the seed for next year. The sweet corn farmer must keep  unwanted pollen from field corn from her silks if she wants her corn to remain sweet. The mandarin orange farmer must keep all pollen away from his flowers if he wants to get the highest price for seedless fruit. Gene flow is a potential problem for any farmer with a specialty crop.

The problem of gene flow and pollen "contamination" is an old problem that exists regardless of genetic engineering. Yes, I am sure there has been some pollen from GM soy that has pollinated organic soy, although without seeing any evidence to theco... more »

2012-06-11 16:10:13 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Studies show farm workers are at high risk for pesticide-related health problems. You't think people would campaign for increased personal protective equipment (PPE) and education for workers. Instead, they winge about trace residues on produce that are below toxic levels by a factor of 10 to 100. To be honest, I think it is narrow minded and selfish to bring up a faux problem and ignore the real problem.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18033725
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21462024

2012-06-08 21:07:13 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 2 +1s)

Attention everyone - if you support publicly funded research and think a plant scientist should be allowed to continue a 30 year research project on fungus resistant olive trees, please check out the post below and sign the petition.

Or, if you're in a hurry, just sign the petition - http://www.biofortified.org/site-map/dontdestroyresearch-italy/

Thank you for taking a moment to support science! 

2012-06-07 16:15:12 (28 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

NIH's definition of 'GMO' is.... well, interesting. Check out the last clause.

"Genetically modified organisms are those in which mutations have been induced by chemicals, irradiation, transposons or transgenesis (e.g., knockouts and injection of DNA into blastocysts) or those in which spontaneous mutations have occurred. "

From the NIH Policy for Sharing Model Organisms.

2012-06-01 13:19:19 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Rebecca Nisbet wrote a thought provoking post about the protest at Rothamsted. I meant to write a short comment but this came out:

It definitely does seem that the real issue at the root of the "GMO debate" is corporate control of the food supply. The subject is so complex that people definitely use the science as a scapegoat. 

I too feel a bit apprehensive about things for the public good being in the hands of corporations. Schools, police, and fire fighting are all public organizations for the public good. In a lot of ways, I think medicine should be the same way. 

Food is a lot more complicated. On the one hand, food is a necessary public good. We all need to eat to live - surely a more basic need than even safety, fire control, or education. However, food is so much more than sustenance. Food is also something to be bought and sold just like any other goods... more »

2012-05-31 17:49:07 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Suddenly illustrated

For her senior thesis communication designer Julia Gordon (at Washington University in St. Louis) hauled off and richly illustrated the GMO chapter from my book, Whole Earth Discipline. One bonus is that her diagrams bring the data from my 2009 book up to 2012.

If you peruse her version, she might appreciate your comment here. On the link below, look for the project on the top left of her home page, titled “Green Genes.“

2012-05-30 19:55:36 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Need some space to deconstruct this tweet: "NIH links say health risk with Bt corn. Monsanto says no. Then risk with all GMOs."

I don't know if NIH (or any of the 27 institutes and centers) has any statements on Bt the protein. I tried a few quick searches, and came up with a ton of information on BT (blood transfusions) and a lot of links to papers about Bt hosted on NCBI (which is a database of literature that does not judge accuracy of the content). Maybe there is something somewhere that NIH has said on the matter.

Regardless, we need to deconstruct the word risk. Water carries some health risk. It may be contaminated with pathogens or some harmful chemicals. I may not drink enough or drink too much. That doesn't mean water is harmful. When a risk is identified, it can often be mitigated, and in any case always needs to be put into context with other risks.... more »

2012-05-30 14:53:08 (18 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

As we've seen so clearly with the recent "Take the Flour Back" situation in England, rational discussion about agriculture is almost impossible. How has it gotten so bad? Here's how I see it:

Step 1) Organic and/or anti biotech advocacy organizations knowingly or unknowingly spread serious misinformation about biotechnology, pesticides, and non-organic agriculture in general. I don't want to be cynical, but I can't help but wonder how much of the misinformation is knowingly spread because the more fear they spread, the more supporters and donations the advocacy groups get, and the more sales the organic and "natural" products companies get, and the companies sponsor the advocacy groups in a nice little circle.

Step 2) Journalists and activists grab onto that misinformation and perpetuate it in written and spoken form, occasionally adding additional... more »

2012-05-30 02:02:51 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

There's a lot of worry out there about allergens potentially arising from biotechnology. The worry seems to be twofold: 1) that the "new" protein in the biotech crop itself will be an allergen, and 2) that the gene insertion process may somehow change the genetics of the crop to create new allergens.

1) Each "new" protein is very carefully checked in multiple ways. First, genes from known allergens are not used (there was an example where a gene from Brazil nut was used to boost protein balance in corn, but since it was found to be allergenic, the project was trashed). Even before transformation, the gene and the protein sequence are checked against a database of known all known allergens. The purified protein is tested for allergenicity in a variety of test tube and animal tests. Once transformed plants are grown, the whole food is tested for allergenicity and safety via... more »

2012-05-27 16:27:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I fully agree that there are many issues surrounding biotechnology that can't be addressed by science (industrialization, capitalism, monocultures, patents, and a number of other issues). Scientists should consider these as part of the broader landscape in which their research may eventually be released, and should address them in conversations. It is good that activists bring up these issues for public debate.

There are three problems with this, though.

