Tag Archives: staple food

Biofortified GM bananas

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

James Dale is a scientist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). His lab has developed a genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) banana (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in ‘pro-vitamin A’. Here’s the QUT report. This is the ‘super banana’ … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, banana, banana Cavendish, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, breeding, carotenoid, child, conservation, cotton, crop diversity, crop variety, development, East African cooking banana, food security, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, gene, gene gun, genetic modification, iron, land grab, local variety, marker assisted backcrossing, micronutrient, Monsanto, nutrition, patent, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, pro-vitamin A, Provit Banana, research, rice, Scuba rice, seed, soya, staple food, super banana, tissue culture, trade, Vitamin A | 2 Comments

Comparison of agriculture in North America and Europe raises questions about the value of GM

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AgScience:
Researchers led by Canterbury University Professor Jack Heinemann have announced further findings that challenge the benefits of genetic modification. This time their analysis deals with agricultural productivity. They report finding (see here) that the biotechnologies used…

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged America, Asia, biotechnology, crop, development, Europe, food security, genetic modification, law, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, staple food, trade, Walport_Mark, yield | 3 Comments

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

Revisiting the “eat local” Idea

Posted on June 15, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Thought + Food:
I just came across this review of a book called “The Locavore’s Delusion”, and yes, it is a nod to that other book, in case you were wondering! The authors of the book tried to…

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, biotechnology, climate-ready crop, flood, food, food availability, food quality, food safety, food security, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, grocery, local breed, local community, local variety, marker assisted selection, plant_monocot, Scuba rice, selective breeding, staple food, sustainable, trade, transport | 3 Comments

What is biodiverse food?

Posted on June 13, 2014 by argylesock

Ann Tutwiler of Bioversity International tells us why in the 21st century, we need biodiverse food. And she tells us what that could mean. Ms Tutwiler doesn’t mince her words, saying that a need for dramatically increased food production is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged amaranth, banana, barley, biodiversity, biotechnology, cacao, cassava, climate, commodity, corn, crop, development, fertiliser, food, food security, food sovereignty, fossil fuel, foxtail millet, genetic diversity, grain, grass, Green Revolution, grocery, knowledge, maize, neglected crop, oats, pearl millet, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, pollution, potato, poverty, prosperity, public_private partnership, quinoa, research, rice, rye, small millet, smallholder, soil, sorghum, staple food, supermarket, sustainable, teff, trade, water, wheat, wild rice | 3 Comments

Is the GM crops war over? What’s next?

Posted on May 31, 2014 by argylesock

GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops are a fact of life by now. In our interconnected world (remember the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, which might be finalised soon) I think that people who oppose GM crops may have … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, fish, food, horticulture, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, aquaculture, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, commodity crop, crop diversity, development, Dow, entomoculture, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, finfish, fisher, foraging, genetic modification, hunting, insect, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, invertebrate, Monsanto, neglected crop, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, Roundup Ready crop, shellfish, soya, staple food, superbug, superweed, Swaminathan_Monkombu, trade, tradition, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, vertebrate, wild food | 10 Comments

Are GM crops biosafe?

Posted on May 28, 2014 by argylesock

Are GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops biosafe? Here’s a review of how biosafety testing is done. That review is from the lab of Gilles-Eric Séralini. Prof Séralini is famous or infamous for a series of studies about GM crops. … Continue reading →

Posted in human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, biosafety, biotechnology, commodity crop, corn, feed, food, food safety, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, lab animal, maize, mammal, Monsanto, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rat, research, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Séralini_Gilles-Eric, soya, staple food, tumour, vertebrate | Leave a comment

Monsanto’s “Roundup” Herbicide is Destroying Our Bodies

Posted on May 26, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Illuminate:
Photo by http://greenupgrader.com ? From CredoAction.com: In case you weren’t sure yet if the massive use of the herbicide glyphosate – also known as Monsanto’s Roundup – was cause for concern, here’s the sobering takeaway from…

Posted in agriculture, food, human health | Tagged Altzheimer's disease, America, antibiotic, autism, biotechnology, cancer, chelator, child, coeliac disease, diabetes, disease, Europe, food safety, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, hormone, human, law, liver, milk, Monsanto, obesity, Parkinson's disease, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, staple food, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, wheat, woman | 6 Comments

Scuba rice: biotech crop on a fast track towards release

Posted on May 25, 2014 by argylesock

A new biotech rice variety called Scuba or Swarna-Sub1 is going through field trials in India. It’s a long-grained rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) designed to be ‘climate-ready’ or ‘climate-smart’. That is, it’s designed to grow well as climates … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate | Tagged Africa, Asia, backcrossing, biotechnology, breeding, climate, climate-ready crop, crop diversity, crop variety, Department for International Development, development, farmer, field trial, flood, gene, grain, International Rice Research Institute, marker assisted backcrossing, marker assisted selection, paddy field, plant_monocot, research, rice, rice Swarna, Scuba rice, seed, selective breeding, staple food, trade, weather | 6 Comments

Achievements and controversy surrounding rice, vitamins, and GM crops

Posted on May 22, 2014 by argylesock

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the world’s great staple foods. I recommend Oryza for information about rice. For example, here’s an Oryza article about rice, vitamins, and GM crops.

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged beriberi, biotechnology, bird, breeding, brown rice, chicken, crop variety, development, disease, food processing, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, history, knowledge, lab animal, nutrition, plant_monocot, poultry, research, rice, staple food, vertebrate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin E | Leave a comment