The modern technologies in medicinal and agricultural biotechnology are powerful tools that can address a wide range of problems. From improved plants, animals and microbes, the technologies under the umbrella of"genetic engineering" are mostly misunderstood and oftentimes maligned. Biotechnology is well regarded by scientists, yet approached skeptically by a concerned public. The disparity has been conjured by prevalent misinformation on the internet and in activist literature and documentaries. At the same time farmers and scientists have not been good communicators about what the technology is, and isn't.
The Talking Biotech Podcast is a weekly podcast that provides science-based discussion on current topics. The discussion is led by Dr. Kevin Folta, a professor with training in these areas and familiarity with the scholarly literature. Guest will describe current issues in biotechnology, twitter-based questions are answered, and there is a segment dedicated to plant genetic improvement from domestication through today's breeding efforts.
The podcast is geared to anyone wishing to know more about biotechnology, its risks and benefits, and how it can be used to help farmers, the needy, consumers and the environment.
Date | Title & Description | Contributors |
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2024-04-27 |
The FDA Regulatory Ecosystem- Expert Panel Discusses the Process How do new drug applications move forward to approval? Four experts discuss the partnership between the FDA, the drug developer, and the data needed to move a product forward. It is a surprising discussion that reveals the depth of the FDA process. J... |
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2024-04-20 | We live in amazing times of technological advance, but how are the real benefits of new tech lost to an inflated sense of risk? Dr. Felicia Wu from Michigan State University shares her expertise in describing the psychological basis of risk and applyi... |
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2024-04-06 |
Restoring the Forest with GE American Chestnut - Dr. Andy Newhouse and Erik Carlson This is an update on the American Chestnut Restoration Project, as discussed previously on the podcast. The American Chestnut dominated the forests of Appalachia until an imported fungus destroyed the entire range. Efforts to restore the chestnut and i... |
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2024-03-30 |
Addressing Disparities in Women's Healthcare - Sabrina Johnson, CEO Daré Biosciences Despite being over half of the population women's health care lags behind other areas of drug development. The problem is caused by many facets, but is augmented by the fact that many of the conditions are not life threatening or are functions of aging... |
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2024-03-23 | After a three month hiatus the Talking Biotech Podcast is back. Today's episode is a visit with Colarbra CEO Aoi Senju about his view for the podcast, followed by synopsis of three major news stories that broke since the last Talking Biotech Podcast. T... |
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2023-11-27 | After 8.5 years of weekly podcasts I'm going to take a 5 week break and plan new episodes for 2024. I'm going through a medical glitch that has me unable to do my normal work. On top of this we're going to switch to an audio plus video format to find ... |
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2023-11-18 | Even under the best conditions, crops need our assistance to survive the numerous threats that limit production. Classically, synthetic and natural compounds have been used to control insects, fungi and weeds, sometimes with negative collateral effects... |
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2023-11-11 | There is tremendous variation in the plant kingdom, as plants have adapted to many ecological niches with discrete challenges. Part of adaptation is production of novel secondary metabolites, compounds not required for central metabolism that serve a r... |
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2023-11-04 | Gene editing is a powerful and specific technique that allows customized changes to DNA. Because there are no additional sequences transferred, and alternations match what could happen naturally over time, the technology is considered less invasive and... |
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2023-10-28 |
"On Disinformation" Critical Conversations in the Post-Truth Era- Dr. Lee McIntyre Information has been weaponized, and the ability to create false information to achieve an ideological goal has never been more easy. Political polarization, science denial, and a shining, effective conduit of dissemination (the internet) allows anyone... |
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