Fighting The Agricultural Pestilence Of The Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus

Among all the plant diseases and pests that those in agriculture face, it is often the viral-based conditions that prove the most troubling and difficult to manage. Unlike weed or insect-based attacks that can be combated with various types of pesticides or direct action, viruses have no explicit counter when working in agriculture. Vaccines for […]

Quinua (Quinoa) plants near Cachora, Apurímac, Peru. Altitude: 3800m

Deciphering The Genetic Secrets Of The Pseudocereal Quinoa

Welcome to Miniposts, a series of articles based on posts made to the Bioscription Facebook page. Due to their often lengthy nature, it was decided that reposting them to the main site was appropriate. Please go here to view the original post. In connection to past discussions on food scarcity, changing climate, and using genetic […]

A Bacterial Scourge Continues to Sweep Across Europe

Welcome to Miniposts, a series of articles based on posts made to the Bioscription Facebook page. Due to their often lengthy nature, it was decided that reposting them to the main site was appropriate. Please go here to view the original post. For several years, olive trees in Europe, especially along the Mediterranean, have been […]

Horizontal Gene Transfer in Plants: More Common Than You’d Think

Welcome to Miniposts, a series of articles based on posts made to the Bioscription Facebook page. Due to their often lengthy nature, it was decided that reposting them to the main site was appropriate. Please go here to view the original post. How common is transgenic gene transfer between organisms in the wild? Depending on […]

Debunking Pseudoscientists: RNA From Food Can’t Change Your Genes

As science progresses, new methods are developed to accomplish tasks. Some help medical and agricultural science work faster, others allow completely news ways of doing things. In the business of promoting new crop traits, CRISPR is one example of a revolutionary new technology that opens up new avenues. But it isn’t the only one. In […]

Monsanto’s Bt Corn: Saving Africa One Seed at a Time

Corn has become one of the primary crops grown in Africa over the years, largely in subsistence farming to feed populations. Being a versatile crop that can grow in a variety of environments, especially warmer ones, it is no surprise that corn cultivation has thrived in Africa. Such as in South Africa that has been […]

Banana Bunchy Top Virus: A Century Old Killer

Crop diseases have always been one of the main combatants in the war between farmers and nature. Regardless of the source, whether viral, bacterial, fungal, or other, diseases that affect plant health, growth, and production have devastated every type of crop ever grown. It has only been through strenuous effort that farmers have fought back […]

Book Review: Pandora’s Picnic Basket

First published in 2000 under the title A Consumer’s Guide to GM Food: From Green Genes to Red Herrings, this book was devised by scientist Alan McHughen to act as a fundamental guide to agricultural biotechnology, how it works, and what the science has achieved. It was retitled to Pandora’s Picnic Basket when released in […]

Self-Cloning Eucalyptus

The paper industry, even with the modern trend of digitization of materials and online news and book sources, continues to make the wood pulp market a large commercial force in the world, dominated by the use of Eucalyptus as a backbone for paper production. The use of Eucalyptus as oil has also seen a dramatic […]

The Alpha-Amylase Pea and Weevils

All crops have to contend with parasites and pests, whether of the insect or bacterial variety, and farmers have to create multiple methods to protect their crops and farm yields. For legume farmers and the various types of beans they grow, it is the Bruchus family of beetles that continues to be one of the […]