Tag: synbio
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Cashing in on Cellulosic Ethanol: Subsidy Loophole Set to Rescue Corn Biofuel Profits
by Almuth Ernsting (Independent Science News) Subsidies intended for next-generation cellulosic ethanol production are to be applied to a trivial improvement to corn ethanol refining technologies. Since cellulosic ethanol qualifies for much higher subsidies, this will significantly increase corn refinery profits and boost the demand for corn but will do nothing to combat climate change […]
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The GMO Debate: One Student’s Experience of Pro-GMO Propaganda at Cornell University
Robert Schooler (Independent Science News) My name is Robert, and I am a Cornell University undergraduate student. However, I’m not sure if I want to be one any more. Allow me to explain. Cornell, as an institution, appears to be complicit in a shocking amount of ecologically destructive, academically unethical, and scientifically deceitful behavior. Perhaps […]
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Why Kickstarter’s Glowing Plant Left Backers in the Dark
by Antonio Regalado (MIT Technology Review) In any discussion of biohacking, Exhibit A is likely to be the “glowing plant,” the wildly successful 2013 Kickstarter campaign that raised $484,013 to create bioluminescent plants visible at night. Just one problem, though. There is still no glowing plant. The Glowing Plant project, since renamed Taxa Biotechnologies, has […]
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107 Nobel Laureate Attack on Greenpeace Traced Back to Biotech PR Operators
by Jonathan Latham, PhD (Independent Science News) Greenpeace was denied entrance yesterday (June 30) to a National Press Club Event in Washington, DC of 107 Nobel Laureates. The event was ostensibly organised by a scientific group calling itself Support Precision Agriculture to publicise a letter signed by 107 Nobel Laureates demanding that Greenpeace cease its […]
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Webinar: Outsmarting Nature?
Movements & Emerging Technologies Webinars present: Outsmarting Nature? A webinar on Synthetic Biology for Crops and Agriculture What’s the role of synthetic biology in our food system and how does it relate to “climate-smart” agriculture? What are the costs and risks? Host: Tom Philpott Food & Agriculture Journalist with Mother Jones Expert: Pat Mooney Executive […]
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This scientist is trying to stop a lab-created global disaster
Disclaimer: This article is interesting as it expresses the concerns of a scientist deeply involved in the synbio and in particular gene-drive fields (his team figured out how to make dene-drives work!), and highlights just how under-regulated current experiments are. We don’t condone the research described in the article, or necessarily agree with the alternative […]
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Meet the New Stevia! GMOs 2.0 Get Dressed for Success
by Stacy Malkan (The Huffington Post) Our culture is smitten with the notion that technology can save us – or at least create great business opportunities! Cargill, for example, is working on a new food technology that mimics stevia, a sugar substitute derived from plant leaves, for the “exploding sports nutrition market.” Cargill’s new product, […]
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The National Academies’ Gene Drive study has ignored important and obvious issues
by Jim Thomas (The Guardian): ‘Gene drives’ seem to be the ultimate high-leverage technology. Yesterday’s report from the US National Academies begun the job of describing what is at stake, but it missed some important questions. If there is a prize for the fastest emerging tech controversy of the century the ‘gene drive’ may have […]
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European Greens launch new gene-editing resources
New GMOs, an undemocratic authorization process for imports of GMO plants, glyphosate, patents on Life… all of these issues feature prominently in today’s news and political agendas, and because of this, the European Greens/EFA group is reviving its GMO website! In it you will be able to find press releases, articles, videos, brochures and resources […]
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What is Synthetic Biology? The Comic Book
ETC Group have produced a fantastic comic book that explains the issues around synthetic biology, and its attempts to engineer life. You can download the comic book here for free. The comic accompanies a short film which you can watch here.