Illumination 2.0

I would not believe it if it did not happen to me.  I get an email, out of the blue, that makes zero sense. Even though I have no idea about what this is, I don't hesitate to invite myself for lunch and talk about trees... So Sue writes me back, looks like lunch time!! She then calls me and it turns out that she's at a conference down the street and there's an opportunity to network with a palm breeder.  He's bred new types of palms high in healthful oils, but they can't grow them in Florida because it is too cold.  These are equatorial trees with no cold tolerance. Still, maybe there's some cool tricks we could do to make it work here. Unfortunately I had to decline because lunch was scheduled for 12:30, but was delayed because the conference was running late. I had an errand to run and then be at a graduate student orientation meeting at 1 pm. I was driving on my way to the errand when my phone rings.  It was Sue, and it turns out that t...

Beware.  The underhanded elements of the anti-GM world are now impersonating scientists and companies in the electronic media. A few weeks ago I received a frantic email from a plant scientist I know needing advice.  I'll give details soon. In general, he was the organizer for a plant biology conference where transgenic (GMO) plants were part of the discussion.  Activists bought a URL similar to the conference URL, then sent emails using a corresponding email account, using his name in an attempt to defame him. They wrote fraudulent emails with harmful content.  The idea was to cause harm to his reputation and the conference. Several emails were sent that may impact his career, and certainly they have caused him substantial grief.  Poor guy.  He's a good guy with a great family and wonderful students.  Yet there are those out there that want to hurt him and damage his career. Today a website showed up on the internet at www.monsantoglobal.com ....