Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and our food systems are hot topics nowadays and there is a lot of information floating around out there. This past November, St Paul’s University played host for Ottawa’s GMO symposium. As part of this event, our friends at the Interdisciplinary Food Lab (LEILA) hosted a special guest lecture about GMOs and related regulations in Canada. What is a GMO? To understand GMOs we need to look at DNA. Think of DNA as the blueprint for everything in our body. DNA holds the code for arranging amino acids, which create proteins, which we use for different reactions or to form different tissues and membranes. Although this is still a relatively new science, it has come a long way in part because of the Human Genome Project (in which the whole human genome was mapped and the genes responsible for coding specific proteins were identified). When an organism is genetically modified we cut and paste DNA from another organism into the original organism’s...

In case you missed it, this past Sunday (August 10th) was International Biodiesel day, in honour of this momentous occasion I thought I would dive into the pros and cons of this alternative fuel source. Fossil fuels (such as natural gas, coal and petroleum) are pouches of organic matter which have been pressurized and decomposed over long periods of time. In contrast, biofuels are made from live organic matter (ranging from canola, maize, sunflowers, animal fats and soy). Thus they provide a more sustainable alternative to the material depletion associated with traditional fossil fuels while performing in many of the same ways. As the cost for fossil fuels continue to rise, part of the appeal of alternative fuels sources is their potentially low production cost. We should also consider the environmental impact of growing crops for fuels, CO2 (of of the greenhouse gases released through the combustion of fuel) is taken up by the crops. In other words, biofuels can provide a carbo...