Advocates claim that synthetic biology and the so-called New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) are distinct from genetic engineering (GE), write Helena Paul, Elisabeth Bücking & Ricarda Steinbrecher. In fact synthetic biology and NBTs carry similar risks to old-style GE, and even create novel hazards. The 'new GE' techniques - as they should be named - and their products deserve regulation at least as strict as those applying to GMOs.
… 'New Breeding Techniques' and synthetic biology - genetic engineering by another name … Advocates claim that synthetic biology and the so-called New Breeding … & Ricarda Steinbrecher. In fact synthetic biology and NBTs carry similar risks to …
Human beings are now waging war against life itself as we continue to destroy not just individual lives, local populations and entire species in vast numbers but also the ecological systems that make life on Earth possible. By doing this we are now accelerating the sixth mass extinction event in Earth's history and virtually eliminating any prospect of human survival, writes ROBERT J BURROWES
Ecologist Special Report: Biological Annihilation on Earth is Accelerating Robert J. Burrowes | 1st August 2017 News Extinction Ecology Planetary Boundary Science Survival Conservation extinction.jpg …
The return of blue shell mussels to the Artic after a 2,000 year absence, plus the arrival of mackerel are just two signs of a changing climate as JAMES SIMPSON discovers when he joins the scientists and fishermen on a research vessel off the coast of Svalbard
… WITNESS: Marine biology at the top of the world James Simpson …
The Big Gene Gathering took place Herefordshire during 1997 and the following December the UK's anti-GMO movement was born. DR DAVID KING has been an activist in the movement since the beginning. Here, he explores the reasons for the campaign's success - and assesses the threats ahead
… benefits only to farmers. Synthetic biology The propaganda chorus that GM crops … and genetic engineering as ‘synthetic biology’. Tinkered around In 2010 a milestone … babies Already, the products of synthetic biology are beginning to reach the market. The …
It's been another disastrous year for North America's Monarch butterflies, with the insect's population down 27% in a single year. The sudden decline is blamed on severe winter storms in Mexico, and the impacts of GMO crops, herbicides and insecticides on US farms.
Monarch butterflies down over a quarter in one year The Ecologist | 10th February 2017 News Extinction Insects Biodiversity Farming Pesticides USA Mexico Canada monarch-cut.jpg It's been another …
With the UN Ocean Conference beginning in New York next week, Elizabeth A Kirk asks: can we devise a legal system that promotes the ecological resilience of the oceans? To do so will mean placing ecosystems at the heart of decision making, over and above countries' selfish 'national interests'. It will be tough, but if we fail it's hard to see how the gamut of problems - from ocean acidification to plastic pollution and overfishing - can ever be solved.
UN Ocean Conference: can the law protect our ocean ecosystems? Elizabeth A Kirk Nottingham Law School | 1st June 2017 News Oceans Law Pollution Un Fishing Commons plastic-ocea-2-cut.jpg With the UN …
Scientists are calling for the urgent protection of ecologically valuable roadless areas, writes Tim Radford, as a new global map shows that roads lead to loss of biodiversity and damage to ecosystems by fragmenting habitat and providing access to exploiters.
… in the Public Library of Science journal Biology that it should be possible to devise a … between Google, the Society for Conservation Biology, and Member of the European Parliament …
Colombia is now closer than ever to finding a peaceful resolution to generations of violence. With so much to gain in a post-conflict world - as much for the Colombian people as for their environment - the sudden prospect of losing it all will make for tense months ahead writes FOREST RAY
Ecologist Special Report: Ecological Conservation in Post-Conflict Colombia Forest Ray | 10th February 2017 News Colombia Conservation Conflict Ecological Restoration Biodiversity hillsidevillage …
With USDA proposing to redefine GMOs for the purposes of food labeling, the issue is more important than ever, writes Jonathan Latham. It's not just to give consumers' the 'right to know' when they buy GM food, it's also a vital means to empower citizens to fight back against the industrialisation of food and farming, and the monopolies of agribusiness corporations.
… the private sector ( Lima, 2015 ). It's the biology, stupid! The biological truth of GMOs …
Growing coffee is both a point of pride and a significant economic driver for Colombia but a changing climate is now threatening the harvest. FOREST RAY reports on the new challenges facing growers from that country
… selected for. This leads to a cycle known in biology as the Red Queen Race, in which …
Religious values are often consistent with conservation efforts. So it’s not surprising that a variety of religious organisations and conservationists are working together to help mitigate the devastating effects of global climate change, writes CURTIS ABRAHAM
… this year, the Religion and Conservation Biology working group of the Society for Conservation Biology established the inaugural Assisi Award … 28th International Congress for Conservation Biology, Cartagena, Columbia. The award …
Scientists have been debating the conclusions of a recently published research on insects that reportedly found alarming declines, reports CATHERINE EARLY.