1) Scientists working on biotechnology aren't lawyers or policy makers. They don't have the expertise and background information needed to really talk about these things. The best they can do is express their opinions on these subjects - and many do. This doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy activists, who usually aren't lawyers or policy makers either, who don't have the expertise or background to understand... more »

2012-05-15 20:11:28 (14 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

There have been lots of repeated tweets about the takeover of land grants by Monsanto today. While there is more private funding in academia than I'd like, it's hardly as bad as the anti-Monsanto folks claim. Let's look at Iowa State.

In 2011, Iowa State got $190 million from federal sources, another $32 million from state, city, and local government, and $16 million from other universities and colleges (total of $238 million). $43 million came from corporations, and that's all corporations combined (not just Monsanto). Another $58 million came from non-profits of various types.

At this website you can look month by month at the funding received from each individual agency or company, with the amount and project information: http://www.vpresearch.iastate.edu/researcher/sponfund/ Unfortunately, they don't have it divided by year at that level of detail but you can... more »

2012-05-01 16:22:37 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This is the daughter of a friend of mine who lives near Oklahoma City, OK. Her name is Kayla Annette McCuan. She has been missing since 3:30pm Friday, April 27th. Please repost this picture and help us bring her home safely. If you have seen her please notify the authorities immediately. Her family loves her very much. Thanks for your help.

2012-04-18 18:25:24 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Yeah! Seed companies should label their products as GMO! Oh wait, they do, it's right on the seed bag. So farmers should label their harvested crop and the grain elevators should keep track of that and the processors that hull, grind, crush, extract, etc the grain should keep track of that and the processors who create the final food product should keep track too! Oh wait, their response will be a "may contain ingredients produced with biotechnology" label but that's not very useful. So activists will demand testing but that'll never get passed to be mandatory because of the increased cost so companies will do the testing voluntarily if they feel that will help their sales. Oh wait, companies already have the option for optional testing and many do. Soooo, um, what's the point again?

Saw this goofy photo on Facebook and just had to respond. The reality is that people... more »

2012-04-17 16:27:44 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

A while back, I heard on NPR "250 grams of pollen per cubic meter" or at least that's what I thought I heard. That sounded like a lot of pollen, a ridiculous lot. Turns out, they actually said grains, not grams. Today's pollen count in DC is 1637 grains per cubic meter, so says the Capital Weather Gang ‏@capitalweather. Thanks to them for the clarification!

2012-04-09 22:26:39 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Here's a Tweet that I came across that deserves >140 character conversation:

@Appetite4Profit: @EdoErgoSum new "food rule": don't eat food that requires a War Games like control room. Cc @michaelpollan

There was once a time when American society rejected food that didn't require a control room. Recent rejection of white bread and other "industrial" food is undoubtedly an elitist trend. (see Salon article below)

What's wrong with control rooms? I like to watch shows like Dirty Jobs and How It's Made and lots of stuff is made in places with control rooms. Well run plants are efficient, using less time and materials to produce a product that costs less and lasts longer.

The first "control room food" that comes to mind is Tabasco. Are we to reject Tabasco because it's affordable, instead choosing small-batch... more »

2012-04-08 23:33:08 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Maryland has some shockingly good public parks. Yesterday, the pups and I visited Cabin John and today picnicked at Wheaton Regional Park. Both were busy, full of happy people of all types enjoying the outdoors.

What I am wondering is, what's with the trains? Both parks have mini trains for children, and many of the malls in the area have indoor mini trains. I had (mistakenly) thought that trains would be more important in the midwest. Any ideas on why trains would be so popular here?

2012-04-07 14:06:37 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Yesterday,@BetterBio Tweeted: Under-reported news alert: Monsanto threatens to **SUE** Vermont if GMO-label bill passes: http://j.mp/HUDzGc Please read & RT - thanks!

My response: Are you saying that they shouldn't be able to sue to challenge constitutionality of a law? Who can and cannot? Just curious.

First, I did want to thank Janice Person for pointing out that Monsanto did not in fact threaten to sue. http://monsantoblog.com/2012/04/06/we-said-what-in-vermont/

Second, there are a lot of labeling issues that warrant discussion but here I would like to focus on the legal aspect.

Any thoughts on whether companies should be allowed to challenge laws though the court system? What about non-profits? Should any groups be allowed to sue government agencies (USDA, EPA, etc)? If so, who should and should not be allowed?

Of course,... more »

2012-03-31 02:42:54 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I don't know that much about viruses, so here's a question (albeit a bit fanciful) from a friend:


Is it possible for a virus, for example, to change the genetics of a host cell without killing it?

I have read that much of our (and all other creatures) are remnants of viral infections. That we (and all other creatures) are really chimeras of all those organisms.

Would it be possible to design a virus type organism that could be used to make specific genetic changes by becoming part of the host genetics or dying off after the changes have been made? If possible, which would be the most likely mechanism becoming part of the host or making the changes then dying?

Could a series of viral type organisms be applied in steps, each one producing a small change in the genetics of the host but over a period of steps a large change could be made?
... more »

2012-03-29 03:07:04 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I found a nice summary of US history of food labeling by USDA's Economic Research Service, but it's really old (2000) and is missing some important information.

I'm updating the spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoiID3EuxBOYdGlXYllWZmRzdEVyOXB2VGJoRDJBWkE

Want to help? :)