Illumination 2.0

  The outbreak of a new contagious virus in Wuhan has many people asking questions that the internet's experts are happy to answer.  As with any public health incident, the misinformation is difficult to separate from authentic guidance. Today I was able to attend a discussion by animal virologist Dr. Illaria Capua.  She covered the topic with off-the-presses information and provided several action items.  Dr. Capua made some clear points that I'll list as bullets for clarity. Similar historical outbreaks.   SARS and MERS were also highly infectious coronaviruses, but were rapidly contained early because of their physical routes of transmission.  Started in wildlife. These kinds of coronaviruses are transmitted to people from animals. Previous examples track transmission from chickens, pigs, camels and bats.  The 2019-nCoV virus likely originated from a bat.  Numbers.  As of today, just under 9826 people are infected globally,...

One of the oldest and boring tropes of the anti-biotech movement is that it is impossible to acquire seeds for your own research.  That has been shown to be false over and over again, but the claim just does not die.  The other day I was able to buy Roundup Ready seed online, a small batch of 2500 seeds for $44. It's a very high price of over two cents a seed.   So there you have it.  You can buy the seeds online, they are not locked in a company vault, and they were easy to obtain. 

On November 14, 2019, I was told my my university to get out of visibility.  That meant no more use of social media or podcast, and I was to cancel future presentations, at least as I understood it in the room.  To follow up, On November 18  I submitted a letter asking for clarity. It was clear that I was supposed to end the podcast and social media use. This was from a letter to university administration from me to summarize the expectations. It was clear that I was supposed to end the series. You may notice that a few more were added and the series extended through 2019.   I received a response that did not address the podcast, but told me to use social media with discretion and cancel talks.  I cancelled six substantial talks. It was horrifying to back out of long-standing commitments.   I then submitted paperwork on December 11, 2019 asking for permission to identifind another host for the podcast, and I'd just do the production...

The Goop brand is synonymous with horrible health advice, packing bogus treatments and misinformation as credible medical intervention.  Now the originator of the brand, Gwenyth Paltrow (self-described as knowing nothing about science) has a new streaming video series coming on Netflix, permitting a pipeline of misinformation to penetrate even more deeply.  Netflix gives its grand stage to Paltrow, providing a larger audience to mislead and even harm.   Paltrow and her brand have loosely targeted women's health issues offering a series of claims, advice and products that have been highly criticized by legitimate physicians like Jen Gunter.  Like Gwenyth's hinterparts the Goop brand has only picked up steam.   What's the harm?  Paltrow's celebrity status affords her immediate cache as an expert in everything.  The scientific evidence clearly shows that celebrity advice influences vaccination rates, cancer screening and cancer trea...

This outstanding educational series continues in my absence with the first of many guest hosts. Your continued interest and support are more important than ever.  Kenya is an emerging economy and has significant investment in advanced technologies.  However, a 2013 ban on biotech crops has limited farmer access to the most needed technologies for the field.  That moratorium is finally being lifted, as biotech cotton has been approved and will be available to farmers in 2020.  Farmers recognize the potential for Bt cotton to reduce or eliminate dependence on the insecticides currently required for production.  Today's guest is Daniel Magondu, Chairman of the Society of Biotech Farmers of Kenya.  The episode is hosted by Modesta Abugu, a graduate student studying tomato improvement. Follow Modesta Abugu on Twitter: @modestannedi About the Socienty of Biotech Farmers in Kenya (SOBIFAK ) Listen to the Episode Here.