Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

Modern cats are a lot like their wild counterparts, with specific traits that were gained through domestication.  Prof. Eva-Maria Geigl is a paleo-geneticist who examines ancient DNA sequences from mummified cat remains, and has reconstructed a genetic history of modern cats. Genetic evidence explains their origins and radiation, as well as key traits associated with human relations.# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

The annual report by agricultural economists Brookes and Barfoot is a helpful resource to understand the impacts of agricultural biotechnology.  The peer-reviewed report is dense, and contains substantial information about crop use, yields, production statistics, and ag input use worldwide.  It is a tremendous resource for hard data for discussing crops and the crop protection chemistries used.  Today’s podcast is an interview with Dr. Graham Brookes, the lead author of the report.  We discuss international technology adoption, pesticide use, weed control, carbon benefits, and effects on land use.Website:  PG Economics The Report Discussed:  Environmental impacts of genetically modified (GM) crop use 1996–2015: Impacts on pesticide use and carbon emissions # COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Regulation of new technology in food crops is important for many reasons. It is critical to ensure safety, but a robust regulatory system also shapes consumer sentiment.  Today’s guest is Dr. Robert Potter.  Dr. Potter has a diverse background spanning from molecular biology bench skills through participation in many nodes of the regulatory system.  He explains the importance of regulation and how regulation is performed in the Canadian system. Other topics, like the Bt brinjal, are also discussed. Hosted by Dr. Paul Vincelli :  @PVincell # COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Understanding animal stress is important for many reasons.  If we know how the animal brain responds to change it helps us understand habitat destruction and climate effects on population dynamics, and can provide important information about human impacts, adaptation, and animal conservation.  Understanding the animal neurological and physiological response to stress in models translates well to other animals, including humans.  This week’s podcast is a discussion with Dr. Christine Lattin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Center at Yale University. Dr. Lattin examines stress responses in house sparrows using live imaging so that birds can be studied over and over through time.However, Dr. Lattin has become a target of activists that have engaged malicious, personal attacks against her and her research.  The harassment has intensified into very personal acts of defamation and intimidation for this early career scientist.  We discuss the extreme measures she takes to ethically conduct her research and how her own personal reconciliation of how animals are important to research.  We then discuss what it is like to be the subject of an activist defamation campaign and personal attacks, and how to not just survive it- how to turn it into something positive.The discussion is powerful and emotional, and hopefully will stir further awareness of how scientists are attacked because of their research.Dr. Christine Lattin’s Twitter:  @C_lattinHer website:  www.christinelattin.com PETA wages a vicious attack on Dr. Christine Lattin.# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Back in 2012 a paper rocked the scientific community.  The claim was that small RNA molecules in dietary plant products could escape digestion, move through the bloodstream, and cause regulatory changes in animal physiology.  The concept was that the food we ate could change gene expression in new, unexpected ways.  For those of us studying the literature this was a great breakthrough that seemed impossible– but we all desperately wanted it to be true.  It would open a new area of science and great new avenues of inquiry– possibly even changing the way we approached human disease. But as time moved along our hopes faded.  Papers were published suggesting that the results were artifacts, more icons of potentially sloppy lab practices than revolutionary results.  This week’s guest is Dr. Ken Witwer from Johns Hopkins University.  We sat down and waxed fondly on the 2012 paper and how it has failed to live up to the hypothesis it presented.  The episode of the podcast covers RNAi, how it works, and how this proposed mechanism was plausible but unlikely, along with the data that support/do not support it. The punch line is that no matter how much we want new science to be true, rigorous analysis usually sorts out reality from fiction. Dr. Ken Witwer’s Twitter:  @KennethWWitwer# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

A story exploded in the New York Times claiming that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and a potent herbicide, was detected in 10/11 flavors of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.  The anti-biotech universe propagated the story, implying a dangerous threat from this historically socially responsible product.   There are several important questions here. *Is this an appropriate way to report scientific findings? *Are the results reliable? *Why was Ben and Jerry’s targeted by this activist effort? Today’s podcast is a conversation with Dr. David Oppenheimer, a professor who understands the science of the technology.  Lactation and milk specialist Dr. Shelley McGuire also discusses the appropriateness of the publication and the methods actually required to make such claims.  The story is a fascinating discussion of how we should report science, tied to how activists are now apparently using the media to destroy the reputations of brands that do not capitulate to their demands. Also linked stories by Kevin Folta: Ben and Scary’s or Bogus News Scoop? Ben, Jerry, and the Organic Consumers Association: Tonight You Sleep with the Phishes # COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Dr. Sabina Vidal is a professor at the National Republic University in Uruguay.  Her lab is interested in the genetic improvement of soybean, especially in response to abiotic stress.  This episode talks about her journey, her lab’s approaches, and about the strangling regulations that stop innovation from being implemented.  The over-reaching regulatory burdens eliminate the possibility of researchers in Uruguay from being able to release their own solutions, leaving Uruguay (a country where almost 100% of income comes from ag) farmers to plant seeds from large US companies. Hosted by Dr. Paul Vincelli  Twitter:@Pvincell# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Today’s genomics explosion has foundations in seminal discoveries in molecular biology almost 50 years ago.  Today’s guest, Sir Richard Roberts, was a pivotal figure in a number of these areas. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 as a co-discoverer of the intron, a part of many eukaryotic genes that contains no protein-coding function, yet can have important roles in a gene’s structure as well as mRNA stability and processing.  He shares his memories of the methods that led to the discovery of introns and restriction enzymes. In the second part of the podcast he discusses the important role of the Nobel Laureates as agents of social change.  As decorated experts, the Laureates have provided leadership in a number of social issues, including pressing for application of biotechnology application.Hosted by Chris Barbey, Graduate Student in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Florida. Twitter:  @ChrisRBarbey# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Neonicotinoids (neonics) are a class of insecticides based on natural plant compounds that disrupt the insect nervous system. They are used because they have relatively low toxicity on non-insects.  They are applied as seed coatings, so when a seed germinates the water-soluble insecticides are taken up and mobilized throughout the plant, providing protection against insects that feed on it.  The strategy decreases the need for aerial spraying of broad-spectrum insecticides.Because of these attributes, neonic use has increased significantly. As usual, when a single strategy is employed there can be collateral effects. Dr. John Tooker from Penn State University describes his work on today’s podcast.  Dr. Tooker examines a situation where the reliance on neonics has led to problems with other pests. This reminds us that integrated pest management is important, that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and that we have to exercise care in monitoring unanticipated effects of insecticide use.Dr. Tooker’s website Follow on Twitter:  @jftooker# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.

Domestication Dr. Lazaro Peres  De novo domestication also has the potential to expand genetic diversity in crops, potentially conferring additional roles in food security.# COLABRATalking Biotech is brought to you by Colabra – an R&D platform that brings your lab’s world-changing research together in one shared space. Learn more at https://www.colabra.app/# TALKING BIOTECHTwitter: https://twitter.com/talkingbiotechWebsite: https://www.colabra.app/podcasts/talking-biotech/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colabrahqThe Talking Biotech podcast is distinct from Dr. Kevin Folta's teaching and research roles at the University of Florida. The views expressed on the show are those of Dr. Folta and his guests, and do not reflect the opinions of the university or Colabra.