A couple pieces in the HP by Kevin Folta recently:
Be effective with your rage:
"Willful ignorance has spawned a hot planet, expensive ballot initiatives for warning labels on safe food, calls to teach about a 6,000 year old planet in science class, and outbreaks of diseases long believed to be defeated. And that’s the tip of a melting iceberg....The best way I can support science and scientists it to create durable
work and actively create the change I want to see. I’m in this for the
long game, not an expensive afternoon in DC. The cure to science ills is
deliberate and visible investment of our non-existent time in
public-impact pursuits. I protest non-scientific perspectives daily,
and have paid a professional and personal price for doing so, but we are
making wonderful advances in the understanding of various
publicly-controversial topics."
In a more recent piece he provides a nice succinct description of CRISPR technology and its applications:
“Gene
editing uses precisely guided enzymes that digest DNA to install
precise changes to genetic sequence, typically by removing a few little
bits of information that disrupt the function of the gene. It is like
cellular surgery, precise, effective and testable.These technologies
have been used with astounding success in medicine and animal
agriculture. Gene edited cells have brought infants into remission from
leukemia and produced cattle that don’t grow horns, or don’t catch
tuberculosis. The applications in these areas are endless.”
He also talks about how scientists can be effective right now by commenting on FDA's proposed regulations for gene editing technologies:
"Where are the protesters and science marchers? It’s stand up for science time!…this technology should not be hampered by the same strangling regulatory system that burdens new crop variety development with standard genetic engineering approaches. The ball is in your court. Stand up for science, study this issue and make your voice heard! "
See also:
Facts, Alternative Facts, Evidence, and Marching for Science
CRISPR Technology
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