Toward a More Nuanced Science Journalism
By Gina Maranto, Biopolitical Times guest contributor
| 05. 29. 2011
Last week, Chicago Tribune reporter Monica Eng wrote about the latest chapter in the debate over genetically modified foods: their unavoidable creep into spaces and places assumed to be GM-free. Eng's counterintuitive lede describes anti-GMO protestors improbably marching outside a Whole Foods – a sign of just how bad the situation has gotten, when even purveyors of organics can't guarantee untainted fare.
The online version features several sobering visuals: a graph showing the disquieting rise in GM soy and corn production over the last decade (such plants now represent 93% and 86% of the US harvest, respectively); a map highlighting states currently deliberating policies to label GM foods; a table listing some of the 40 countries that currently require such labeling. Eng summarizes the industry and environmental health arguments, provides the obligatory pro and con quotations, refers to a couple key surveys of public attitudes about GMOs, mentions some recent epidemiological work, and ends with a boilerplate statement from Monsanto proclaiming the utter adequacy of the status quo ante to ensure "food safety" as supported by "satisfied" experts in...
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Following a long-standing CGS tradition, we present a selection of our favorite Biopolitical Times posts of the past year.
In 2025, we published up to four posts every month, written by 12 authors (staff, consultants and allies), some in collaboration and one simply credited to CGS.
These titles are presented in chronological order, except for three In Memoriam notices, which follow. Many more posts that are worth your time can be found in the archive. Scroll down and “VIEW...
By Jonathan Matthews, GMWatch | 12.11.2025
In our first article in this series, we investigated the dark PR tactics that have accompanied Colossal Bioscience’s de-extinction disinformation campaign, in which transgenic cloned grey wolves have been showcased to the world as resurrected dire wolves – a...