… study published in the journal Global Change Biology in 2015 looked at the impact of …
Activists in Gloucestershire are battling to block the construction of a massive incinerator that they see as a blight on the landscape, costly, polluting, wasteful and undermining recycling, writes Dan Hinge. Now the fight, backed by superstar actor Jeremy Irons, just entered a new phase after a tribunal forced the County Council to reveal essential details of the contract it had signed.
Up in smoke: the fight to block Gloucestershire's unwanted incinerator Dan Hinge | 24th April 2017 Activism Waste Pollution Recycling Landscape UK England incinerator m5 plume-cut.jpg Activists in …
As China pursues a startling array of energy, mining, logging, agricultural, transport and other infrastructure projects on virtually every continent, it is having an unprecedented impact on the planet, writes William Laurance. It's not that China is any worse than historic colonial powers - the difference is in the sheer scale and pace of environmental destruction, and the total lack of oversight under which Chinese mega-corporations operate.
… BBVA Frontiers in Ecology and Conservation Biology Award for his efforts to promote …
Building on a talk prepared for the Resurgence 'One Earth, One Humanity, One Future' conference, (although not presented at that event) Fritjof Capra explains new scientific evidence supporting the long-held supposition of Buddhists and others that humans are interconnected and part of nature.
Living Networks Fritjof Capra | 20th January 2017 Other Systems Thinking Evolution Science predestination.jpg Building on a talk prepared for the Resurgence 'One Earth, One Humanity, One Future' …
Semi-wild 'Dartmoor Hillies' have a unique genetic signature which allows it to survive in challenging habitats. But the ponies are now under threat due to their human neighbours, reports GILLY SMITH
Scientists find endangered Dartmoor Hill Ponies have rare genetic signature Gilly Smith | 17th August 2017 News Dartmoor 'Hillies' Hill Ponies Conservation Science home2.jpg Semi-wild 'Dartmoor …
The loss of birds could significantly impact efforts to combat deforestation, according to research from scientists looking at species across the Brazilian Amazon. LAURA BRIGGS reports
Scientists highlight the critical role of birds in forest regeneration Laura Briggs | 16th January 2017 News Amazon Forest Conservation Deforestation image 2_white-tailed cotinga_alexander lees_.jpg …
New research suggests that we are heading for an "ecological Armageddon" that will affect all life on the planet, including humans. COLIN TODHUNTER investigates.
Rolling back the tide of pesticide poison, corruption and looming mass extinction Colin Todhunter | 24th November 2017 Comment Pesticides Extinction Corruption Tobacco WTO Many insects, including …
Peter Rosset argues for small farms in the North...and Vandana Shiva champions those in the South
Small scale farming: A global perspective Peter Rosset Vandana Shiva | 3rd June 2000 News Local Food Production Farming Rural Communities Farmers' Markets Productivity Efficiency Agriculture Farming …
Bhutan is well on its way to becoming the greenest nation on the planet. In his Special Report for the Ecologist, photojournalist MICHAEL BUCKLEY explores the reasons why the country's ecosystems and dazzling biodiversity remain intact - and highlights the one thing that threatens this admirable integrity...
Ecologist Special Report - Bhutan's stumbling block to becoming the greenest nation on the planet Michael Buckley | 1st March 2017 News Bhutan Conservation Biodiversity Energy bhutan-02.jpg Bhutan is …
A coalition of farmer and public interest groups are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency for unlawfully approving the use of Monsanto's highly toxic herbicide dicamba on its dicamba-resistant GMO soybeans and cotton, without consulting wildlife and fisheries agencies.
Lawsuit challenges Monsanto's 'back to the future' toxic herbicide Center for Food Safety | 25th January 2017 News GMOs Pesticides Corporations Regulation Law USA superweed-cut.jpg A coalition of …
The government / NFU badger culling policy is based on a single study, the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCT), which found that area-wide badger killing reduced TB 'breakdowns' in cattle herds. But a robust reanalysis of the RBCT data reveals that culling is entirely ineffective, writes Tom Langton. The only scientifically valid conclusion is that culling badgers has no effect on TB in cattle. Defra and Natural England must think again!
… badger studies. Whether, it is the molecular biology of bTB strains, the intricacies of bTB …
The development of meat-like foods is introducing GM and novel technology into our diets. This presents new risks to our health, but also to the complex development of behaviour to prevent environmental destruction, argues PAT THOMAS
… a growing corporate interest in synthetic biology (synbio) where DNA sequences are …
'Smart meters' looked like a great idea, writes Lynne Wycherley, giving us more control over our energy use. The downside? They emit as many as 14,000 short bursts of intense microwave radiation a day, disrupting cellular electrochemistry and causing health symptoms from migraine to tinnitus, insomnia, dizziness, anxiety, chest pain, palpitations and memory loss. Now a growing number of 'electro-sensitives' have had enough!
Smart meters and cell damage from pulsed em radiation - our health at risk? Lynne Wycherley | 11th April 2017 Activism Radiation Energy Health danger-smart-meter-cut-2.jpg 'Smart meters' looked like …