Gaijin Panty

The biotechnology behind this method claims that these mosquitoes will mate with female Aedes aegypti and their progeny will inherit these modified …

California’s wildfires affected Barbara’s air conditioner. Danny has some advice for cleaning it.

In 2006, plant researchers successfully mapped the genome of rice, the first crop to be sequenced. Today, the list of plants that have had their whole genomes mapped is extensive – from algae to papaya to almonds.

In an article for Wired, Megan Molteni reports that wheat, a key commodity crop, is the latest plant to have its genome fully mapped.

In a Science report published Thursday, an international team of more than 200 researchers presents the first high-quality, complete sequence of the bread wheat genome.

This is significant. As Molteni goes on to write:

For a staple crop that feeds a third of the world’s population it’s a milestone that may be on par with the day its domestication began 9,000 years ago.

Researchers and plant breeders rely on a plant’s genome to map traits to a specific gene. From this, plant geneticists can edit the genes of the plant to exhibit desired traits, such as disease resistance. Thus, mapping plants’ genomes has led to innovations in agriculture that are allowing farmers to grow crops and produce food sustainably.

And in the case of wheat, mapping the stable crop’s genome will allow biotech companies to edit the crop’s genes and enhance uber popular foods like bread.

“Bread is the heart of the meal,” says Dan Voytas, a fellow University of Minnesota plant scientist, and the co-founder of gene-editing agricultural company, Calyxt. “It’s kind of sacred, in the public perception.” Calyxt is among a bumper crop of start-ups racing to bring the first gene-edited products to market; it’s growing a new high-fiber wheat in its sealed greenhouses.

One day, possibly in the not too distance future, those sensitive to gluten may finally get to enjoy bread – featuring reduced-gluten wheat – thanks to the fully mapped genome of this staple crop.

Read the full Wired piece, here.

Since CRISPR was first described in 2005, the gene editing technology’s potential impact on agriculture, human health and the environment has been covered more and more each day.

As Eric Niler writes in a piece for National Geographic, “one way to measure the rise of Crispr and other forms of gene-editing is by scientific publication. From two dozen journal articles in all of 2008, Crispr-related scientific-paper submissions now number 10 per day, and will shortly reach 10,000 total.”

And while a good majority of those studies focus on CRISPR’s human health applications, a significant amount of research has been dedicated to discovering CRISPR’s potential impact on agriculture.

In his piece, “Why Gene Editing Is the Next Food Revolution,” Niler includes an infographic that explores examples of how CRISPR is going to led to real benefits in agriculture – benefits that can help sustain the food supply, reduce food waste and promote environmental health.

Let’s dive into seven of the crops included above, looking at why gene editing is being considered for each.

Chocolate

Cacao trees thrive in tropical environments – specifically regions that are 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south of the equator. Fungi and viruses also thrive in these environments. Unfortunately, this has put the world’s supply of chocolate at risk as entire cacao tree farms are being infected. Compounding this epidemic is climate change, which is expanding environmental conditions ideal for fungi and viruses. Using CRISPR, however, scientists funded by the popular candy brand Mars are hoping to edit the trees’ DNA to withstand fungal and viral diseases in an increasingly warmer world.

Bananas

Following the geopolitical shift that resulted from World War II, the banana industry experienced its own seismic change. In the 1950s, the popular Gros Michel banana had been essentially wiped out globally by Panama disease, a blight that blackens bananas from the inside out. Replacing this popular variety was the less-delicious Cavendish banana, which fills produce sections today. Now the Cavendish banana is under threat from a new incarnation of Panama disease, in addition to other diseases like banana wilt spreading throughout Uganda. Through gene editing, however, scientists are hoping to turn on the gene that enables the Cavendish to resist the blight,  saving the popular fruit from possible extinction.

Grapes

Downy mildew, a powdery fungal disease that destroys grape vines, is costing grape growers nearly $200 million a year to combat. Moreover, the fungal disease is threatening to take down the wine industry as it overtakes vineyards across the west coast. Like bananas, however, scientists are encouraged by the promise of gene editing to alter the genes of grapes (this time turning a gene off) to make it less vulnerable to disease. Not only would wine lovers rejoice, but grape growers would save millions in chemicals to fight the spread of the mildew.

Tomatoes

Surprising to some, the tomato was the first genetically engineered crop to be commercialized. The FLAVR SAVR tomato, as its name suggests, was genetically engineered to have a longer shelf life and better taste. The tomato did not have commercial success; however, geneticists are continuing to study the vegetable fruit, identifying critical flavors that can be gene edited into modern varieties. 

