GMO

Occam’s Razor rarely includes conspiracy theories

- by Andrew Kniss

Proponents of genetically engineered crops (often called GMOs) often decry the anti-GMO movement for promoting implausible conspiracy theories. I’ve been blocked on Twitter by people claiming the Department of Agriculture and Supreme Court of the United States were simply pawns of Monsanto and the pesticide industry. I’ve pushed back against those saying that pesticides are the cause of microcephaly (instead of the Zika virus). I’ve written blog posts explaining the evidence that debunks some of these improbable stories. Spreading these …

Occam’s Razor rarely includes conspiracy theories Read More
Herbicides / Preprint / Research

Soybean Response to Dicamba: A Meta-Analysis

- by Andrew Kniss

UPDATE: This article has now been published in Weed Technology. The open access, formatted and copy-edited article is available here: Kniss AR. Soybean Response to Dicamba: A Meta-Analysis. (2018) Weed Technology. 32:507-512. doi: 10.1017/wet.2018.74  Abstract. A meta-analysis of 11 previously published field studies was conducted with the objectives to 1) estimate the no observable effects dose (NOED) for dicamba on susceptible soybean; 2) evaluate available evidence for hormesis, or increased soybean yield in response to low doses of dicamba; 3) …

Soybean Response to Dicamba: A Meta-Analysis Read More
Herbicides / Pesticides

What does a pesticide taste like?

- by Andrew Kniss

I honestly can’t believe I just typed that title. But here we are. The notorious Gilles-Eric Seralini published a paper recently called “The Taste of Pesticides in Wines.” As a part of the study, people were asked to choose a preference between organic and conventional wines. Okay, fine. But then the participants were given glasses of water, some of which were spiked with pesticides at doses purportedly found in bottles of wine. This is bizarre on so many levels. For …

What does a pesticide taste like? Read More