Art's Work/Genetic Futures

Announcing: Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology: Shaping Our Genetic Futures Exhibition

October 1, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

Raleigh, NC – NC State University Libraries and the Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center present the Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology, opening at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design on Thursday, October 17, 6 to 8 p.m....

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Student Spotlight: DeShae Dillard, AgBioFEWS Fellow

September 18, 2019 | Guest Author

Dee Shore, Sept. 17, 2019 | When he first set foot in Columbia, North Carolina, this summer, NC State Ph.D. student DeShae Dillard felt as though he’d arrived in another country. There, the AgBioFEWS Fellow learned more about rural life, especially the everyday challenges of farming....

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Does the US public support using gene drives to control agricultural pests?

September 11, 2019 | Guest Author

Mike Jones, Sep. 11, 2019 | The development of gene drives is progressing more rapidly than our understanding of public values towards these technologies. Findings from this research can inform responsible innovation in gene drive development and risk assessment....

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An Evening with Margaret Atwood - Save the Date - 11.15.2019

Announcing: An Evening with Margaret Atwood – Friday, Nov. 15

August 21, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

The GES Center is excited to announce: An Evening with Margaret Atwood, Internationally-renowned author of The Handmaid's Tale, Friday, Nov. 15 at Talley Student Union, NC State University. ...

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NC State corn maze opens at NC Museum of Art through October [video]

August 13, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

WTVD ABC 11, August 13, 2019 | A quarter-acre corn maze is now open at the NC Museum of Art's Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park....

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USDA to biotech: Call your own compliance

July 30, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

Steven Suppan, July 30, 2019 | The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants agribusiness to sell more genetically engineered (GE) seeds and food products all over the world, as soon as possible. This rule would go beyond already controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to encompass hundreds of new products of new gene and genome editing techniques. The fastest way to do that?...

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Image of seedling in the field with molecular background

GES Center awarded half-million dollar grant to study responsible innovation of food nanotechnology

July 25, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

July 25, 2019 | Khara Grieger and Jennifer Kuzma will lead a two-year, USDA-funded study of responsible innovation of food nanotechnology....

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Faculty Spotlight: Khara Grieger

July 15, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

Patti Mulligan, July 15, 2019 | INTERVIEW: We sat down with the GES Center's newest Senior Research Scholar, Khara Grieger. She joined our team in the spring of 2019, but has already given a colloquium and is working on several nanotechnology-related research projects....

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Figure 1 Summary of GE Plants Oversight in Proposed Rule - J. Kuzma

Biotechnology Oversight Gets an Early Make-Over by Trump’s White House and USDA: Part 2 – The USDA-APHIS Rule

July 2, 2019 | Jennifer Kuzma

Jennifer Kuzma, July 2, 2019 | USDA-APHIS has proposed an oversight process for GE crops that appears to be a significant departure from the current one. This article discusses the features of the proposed new rule, along with its strengths and weaknesses and my recommendations for how it should be amended. ...

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Illustration of biodiversity—forests, desert, oceans, tundra (Adobe Stock)

Can Genetic Engineering Save Our Planet’s Biodiversity?

June 25, 2019 | Guest Author

Andrew Moore, June 24, 2019 | Researchers at NC State’s College of Natural Resources — and around the world — are considering ways to employ genetic engineering for conservation....

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Workshop Report on Gene Drive Mice for Biodiversity Protection on Islands

June 24, 2019 | Jason Delborne

S. Kathleen Barnhill-Dilling, June 24, 2019 | Mice offer an ideal genetic model for exploring the possibility of developing a synthetic gene drive in mammals. As pests, they pose challenges to human health, agricultural yields and storage, and biodiversity, especially on islands where they are not native. If research on gene drives in mice were to progress to a field trial, an island ecosystem would offer an additional level of physical containment. ...

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Word cloud created from the language in the Regulation of Ag Biotech Executive Order

Biotechnology Oversight Gets an Early Make-Over by Trump’s White House and USDA: Part 1—The Executive Order

June 18, 2019 | Jennifer Kuzma

Jennifer Kuzma, June 18, 2019 | Last week, the Trump administration set the tone for its oversight of agricultural biotechnology (ag biotech) through two major actions: 1) Signing the Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products Executive Order; and 2) Proposing a draft rule on the Movement of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOs), changing how USDA reviews GE plants....

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Genetic frontiers for conservation

IUCN Report: Genetic frontiers for conservation – An assessment of synthetic biology and biodiversity conservation

May 9, 2019 | Todd Kuiken

Todd Kuiken, May 9, 2019 | Synthetic biology – altering or redesigning genes to meet human objectives – is a fast-developing field with significant potential impacts on nature conservation, according to the Genetic frontiers for conservation assessment report. So far mostly applied in agriculture and medicine, synthetic biology could have substantial knock-on effects on conservation – including modified genes spreading to non-target species and affecting broader ecosystems, but also benefits such as saving threatened species, reduced fertiliser use or diminished demand for products derived from threatened species....

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Field_Notes: Expanding the Possibilities of Bioart

April 8, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

Hannah Star Rogers, April 8, 2019 | In the first entry in a series of contributions, Hannah Star Rogers convenes reflections from Leena Valkeapää, Saara Hannula, and Erich Berger on the 2018 convening of the Helsinki-based Bioart Society....

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Governing evolution – A socioecological comparison of resistance management for Bt crops

March 25, 2019 | Zachary Brown

Zachary Brown, March 21, 2019 | Cooperative management of pest susceptibility to transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops is pursued worldwide in a variety of forms and to varying degrees of success depending on context. We examine this context using a comparative socioecological analysis of resistance management in Australia, Brazil, India, and the United States. We find that a shared understanding of resistance risks among government regulators, growers, and other actors is critical for effective governance. ...

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