Corn

Corn may be the most recognized GM crop. Today, there are several varieties of GM corn with traits such as insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. And rightfully so. Corn is used for much more than food. The crop is used as feed for livestock, biofuels for our cars, starch, alcohol and other industrial uses. Considering its broad use, it’s critical that corn continue to be able to grow as the climate changes. To ensure this is the case, scientists have identified a gene that allows the crop to produce more grain under drought conditions which they will look to incorporate into modern varieties.

Mushroom

Similar to what has been accomplished with potatoes, researchers are hoping  gene editing can reduce browning and increase shelf life for mushrooms. Gene editing holds tremendous promise to reduce food waste by increasing the time crops stay fresh and enhancing their outward appearance. This is significant considering the amount of food that is wasted each year: enough to feed up to 300 million people, according to the Untied Nations.

Wheat

Gluten sensitivities may seem like a new fad but, for those with celiac disease, gluten is a very real threat to human health. Luckily, scientists are studying gene editing as a method to lower gluten proteins in wheat, resulting in reduced-gluten wheat which may be agreeable for those with gluten sensitivities or celiac disease. Reduced-gluten wheat is a promising new innovation in plant gene editing as researchers progress towards eliminating allergens in plants, like peanuts. Using gene editing to eliminate allergens would increase food safety overall.

Read this article to find out about mushrooms and the steps you can take to deal with mushrooms growing in your yard, lawn, or garden.

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From disease-resistant crops, to agriculture microbials that allow plants to absorb more nutrients from the earth, researchers are identifying various ways biotechnology can help feed a growing and warmer world without wrecking the environment.

In a piece for Massive Science, Marco Giovannetti with the Gregor Mendel Institute explores why GM crops are better for the environment than you think. Too often, GMOs are recklessly grouped in with agriculture practices that hurt the environment, however, as Giovannetti explains:

According to the data: not really. GM crops appear to be just as sustainable and productive as non-GM crops, if not more so.

Giovannetti goes on to note that in both aspects of “sustainability” – productivity and biodiversity – GM agriculture has outperformed non-GM crops.

“… cultivating GM crops has proven better for biodiversity than the conventional alternative, because one way to maintain biodiversity in a local ecosystem is to reduce pesticide use. A GM crop can do this by carrying its own defenses, making pesticides less necessary. For instance, “Bt” corn is engineered to be toxic to predators that would otherwise prey on it. They don’t need as much outside assistance in the form of pesticides sprayed over an entire field.”

And while some claim that pesticide-resistant crops lead to increased use of pesticides, farming data dispels that myth.

“…according to a 2014 meta-analysis, GM-based farming has required 37 percent fewer pesticides than conventional agriculture.”

Additionally, GM technology is allowing scientists to engineer plants that grow more efficiently in an increasingly populated and warmer world – requiring less resources like water and land.

As climate change progresses, land becomes more arid, usable topsoil is depleted, and water becomes more scarce. Conventional crops are typically not drought tolerant, and so as human-caused climate change continues, agricultural yields could drop. One study found that each degree of warming will result in anywhere from a 3-7 percent drop in global yield in wheat, rice, corn, and soybean. Tactics to adapt to this include engineering crops to retain more water, or adding genes that essentially stabilize cells, make them hardier, and hopefully able to withstand the stresses of a drought.

Often, those who advocate for saving the planet, are the same group that label GMOs has harmful and determinantal to the environment. However, inferring from Giovannetti’s piece, to be pro-GMO is to be pro-saving the planet.

The Buzz of BIO contest provides an excellent opportunity for companies looking to gain exposure and make the connections needed to take their product to the next phase. Winners of the Buzz of BIO contest at the 2018 BIO Investor Forum will receive a complimentary conference registration and company presentation. Presentations are a key programming element, and allow companies to present their pipeline, R&D activities, and future goals to an exclusive audience of private and public equity investors.

Nominations are open today until August 22 at 5 PM ET, or until each category receives ten nominees. Ten biotech’s will be nominated in each of the three categories: Early Stage Entrepreneurs, Late Stage Leaders, and Diagnostics and Beyond. After the nominations period, voting will open and the companies with the most number of votes win.

• To qualify for the Early Stage Entrepreneur Grand Prize, companies must be actively developing a therapeutic product intended for FDA review that addresses human health issues and have raised less than $25 million USD as of July 1, 2018; have been founded after 2015; and have most recently completed either a Seed or Series A financing round. Companies that have previously presented at the BIO Investor Forum are not eligible for the Early Stage Entrepreneur category but are welcome to apply under the Late Stage Leader category (if the company meets the minimum dollar requirements of the Late Stage Leader category).
• To qualify for the Late Stage Leader Grand Prize, companies must be actively developing a therapeutic product intended for FDA review that addresses human health issues and have raised more than $25 million USD as of July 1, 2018 and have enrolled at least one patient in a company-sponsored clinical trial posted at https://clinicaltrials.gov.
• To qualify for the Diagnostics and Beyond category, companies must be primarily focused in medical diagnostics, drug delivery, drug development tools, or digital health technologies.

