Tag Archives: pathogen

GMO breakthroughs and fakethroughs

Posted on March 19, 2014 by argylesock

It can be difficult to know who to believe about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The scientific peer review system is no guarantee of truth, nor are the news media, nor are blogs like this one. Jonathan Latham of the US-based … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, bacterial rice leaf blight, bacterium, banana, biofortification, biotechnology, cassava, development, disease resistance, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, International Rice Research Institute, knowledge, Monsanto, nutrition, oral vaccination, pathogen, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, research, rice, staple food, sustainable, sweet potato, tuber, vaccine, virus | 1 Comment

Is the law about genetic modification out of date?

Posted on November 18, 2013 by argylesock

In the United States, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulates genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) crops and livestock. Heidi Ledford at Nature tells us about loopholes which some researchers now use to avoid the long, costly … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, bacterium, biotechnology, breeding, crop, crop variety, development, DNA, gene gun, genetic modification, law, livestock, marker assisted selection, mutation breeding, pathogen, pest, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, protoplast, selective breeding, trade, transformation | 3 Comments

Irradiated seeds combat world’s most serious wheat disease

Posted on September 16, 2013 by argylesock

Wheat (Triticum spp.) is a staple food in many parts of the world. You can follow my ‘wheat’ tag for more about this crop. Now there are two new varieties to resist a devastating wheat disease. If you’re growing wheat, … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged biotechnology, breeding, crop, crop variety, disease, disease resistance, emerging disease, evolution, farmer, food, fungus, genetic modification, grain, local variety, mutagenesis, mutation breeding, pathogen, plant_monocot, poverty, research, selective breeding, staple food, trade, Twitter, wheat | Leave a comment

The Role and Risk of Coffee-based Development in Ethiopia

Posted on September 15, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Global Food Politics:
Two Farmers in Ethiopia Pick Coffee Cherries, the fruit processed into coffee beans (Image courtesy The Upcoming). A new report issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) claimed that the child mortality…

Posted in agriculture, human health, money and trade | Tagged arboriculture, cash crop, child, coffee, coffee leaf rust, crop, development, disease, farmer, fungicide, fungus, organic, pathogen, plant_dicot, poverty, shrub, trade | Leave a comment

Jumping species: how good intentions spread diseases

Posted on September 2, 2013 by argylesock

Ian Le Guillou at Understanding Animal Research (UAR) tells us how infectious diseases jump between species. These jumps often happen because of things that humans do. Sometimes, the disease jumps to us. Diseases that can infect humans and also other … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, amphibian, apicomplexan, arthropod, bacterium, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, crop, disease, emerging disease, fungus, human, lab animal, laboratory, mammal, naturalised species, parasite, pathogen, pest, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, tree, vertebrate, zoonosis | 5 Comments

Facebook game Fraxinus targeted at beating ash dieback

Posted on August 31, 2013 by argylesock

If you use Facebook you could help with research into ash dieback disease. Yes really, anybody online can do this. Crowdsourcing is a new way of doing science, to me, but here are people who believe it can work. Here … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology | Tagged ash, ash dieback disease, Chalara fraxinea, data, disease, DNA, emerging disease, Europe, fungus, genome, pathogen, plant_dicot, research, technology, tree | 3 Comments

Living With Imported Pollinators

Posted on August 22, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Living With Insects Blog:
Bumblebee Pollinating a Flower Honey bees are under stress in many areas and growers are evaluating alternatives to honey bee pollination. Bumblebees are a potential alternative and the worldwide trade in bumblebees for…

Posted in ecology, miniculture | Tagged alien species, arthropod, bumblebee, ecosystem, entomoculture, hymenopteran, insect, invasive species, microlivestock, parasite, pathogen, pollination, research, trade, vector | 6 Comments

Bees under threat from bumblebee imports

Posted on August 4, 2013 by argylesock

Here in Britain, some market gardeners and amateur gardeners import bumblebees to pollinate crops. Some of them are bringing in bee diseases. Scientists funded by the Natural Environment Research Council say that this may be killing our wild buff-tailed bumblebees … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, horticulture, miniculture | Tagged alien species, apiculture, arthropod, bacterium, bumblebee, disease, disease testing, entomoculture, garden, honeybee, hymenopteran, insect, insecticide, knowledge, law, native species, neonicotinoid, parasite, pathogen, pesticide, pollination, protozoan, research, trade, virus | Leave a comment

Establishing the Cause of Disease

Posted on July 2, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Agriculture Information Bank:
The correct diagnosis of a plant disease and its cause is not always an easy task. In the first instance symptoms may be ill defined which make their association with any organism problematic (Derrick…

Posted in horticulture, human health | Tagged bacterium, disease, fungus, human, livestock, nematode, parasite, pathogen, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, technology, virus | Leave a comment

Biotech crops vs. pests: Successes and failures from the first billion acres

Posted on June 12, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… This is the kind of thing that makes me doubt the promises made for GM crops. Pests evolve. So there’s limited time to enjoy the benefits of Bt crops, and any future crop that makes its own supply … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, knowledge transfer | Tagged antibiotic, arthropod, biotechnology, Bt crop, Bt toxin, crop, evolution, farmer, feed, genetic modification, history, insect, insecticide, livestock, Monsanto, pathogen, pest, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics | Leave a comment