During a public lecture on genetic modification I described an experiment that involved enriching soybeans with the amino acid methionine. Soybeans are widely used to raise animals but are low in...
We hear a lot about food these days. Whether it is about healthy choices, food security and feeding the planet, environmental impacts of food production or the science of GMO biotechnologies,...
"Genetic engineers develop bovine growth hormone!" Now there's an issue the cartoonists can really milk. Giant cows bursting through the roof of their barns, animals sporting udders from head to...
How鈥檚 this for a coincidence? A few years ago on an organic chemistry exam I asked the following question: A compound used to clean coal is often referred to as 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. What...
Some people are concerned about radiation from cell phones possibly causing brain tumours. Others worry about exposure to wi-fi causing cancer. And now I鈥檓 getting questions about whether cell...
We鈥檝e seen it before. A medical crisis emerges and the scam artists crawl out of the woodwork. Fearful citizens pop open their wallets and fork out hard-earned money for nonsensical 鈥渃ures.鈥� When...
Most chemistry conferences these days feature a session on the 鈥減ublic understanding of chemistry.鈥� Usually speakers express frustration about equating the term 鈥渃hemical鈥� with 鈥渢oxin鈥� or 鈥減oison,鈥�...
I thought this was a joke, but it turns out that it is very real. Officials in Portland, Oregon drained a reservoir, at considerable expense, because a teenager urinated into the water. This is...
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