To nominate your company for Buzz of BIO, click here.

The BIO Investor Forum is an international biotech investor conference focused on investment opportunities in life sciences, with emphasis on venture-stage growth and emerging public companies as well as those poised to join the growth “watch-list” in 2019. The event features plenary sessions, business roundtables and therapeutic workshops, more than 160 public and venture-stage company presentations, premiere industry-focused networking opportunities, and over 2,700 BIO One-on-One Partnering™ meetings.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to be recognized. Good luck!

Early bird registration rates are available through September 9. Media registration is also available for qualified members of the press.

*Due to the complexities of international laws regarding contests, only U.S. residents who are 21 years of age or older are eligible to enter.

Today we are really excited to release Drag & Drop File Upload for Divi, a new feature that makes it easier than ever to upload a wide range of files to your page, and have those files automatically transform into Divi modules and other design elements on the fly. It’s a really slick system that creates a link between the builder and your computer, and expands upon the natural drag and drop behavior that is such an integral part of the Divi Builder experience.

Just Drag & Drop. Divi Does The Rest

You can now drag and drop files from your computer directly into the builder. Divi detects the types of files you are uploading and automatically transforms them into a number of different modules, or applies them to the page in creative ways. You can upload images, videos, audio files, text files and more. What could normally take dozens clicks to build can now be accomplished in a single gesture.

Creative Support For Unique File Types

We took the idea of drag and drop file upload and expanded upon it, allowing for creative support for a variety of new file types, including CSS files, HTML files, Font files and JSON files. When you upload a CSS file, the CSS gets applied directly to the page. When you upload an HTML file, it will be added as a code module. When you upload font files, they will become available as custom fonts when you edit your module’s design, and uploading JSON files allows you to quickly import Divi layouts.

Drag & Drop Multiple Files At Once

You can drag and drop multiple files at once, and Divi will process the entire queue and even combine like file types into advanced modules like image galleries. Creating an entire gallery in a single swipe of the mouse is such a satisfying experience when compared to the tedious process of creating a gallery module manually. It’s also great for uploading custom HTML and CSS in one go.

Drag & Drop File Upload is available today, so download Divi and take it for a spin. Let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to check back next week for even more great Divi features coming your way.

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The post Divi Feature Update! Introducing Drag & Drop File Upload For The Divi Builder appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

Well, it’s official. We’ve finally reach the point where people are getting their advice from celebrities rather than scientists on science and medical issues. It’s fine when a celebrity takes up a cause like Alzheimer’s Disease, works with the Alzheimer’s Association, and goes to the Hill to advocate funding. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Reeve, Elton John – all celebrities using their fame to advocate for research for cures and treatments.

But there’s a big difference between a celebrity working with a leading reputable organization to affect change, and a celebrity just spouting their thoughts on Facebook or Twitter with no input from the leading scientists or doctors on very complex issues

Last week, the Washington Post published a review of a new book by Paul A. Offit, “Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren’t Your Best Source of Health Information,” which takes a close look at the harmful implications of the emerging trend. Offit, if you’re unaware, is a leading expert on the safety and necessity of vaccines, so he knows what he’s talking about.

GMO Answers has been driving home the message of listening to actual experts and not celebrities for five years.  Our entire campaign, in fact, is based on the idea that experts who actually grow and develop GMOs will answers any and all questions you have about GMOs. Using the book review of Dr. Offit’s book as an inspiration, we wrote a Medium blog post that highlights some of the pitfalls of listening to unqualified Hollywood celebrities instead of those who actually know the science around hot button issues, like Offit and vaccines.

We write:

Yet, many celebrities, including Kelly Clarkson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and more, irresponsibly use their platforms to make false statements about the safety and nutritional value of GMOs - a practice now being adopted by several food brands. For example, you can buy non-GMO grapefruit juice and non-GMO tomatoes at many grocery stores, despite the fact that a grapefruit doesn’t have a GMO counterpart, and there are no GMO tomatoes on the market. Some take it a step further - like Stonyfield, which ran an ad earlier this year featuring school-aged kids perpetuating GMO myths.

So if you have questions about GMOs, submit a question to GMO Answers or explore the website. Don’t just randomly listen to food and diet advice from a Hollywood celebrity. Get you information from people who know the issue best, the farmers who grow them, the scientists who develop them, and the dietitians who have been trained to look at the scientific literature to know that GMOs are safe to eat, and just as healthy and nutritious as any other food.