Talking Biotech Podcast

Tweet    When we think of the plants that are important to us, we might think right past the magical shrub that gives us coffee berries.  Coffee underpins major economies in the world, has an interesting history, and its sustainable production is threatened. We’re joined by Hanna Neuschwander from World Coffee Research.  Hanna describes what coffee is, its natural history, species in the wild, and breeding efforts to improve coffee.  We also discuss the major challenges that stand to harm coffee production in the future.  Hanna Neuschwander  World Coffee Research worldcoffeeresearch.org – website /worldcoffeeresearch – facebook @WCoffeeResearch – Twitter @wcoffeeresearch – Instagram Hannah Neuenschwander (Co-Host) @hannahaggie2014 – Twitter @texanmeetsmidwest – Instagram www.texanmeetsmidwest.com – Personal blog https://www.facebook.com/texanmeetsmidwest/ – Facebook page for blog Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet Recent unpublished reports are popping up on the internet that suggest that the herbicide glyphosate is showing up at dangerous levels in a variety of places.  These range from breast milk, to beer, to wine, to potato chips.   There are a number of laboratories and kit manufacturers that are excited to provide a means for such analysis.  In the hands of the untrained, such kits and data are nothing more than in invitation for misinterpretation or misuse. In this week’s podcast we talk to two experts that routinely measure rare compounds.  Dr. Shelley McGuire discusses her findings as a lactation specialist, describing the results in her recent paper on glyphosate in breast milk.  Dr. Thomas Colquhoun speaks about the methods and kits, along with what the alleged findings in wine really mean. Twitter @mcguiresmiguire Thomas Colquhoun’s website   Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet   Dr. Leena Tripathi is a leader in banana biotechnology, working at IITA in Nairobi, Kenya.  She has been publishing prolifically on a number of solutions for banana disease resistance using genetic engineering.  In this episode of Talking Biotech she discusses the disease threats to banana production in Africa, and the solutions she has identified.  She also touches on the social climate, farm structure, and attitudes toward the technology.  You’ll hear many thoughts that will surprise you! Twitter @@IITA_CGIAR Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet If you tell a stranger that something called “delta endotoxin” is as close as it gets to a miracle, they’d likely respond in one of two ways.  They’d either want you to seek counseling, or find out if they can get it injected into their faces.  Humans have love-hate relationships with toxic compounds, and delta endotoxin, or “Bt toxin” is no exception. This natural protein is toxic to a specific suite of pests, namely caterpillars that consume ag crops.  It has been understood for decades and is widely used in organic farming. It also is the protein used to protect corn and cotton from insect damage, and now is being used in eggplant in Bangladesh.  The use of this natural insecticide has massively cut the use of broad-spectrum insecticides. Today on the podcast it is a pleasure to talk to Dr. Fred Perlak.  Dr. Perlak worked with Bt from the beginning.  From understanding its role in insect physiology to identifying the gene, to helping introduce it to plants, he knows this topic as well as anyone.  We discuss history and applications. In the second half your questions are answered.   Twitter @FredPerlak Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet Cherries are a perennial favorite fruit.  However, they are a tree, so their genetic improvement is slow.  Episode 27 features Dr. Amy Iezzoni, as she discusses cherry genetic origins and efforts to improve cherry through traditional breeding. In part two, your questions are answered, namely questions about reports of glyphosate in urine, breastmilk and Germans. Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet The story of how genetic engineering saved the Hawaiian papaya industry gets lost in the discussion of agronomic crop uses of the technology.  This story is important because this is not just a story of technology. It is the story of people. Joni Kamiya tells the story of growing up on her family’s farm and the changes that came with the virus and how the genetically engineered saved production of this traditional crop for their family. Follow Joni on Twitter at @HIFarmersDtr, and her blog at hawaiifarmersdaughter.com  The second part of the podcast visits with Cornell plant virologist Dr. Dennis Gonsalves.  He studied papaya ringspot virus in the 1970’s and 1980’s, designing clever solutions to treat the disease that plagued the industry in his home state.  Into the 1990’s he teamed with others working in genetic engineering to develop a solution for papaya.  While the first half of his interview is about the disease and the techniques used to solve it, the second half is about the satisfaction of being a kid growing up, going to university, studying under brilliant and kind supervisors that taught him to think about science, but to also think about people. This is a wonderful interview with a warm and charming wayward Hawaiian boy that returned home to rescue an small-farmers growing a traditional crop in the place he loves.  He also touches on how activists derail technology deployment, and how public-sector scientists need to step up in efforts to create products and engage the public. Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM  

