… not two things you’d expect to find in one post.

Today there were two news stories that caught my attention one of which was not well publicised by the conventional news media:

GM

Scientific American reports on a GM rice that is rigid. This means that the plants can be grown in closer proximity raising yields.

In my humble opinion there is a slight risk in genetic modification in as much as making plants able to resist strong herbicides and those plants becoming invasive. I have seen no evidence to suggest that GM crops will be harmful to people eating them.

But what’s different about this story is that nothing has been introduced into the rice, a gene has been switched off. Nothing has been done to the rice which can change its pervasiveness either. To all intents and purposes this genetic modification is no different to selective breeding.

Evolution

Half-way through writing this, J0nz made an excellent comment about the news that Pennsylvania has lost in it’s fight to teach creationism as science (BBC, CNN):

No teaching of ID in schools! I fully respect the Christian world-based view as a paradigm for ethical interactions – but not for an intelligent explanation for the world around us!

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Update – 21 December 2005

And now Scientific American have a comment.

Today is a day to celebrate the continuing advancement of science.