Movements & Emerging Technologies Webinars present: Are GMOs 2.0 in your food and cosmetics? An introduction to synthetic biology for shoppers Companies are sneaking new GMO foods into our food and cosmetics: gene-silenced apples, a GMO potato, synthetic biology flavors and fragrances are on their way to market, or already there — and they may even be marketed as “natural.” This webinar will tell you everything you need to know to avoid the new wave [More]
Movements & Emerging Technologies Webinars present: Outsmarting Nature? A webinar on Synthetic Biology for Crops and Agriculture What’s the role of synthetic biology in our food system and how does it relate to “climate-smart” agriculture? What are the costs and risks? Host: Tom Philpott Food & Agriculture Journalist with Mother Jones Expert: Pat Mooney Executive Director ETC Group Commentators: Theresa Anderson Policy Officer, Climate & Resilience International, ActionAid. Ramona Duminicioi Eco-Ruralis Romania, La Via Campesina [More]
Synthetic biology – genetic engineering to create and control life – could radically impact our food systems, our environment, and our relationship with nature. What is “synbio” and how will it undermine traditional knowledge, livelihoods and society? What follows is a conversation about the false promise of synbio and the real solutions right here in our own communities. Featuring: Joanna Macy, PhD, Eco-philosopher Carla Perez, Movement Generation and Healing Clinic Collective Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth Scott [More]
Engineering Life and Livelihoods This short film explains the basics on synbio and its attempts to engineer life. You can also download and read the comic book that accompanies it here. Full script: So here’s a thought experiment. What if living things were actually machines? The sort of machines that you could take apart, reprogram, and rewire to do something entirely new? If so, plants could just be rewired to glow like light bulbs or [More]
What do we know about the synthetic forms of algae, and what would happen if they are released into the water and air? Not enough, says Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch.
Dr. Craig Holdrege, founder of the Nature Institute, talks about where things go wrong when synbio engineers conceive of life using machine metaphors, and explains why every change to DNA has unintended effects, and the broader ethical implications involved.
What happens when you ask a synthetic biology company for evidence that their products are safe and tested? Dana Perls of Friends of the Earth US explains.
Biotech whistleblower, Becky McClain, and international lab safety expert Ed Hammond talk with Movement Generation’s Gopal Dayaneni about the biolabs targeted for siting throughout the so-called “East Bay Green Corridor,” biolab worker and community safety, and biosecurity. Recorded in Berkeley, California at the Brower Center October 16, 2013 About the Guests: Becky McClain was a Pfizer, Inc. molecular biologist when she became seriously ill after exposure to genetically modified agents at the pharmaceutical giant’s Connecticut [More]
Vandana Shiva, PhD in conversation with Gopal Dayaneni, of Movement Generation: Justice and Ecology Project. World renowned environmental philosopher and activist Vandana Shiva illuminates the corporate assault on biological and cultural diversity and helps us connect the dots: What is the East Bay “Green Corridor,” who is creating it, and what does it mean for communities here and around the globe? “Big oil, big pharma, big food, big seed companies are joining hands to appropriate [More]
Stuart Newman, PhD in conversation with Milton Reynolds: June 6, Patent Pending – The Rise of Genetically Modified Humans EAST BAY CONVERSATIONS The Promises and Perils of Biotechnology Stuart Newman, PhD in conversation with Milton Reynolds of Facing History and Ourselves. Thursday, June 6, 2013, 7: 30 pm Brower Center’s Goldman Theater (2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, California) Free and Open to the Public.