Published: 18-03-2019
A group of 18 scientists and bioethicists from seven countries has called for a “global moratorium” on all clinical uses of human germline editing to ‘re-engineer’ humans.
Uncertainty versus risk
Published: 15-02-2019
Uncertainties can make it hard to plan ahead. But recognising them can help to reveal new questions and choices. What kinds of uncertainty are there, why do they matter for sustainability, and what ideas, approaches and methods can help us to respond to them?
A need to put farmers back into the discussion
Published: 08-02-2019
Although not directly about genetic engineering in food and farming the article brings up pertinent themes about control of narrative, and therefore practice, regarding the use of antimicrobials in farming – and the need for a more inclusive conversation around the issues.
US academics feel the invisible hand of politicians and big agriculture
Published: 31-01-2019
As universities rely more on industry for funds, researchers taking a stand on health or environment say they’re sidelined. The Guardian newspaper delves into the influence that corporate money can have on academics and scientists, and therefore the accepted framing and narratives around global problems – and proposed solutions.
What care ethics can bring to the GMO conversation
How do we deal with the increasing polarisation in the GMO debate? Care ethics, a theme coming from ecofeminism, allows, according to the authors, to assess technologies “not simply as devices designed to create a certain end experience for a user, but as transformative systems that smuggle in numerous social and political interests”
It’s the End of the Gene As We Know It
Published: 03-01-2019
We have reached peak gene, and passed it and, according to Ken Richardson author of Genes, Brains and Human Potential: The Science and Ideology of Intelligence, we are not nearly as determined by our genes as once thought.
Do the USDA’s new ‘bioengineered’ labels cover up, rather than inform?
Published: 20-12-2018
The new USDA label for genetically engineered foods has failed to make anyone – whatever their views or opinions about GE foods – happy. WHat’s more, that many foods (including many packaged foods) will be excluded from its purview.
Big business circles EU’s consumer protections
Published: 12-12-2018
Corporate lobbyists argue that the innovation principle would boost innovations that could be used to tackle problems facing the planet such as decreasing the impact of animal feed on the planet, while civil society groups believe it leaves regulations vulnerable to corporate lobbyists and worry that it spells the end of the Precautionary Principle – which ensures only safe products reach the EU market.