The Non-GMO Blog

Illinois organic farmers file lawsuit against hog confinement

An Illinois organic farming couple, Randy and Crystal Clair, have joined one of two lawsuits filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency against Carroll Family Farms, LLC, which owns a 5,000-hog confinement called County Line Swine in northern Adams County. The lawsuits claim Carroll Family Farms is operating the hog confinement with improper methods that […]

Gene editing hamsters induced the opposite effect from predictions—creating enraged “bullies”

Gene editing can turn your beloved hamster from a Dr. Jekyll to a Mr./Mrs. Hyde. That alone shows the potency of the genetic manipulation tool—but even scarier is that the researchers who used it on hamsters had strongly expected the opposite result. University of Georgia scientists used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool to remove a […]

Flame weeding: a sustainable, cost-effective approach for weed management in organic corn

Conventional corn and soy rotation farmers have relied on herbicides and GM seed varieties to kill weeds. Organic production uses soil tilling to achieve mastery over weeds—though that method hampers carbon sequestration. Is there an alternative to these practices? Sustainability has published a study introducing flame weeding as a suitable option. The report compared using […]

Gene editing proposal: Modify hens to kill male chicks before they hatch

Israeli scientists have presented a concept patent to use CRISP/Cas gene editing technology to produce modified chickens disallowing male offspring to hatch. The proposal is being touted as “more humane” because young male chicks from laying hens are currently slaughtered in the egg and chicken meat industries—being unsuitable for either industry. Dr. Michael Antoniou and […]

CDC finds toxic weedkiller glyphosate in 87% of children tested

About 87% of 650 children tested had detectable levels of the ubiquitous and toxic herbicide glyphosate in their urine, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food is the main route of exposure to glyphosate for the children, aged 18 and under, according to CDC researchers. Glyphosate is the active […]