Public opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remains strong. By contrast, studies demonstrate again and again that GM crops make a valuable contribution to the development of a sustainable type of agriculture. The discrepancy between public opinion and the scientific evidence requires an explanation. We argue that intuitive expectations about the world render the human mind vulner...

The detection of genetically modified (GM) materials in food and feed products is a complex multi-step analytical process invoking screening, identification, and often quantification of the genetically modified organisms (GMO) present in a sample. "Combinatory qPCR SYBRGreen screening" (CoSYPS) is a matrix-based approach for determining the presence of GM plant materials in products. The CoSYPS...

The highly ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 was successfully synthesized and incorporated with iron, aluminum, and zinc oxides by use of an incipient wetness impregnation technique. Aluminum 10% impregnation was safely incorporated by an incipient wetness impregnation technique for SBA-15, which had 638.75 m/g of BET surface area and 48 Å of pore diameter, without producing clogging of pore str...

In the coming years, the frequency of unauthorised genetically modified organisms (GMOs) being present in the European food and feed chain will increase significantly. Therefore, we have developed a strategy to identify unauthorised GMOs containing a pCAMBIA family vector, frequently present in transgenic plants. This integrated approach is performed in two successive steps on Bt rice grains. F...

The rapid increase in the number of genetically modified (GM) varieties has led to a demand for high-throughput methods to detect genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We describe a new dynamic array-based high throughput method to simultaneously detect 48 targets in 48 samples on a Fludigm system. The test targets included species-specific genes, common screening elements, most of the Chinese...

Two new 5-oxomilbemycins, 27-aldehyde-5-oxomilbemycin β12 (1) and 2-hydroxymilbemycin K (2), were isolated from a genetically engineered strain Streptomyces bingchenggensis BCJ60. Their structures were determined by comprehensive analyses of its 1 H and 13 C NMR, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC spectroscopic, HRESI-MS mass spectrometric and comparison with data from the literature. Preliminary studies sho...

Biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their derivatives is still a major topic in the agenda of government and societies worldwide. The aim of this review is to bring into light that data that supported the decision taken back in 1998 as an exercise to stimulate criticism from the scientific community for upcoming discussions and to avoid emotional and senseless arguments that ...