Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Bio-Talk-Nowledge-y
Communicating the Science of Science Communication
Kevin M. FoltaProfessor and Chair
Horticultural Sciences Department
kfolta.blogspot.com@kevinfolta
"There is a path to truth and sincerity that you must guard and defend“
-- Teruyuki Okazaki
1. Misuse of Science1. Bad experiments, bad data, big impacts.2. Good experiments, misrepresented.
2. What are your problems, your solutions?
Misuse of ScienceFor fame, fortune and political victories
There is money to be made in manufacturing risk.
Activists can hijack venues that appear scientific
Predatory publishing allows publication of work that lacks scientific rigor
What we’re seeing
Bad science --- lots of press!
Good science incorrectly interpreted
Manufacturing Risk
What are some facts about science and publishing?
-- It is an ugly process!-- It is the gold standard. -- Everybody wants to be number 2!-- Good science grows. -- Science careers are tough. A breakthrough changes everything.
Number of Starbucks
Organic food sales
Wi Fi hotspots
Manufacturing the Perception of Riskconfusing correlation and causality
Manufactured Risk
Scientist claiming mysteriousGMO organism that causes
disease in humans, livestock and plants (>8 years, no evidence)
Statistically-insignificant work with missing controls
http://farmandranchfreedom.org/letter-dr-huber-roundup-animal-miscarriage-infertility/
Seralini et al 2012Figure 3
Bad Science and the “Link” to Tumors
Moms Across America
True or False?
Kathage and Qian 2012
Good Science,Badly represented.
Change in herbicide use
Change in insecticide use
What the Report Really Said:
You could detect glyphosate at a few ng / m3
Measured 3-100 m outside of field.
Glyphosate replaced other herbicides
The use of GM cotton has reduced insecticide use, massively
How do we possibly know what to trust?
If it is true, more scientists will get invovled and the discipline will expand.
Rely on peer-reviewed research, not websites.
Real breakthroughs will be in the best journals.
Correlations must lead to mechanisms.
GMO 2.0
Kevin M. FoltaAssociate Professor and Chair
Horticultural Sciences Department
kfolta.blogspot.com@kevinfolta
What are some of the challenges in agriculture?
What are some of your solutions?
Technology Exists NOW
Research has been published demonstrating that transgenic techniques can:
Biofortify foods with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients
Grow plants in marginal areas
Grow plants with fewer inputs Efficient use of fertilizersInsect resistanceDisease resistance
Strawberries requiring less fungicide
Strawberries are the most fungicide-intensive crop
Overexpression of the NPR1 gene allows them to grow in presence of high fungal pressure.
Plants overexpressing NPR1 were inoculated with a series of pathogens and moved to warm, humid conditions.
Golden Rice
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Opposition to golden rice cost $2 billion to farmers in developing countries and 1.4 million human years – Wesseler et al., 2014
Cassava
Virus Resistant Cassava (VIRCA)
Biocassava Plus (BC Plus)
250 million depend on cassava
50 million tons lost to virus.
X
X Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Golden Bananas Beta carotene producing
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Survives moderate drought, especially at key times like flowering It is based on overexpression of a maize stress gene
Non transgenic transgenic
X
X Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Allergy-Free Peanuts
Peanut – RNAi suppression Ara h2
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Allergy Free Wheat Using RNAi to repress gliadin levels
BS2 TomatoA pepper gene in tomato eases black spot and wilt.
X
X Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
High Anthocyanin TomatoA transcription factor excites anthocyanin production in fruits
X
X Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
Longer shelf life too.
Acrylamide Free, non Browning Potatoes
X
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Non Browning ApplesSilencing a gene that leads to discoloration
X
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Small Business!X
Grapes resistant to Pierce’s Disease
X
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
Virus Resistant Beans Embrapa, Brazil
Important Central American Crop
transgenic
Non-transgenic
Improved Oil Composition
One acre of omega-3 producing soybeans yields as much oil as 10,000 fish!
Stopping Citrus Greening
Spinach defensin
NPR1
Lytic peptides
Many show promise
Earliest deregulation is 2019
Edible Cotton Seeds!
Gossypol- free
Defense compound to protect seeds
Protein rich seeds could feed 500 M people
Transgenic cotton with suppressed gossypol synthesis
Edible Cotton Seeds!
Chestnut blight has destroyed the American Chestnut.
A single gene confers resistance to the disease.
Not food… so deregulation is an interesting question.
Bacterial Wilt in Bananas
>70% of calories for some areas
GM trials in Uganda
X
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
Where to Learn More About the Pipeline?
www.isaaa.org
National Academies of Sciences
Academics Reviews
@kevinfolta
Illumination (blog)
Biofortified.org
Genetic Literacy Project.com
gmoanswers.com
Provide a Trail to Good Information
Academics Review : GMOLOL on Facebook : GMO Skeptiform (facebook)Illumination (my blog) :
In Conclusion
We have to be able to separate the legitimate science from that which is a suspect.
We need to be able to better interpret actual science, and note cases where interpretations overstep the data.
What are ways this technology can be used to solve problems, helping farmers, consumers, the environment and the needy?
