The archive – page 3
Every post on the blog, newest first. Use the date and category menus in the sidebar to narrow it down.
Rice, milk proteins and sick children in Lima: the Ventria trial revisited
In 2006 a US firm tested human milk proteins made in GM rice on children with diarrhoea in Peru. The trial, the ethics fight, and what came after.
UPOV 91 and seed laws, explained from the ground up
What the 1991 UPOV convention requires, why trade deals keep asking for it, and what it means for farmers who save, swap and sell their seed.
Lab life 3.0: synthetic biology's long experiment in governing itself
In 2006 synthetic biologists offered to police themselves. Eighteen years later, what has self-governance delivered, and what did it leave out?
Carbon credits from a plankton bloom: how the Planktos business model came apart
In 2007 a start-up planned to seed the Pacific with iron and sell the carbon as offsets. Why the business model failed, and what it still teaches.
The risky road to Rio+20, and what the summit actually left behind
Critics warned in 2011 that Rio+20 would hand nature to the market. What did the 2012 summit really produce, and how has its green economy aged?
Top ten seed companies, 2007 to today: how a ranking became a big four
A 2007 ranking of top seed firms already looked concentrated. Then came the 2015–2018 mergers. How the market got here, and why it's hard to measure.
Synthia and the shotgun: what became of the synthetic cell
In 2007 Craig Venter's team sought patents on a minimal synthetic organism. What got built since, what got patented, and what 'synthetic life' means now.
Gene-edited plants and the EU: what Parliament voted for, and what happens next
The European Parliament backed a two-tier regime for gene-edited plants, with a patent ban attached. What the categories mean and what still has to happen.
Reading concentration ratios in agribusiness: CR4, the HHI and what they prove
CR4 and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index explained with worked examples, and what meatpacker and grain-trader figures can and can't prove.
Vertical farming, fifteen years on: what the towers actually grew
In 2009 the 'farmscraper' promised to lift farming into city towers. Fifteen years and several bankruptcies later, what did indoor farms grow?
