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Oct 26, 2018

The Problems Driving Resistance to Bt Crops—and Some Proposed Solutions

By: DOMINIC REISIG, Entomology Today | Bt crops—those genetically engineered to produce an insecticidal toxin from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis—are special due to their benefits: reducing foliar insecticide applications, which increase populations of beneficial insects and minimize environmental harm; reducing pest populations throughout the landscape; and preserving yield, to name a few. Therefore, preventing resistance to Bt crops is important and is usually formalized in a set of Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) practices. Because bollworm is now resistant to two Bt toxin families in cotton, IRM practices may have to change to slow resistance to other Bt toxins.

Oct 25, 2018

Report: Biotechnology, the American Chestnut, and Public Engagement

In April 2018, a team of NC State faculty and students convened a stakeholder workshop to explore opportunities for public engagement surrounding the development, regulatory review, and potential deployment of a genetically engineered American chestnut tree. As perhaps the first GMO designed to spread and persist in the wild, the tree has the potential to restore a functionally extinct species, but also raises important ethical, political, ecological, and cultural questions. This report describes the workshop and its purpose, details the substance of the discussions, and offers the research team’s perspective on lessons learned and ways forward.

Oct 3, 2018

Podcast: Regulate This!: How Genetic Engineering is Regulated, with Jennifer Kuzma

Podcast - Regulate This!: How Genetic Engineering is Regulated Dr. Jennifer Kuzma from NC State walks us through the complicated world of regulations that control how genetically engineering plants and animals make into our world and onto our plates. Really interesting conversation with broad implications for how society regulates complex technologies. Length: 1 hour, 28 minutes

Sep 6, 2018

Changing the Landscape of Graduate Education

Problems related to food, energy and water are becoming increasingly complex. NC State is taking a new approach to prepare the scientists who will solve them.

Sep 6, 2018

‘Changing the Landscape of Graduate Education’

GES Center to launch NSF-funded AgBioFEWS graduate program, blending natural and social sciences to train next-gen problem-solvers in agricultural biotechnology.

Sep 6, 2018

‘Changing the Landscape of Graduate Education’

NC State’s AgBioFEWS program will blend natural and social sciences to train next-generation problem-solvers in agricultural biotechnology.

Aug 27, 2018

Gould quoted in C&EN: Building bioethics into the future of life sciences innovation

Scientists who refuse to engage with ethicists and the public will find themselves at a disadvantage. “Just because you are a scientist and have invented something doesn’t mean you have authority over it,” says Fred Gould, an entomologist and co-director of the Genetic Engineering & Society Center at North Carolina State University. He points to the National Academies report’s advocacy of participatory decision-making. Resistance from the science community based on ethicists and the public not fully understanding the science wears thin, he says. “You are a pretty poor scientist if you can’t explain what these things are about to an ethicist,” he says.
Roundup weed killer contains the pesticide glyphosate.

Aug 17, 2018

NBC News – Gould: Exposure levels determine toxicity of glyphosate

“With all things, it is the level of exposure that matters,” said Fred Gould, head of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. “The poison is in the concentration.”
Scientists have found a fast and cheap way to edit your food’s DNA

Aug 13, 2018

Washington Post: Kuzma calls for mandatory regulatory process for gene-edited foods

“We need a mandatory regulatory process: not just for scientific reasons, but for consumer and public confidence,” Kuzma said. “I think the vast majority of gene-edited foods are going to be as safe as their conventionally bred counterparts. But I don’t buy into the argument that’s true all the time for every crop.”
Art's Work in the Age of Biotechnology | open call for art

Aug 9, 2018

Call for art for 2019 “genetic futures” exhibit

open call for art | 2019 Genetic Futures exhibit | Now accepting proposals from artists, scientists, designers, and makers. The NCSU Libraries, NC State’s Genetic Engineering and Society Center (GES), and the Gregg Museum of Art & Design have issued a public call for art for the upcoming exhibition Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology: Shaping our Genetic Futures.
Todd Kuiken speaking at iGEM 2017, where he served on the Human Practices committee. Credit: iGEM Foundation and Justin Knight.

Aug 6, 2018

EU ruling on gene-edited plants and GMOs is more status quo than disruptive

Todd Kuiken speaking at iGEM 2017, where he served on the Human Practices committee. Credit: iGEM Foundation and Justin Knight. Prior to the recent European Union ruling regarding gene-edited plants,…

Jul 19, 2018

Kuzma Urges a Broader Conversation on Underlying Ethics of Gene Editing Technology

Source: Financial Express This Man Rewrites the Genetic Code of Animals By: Aki Ito | July 19, 2018 In this article about Dan Carlson, a scientist bioengineering hornless cattle, Jennifer…

Jul 12, 2018

Publication: How social science should complement scientific discovery: lessons from nanoscience

Dr. David Berube, Professor of Science and Technology Communication, and GES Center affiliate, has published the following article in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research.  How social science should complement scientific discovery: lessons…

Jul 9, 2018

Genome Editing in Agriculture – CAST Issue Paper

PRESS RELEASE: July 9, 2018. Twentieth-century advances in plant and animal breeding did much to help meet the increasing food, fiber, feed, and fuel needs of an expanding world. But continued population growth, resource shortages, climate change, and pest prevalence make sustainability a daunting yet essential task. Genome editing is a powerful new method that enables unprecedented control over genetic material and offers the opportunity to make rapid advances that influence agricultural practices.

Jun 29, 2018

Pesticide Resistance Arms Race

In this episode we talk with Fred Gould, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences, about the rising rates of herbicide and pesticide resistance, the current state of the resistance arms race and what we need to do in the future to protect our crops and human health from resistant pests. Length: 15 minutes

Jun 26, 2018

10 of the Most Diabolical Crop Pests in North Carolina

Ten of the most vexing pests that prey on agriculture in North Carolina.

Jun 25, 2018

Kuzma quoted on ecological impacts and regulation of GE products

To critics, the case laid bare glaring weaknesses in the country’s oversight of genetically engineered, or GE, crops. While biotechnology’s defenders say the process is already overly rigorous, others have long argued that regulations, which haven’t changed significantly since 1987, don’t do enough to protect agriculture and the environment. Neither the USDA nor any government agency must weigh the full social, economic and ecological impacts of GE products, says Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. “There’s really no place that’s looking at this broadly from a risk-benefit perspective.”
Weeds Are Winning in the War against Herbicide Resistance, Scientific American, By Brooke Borel, June 18, 2018

Jun 18, 2018

Kuzma in Scientific American article: Weeds Are Winning in the War against Herbicide Resistance

callout heading=”Dr. Jennifer Kuzma quoted in Scientific American” headingtype=”h3″ headingicon=”noicon” textalign=”textleft” url=”http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6390/728″ target=”true” type=”basic” bgcolor=”wolfpackred” mediaposition=”left” margin=”thinmargin”]The article references the review by Kuzma and GES colleagues Dr. Fred Gould and…
Students eat ice cream at legislature

Jun 5, 2018

Graduate Students Share Stories with Legislators

More than 30 graduate students and their leaders from across the state were on hand for Graduate Education Day 2018 at the N.C. General Assembly recently to share their research and advocate for the value of graduate education.

May 17, 2018

What Happens If We Run Out? Pesticide Resistance Needs Attention, Large-Scale Study

How can we slow pest resistance to herbicides and pesticides? NC State researchers say large-scale studies are needed to test new strategies.