Tweet In today’s Talking Biotech Podcast the first guest is Keira Havens.   She’s the CEO of Revolution Bio, a company turned non-profit that is interested in using the power of plants to introduce the public to the power of genetic engineering.  They have found good public support for genetically engineered flowers, and hope that this technology is a gateway to a broader understanding of the technology.  In part two, Dr. Natalia Peres talks about the EWG’s Dirty Dozen, especially as the concept applies to strawberries.  Strawberries are EWG’s #3 “dirty” fruit on their agenda, and Dr. Peres tells the facts about the pesticides used and their relative risks.  Spoiler alert– your strawberries are safe, right out of the field! Revolution Bioengineering = @revolutionbio Natalia Peres, strawberry pathologist    Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet Improving plants with biotechnology is not just genetic engineering, it is using tools of molecular biology and genomics to guide traditional breeding strategies.  In this episode Dr. Harry Klee from the University of Florida discusses how the Plant Innovation Center utilizes such strategies to breed tomatoes with superior flavors.  In part two, University of Manitoba student Chelsea Boonstra discusses how a classroom assignment turned into a social media sensation, and became the public face of her family’s dairy operation.  We discuss the role of the farmer as a trusted source of ag information, and the importance of telling their stories using online media. Dr. Klee’s website – Here’s where you can get tomato seeds for a small donation to the breeding program!  The Garden Gem Facebook Page     On Twitter:  @kleelab More Chelsea Boonstra:  Chelsea’s Boonstra Farms Video on YouTube   On Twitter:  @cboon6 or @forevrfarmgirl   Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM    

Tweet Several weeks ago there was a request for Talking Biotech Podcast to interview Prof Graeme Martin.  Prof Martin has a long career in animal reproductive biology, and in recent times has had more focus on how to test new strategies in supporting livestock, crops and the nation’s resident biodiversity.  His “Clean, Green and Ethical” approach to animal production dovetails with novel strategies to sustainably raise crops in no-till systems as part of the Future Farm 2050 Project.  The discussion describes some simple, logical, low-cost techniques to increase crop production with less impact on the environment and in the context of minimal water resources.  This was a wonderful interview that jogs out-of-the-traditional thinking to address key issues in farm sustainability going forward. Please visit (and Like!) the Future Farm 2050 Facebook Page Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet Biotech innovation in cassava is necessary to speeding genetic improvement of this food staple. Together with breeding efforts, the new resources derived define new crops that primarily serve the developing world.  Yet the Western world knows so little about cassava. This episode of Talking Biotech is part two of the series on cassava genetic improvement.  Dr. Barbara Schaal speaks about its genetic origins, migration and domestication.  Dr. Nigel Taylor describes the extensive work ongoing at the Danforth Center on cassava, and focuses on installation of virus resistance.

Tweet Cassava (Manihot esculentum) is a critical world food crop, the third most consumed staple outside of rice and maize.  It is even more critical because it is a vigorous plant that grows well in challenging areas.  The crop feeds close to 800,000 people worldwide, mostly in Africa, South America and Asia. Production is challenged by a number of biotic and abiotic factors.  Viral diseases move quickly through growing regions, vectored by whiteflies.  The starchy tuber also lacks key nutrients. This Talking Biotech episode features Prof. Herve Vanderschuren from the University of Leige. He is part of a team that has engineered key enzymes into cassava to enable the production of Vitamin B6, a key nutrient.  The second part speaks to Dr. Laura Boykin, a scientist using bioinformatics tools to characterize the whitefly pest that spreads the devastating viral diseases.  She also speaks passionately about the people of eastern Africa, and presents a palpable mission to bring them the technical tools and computational know-how to address their continent’s pressing food problems. Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet This eThis episode of Talking Biotech invites you to be the investigator and data collector.  The internet is littered with images that claim animals will not eat GMO corn, which is curious because 80% of it goes to animal feed.  We have arranged to test that hypothesis through Biology Fortified.  If you visit this URL you can make a donation and receive a kit that you can use to generate data for this effort.  The podcast discusses the experiment and the acquisition of 2000 lbs of corn to do it!   The second part is Dr. Lee Panella talking about the domestication, biology and breeding of sugar beets.  For such widely used, versatile and profitable crop, we know so little about it.  Dr. Panella provides some new insights into this important agronomic crop. Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet Today chemophobia rules supreme.  From fast-food establishments to farming critics, everyone seems to be an expert, except the experts! Talking Biotech #19 features The SciBabe, Yvette d’Entremont (@TheSciBabe).  She has experience in the chemical industries and a background in applied toxicology.  This is a light-hearted discussion of “toxic”, what it means, and what we really need to worry about.  In the second part, Kevin Folta answers your questions, covering Dr. Don Huber, IARC and glyphosate, using his slides for your presentations, and student tracts in science communication. Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet The topic of “pesticides” is the new frontier in the opposition to agricultural biotechnology.  Opponents of the technology blame new genetic improvement methods for perceived increases in chemical controls for plant, animal and fungal pests.  However, scientists argue that our pest control strategies are increasingly focused, less toxic, and work better.  This episode features an interview with Dr. Steve Savage.  He is a life-long expert in chemical control of insects and weeds, and has practical experience in evaluating both organic and conventional strategies. He joins us on Talking Biotech to clarify many of the concerns about pesticide usage. Dr. Savage on Twitter:  @grapedoc His Blog:  Applied Mythology    Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM

Tweet This week we’re joined by Richard Levine, communications director for the Entomological Society of America.  We discuss bees, butterflies, insecticides and some of the current issues in crop protection from an entomological perspective.  We then turn to the idea of promoting artwork using a science podcast, and the important effort to get Dr. Barbara McClintock on the ten dollar bill, replacing some guy. We discuss the barriers to her participation in science, and describe why she would be such a fitting presence on our currency– not just because she was a woman, not just because she was a scientist, but because she broken down barriers. Sign the petition!!!  http://www.barbaraonthebill.com/ Like the podcast?  Please subscribe and review!  Stitcher       iTunes   Player FM