328. Dietrich DR, Dekant W, Greim H, Heslop-Harrison P, Berry C, Boobis A, Hengstler JG, Sharpe R. 2016. EU safety regulations: Don’t mar legislation with pseudoscience. Nature 535: 355 (21 July 2016) doi:10.1038/535355c We are concerned that some of the European Union’s processes for setting safety regulations for chemicals are being influenced by media and pseudoscience scaremongering….
Category: Press
Media and public understanding from the Molecular Cytogenetics group, University of Leicester. This category includes interviews and press releases, and citations related to them. For more information, contact Professor Pat Heslop-Harrison, University of Leicester; e-mail phh4(a)le.ac.uk.
Regulation should follow robust scientific assessments not opinions
University of Leicester scientist in battle to ‘stem onslaught of pseudoscience’ Geneticist at European Commission alarmed at impact of ‘dogma’ in regulation and the negative impact on the environment and European industry A University of Leicester scientist has joined leading scientists from across Europe in raising an alarm over the ‘pseudoscience’ concerning regulation of compounds used…
Scientists ready to stem the onslaught of pseudoscience in the EU
BRUSSELS, May 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ A meeting was held between Dr Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner of Health & Food Safety and well established and respected scientists (Prof. Sir Colin Berry, Prof. Alan Boobis, Prof. Wolfgang Dekant, Prof. Daniel Dietrich, Prof. Helmut Greim, Prof. Pat Heslop-Harrison and Prof. Richard Sharpe) in the fields of human risk assessment and…
Saffron crocus, cooking and Iran on the radio
The spice Saffron is valued worldwide for its flavor, aroma and color. I’ve just broadcast an interview with Robin Young produced by Jill Ryan for NPR’s Here and Now program which let me tell you something about my enjoyment of saffron both as a consumer and scientist. Saffron is unusual in that it is equally…
Saffron Crocus, quality and fraud in New York Times
Elaine Sciolino discusses saffron in the New York Times. Saffronomics partners Jean Thiercelin and Pat Heslop-Harrison are quoted, with the outcome of the project in developing methods to detect fraud and measure quality. In the article, the special qualities of saffron are discussed and many examples of the use in sweet and savoury foods explain the value in…
Banana research at the botanic garden
324. Heslop-Harrison, P. 2015. Banana research at the botanic garden. University of Leicester Botanic Garden Newsletter 12: 4. November 2015. Dessert bananas and the cooking bananas or plantains are among the oldest crops in the world. Most crops were domesticated through a long pathway of selection and crossing but, for banana, virtually all the two thousand varieties which are grown throughout the…
We need to have more scientific mavericks @guardianletters
306. Braben DW, Allen JF, Amos W, Ball R, Birkhead T, Cameron P, Cogdell R, Colquhoun D, Dowler R, Engle I, Fernández-Armesto F, Fitzgerald D, Heslop-Harrison P, Herschbach D, Kimble HJ, Kroto H, Ladyman J, Lane N, Lawrence P, MacIntyre A, Mattick J, Pelloni B, Poliakoff M, Randall D, Ray D, Roberts RJ, Seddon K,…
Discussing diversity, genes and the future of bananas on the BBC Food Programme
Pat Heslop-Harrison was interviewed for BBC Radio 4 “The Food Programme”. I have posted some of the points I wanted to make on AoBBlog.com, and a link to the whole interesting programme including my interview is here after broadcast of the longer version of the programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/foodprog
Preserving genetic resources in agriculture: saffron and other EU projects
Maintaining and developing sustainable uses for agricultural genetic resources is essential for ensuring food security in a sustainable manner. In this report, the outcomes of 17 EU projects on genetic resources in animals, arable crops, forest trees and “fruits, vegetables and spices” is discussed. We were involved with the project on the Saffron Crocus, reported on pages…
Banana genome sequence in the news
The full sequence of the banana genomic DNA was published last week, giving access to the sequences of all the 36000 genes in this important crop. The publication of this information is of both applied importance, giving knowledge of the genes giving the agronomic and food-related properties, and of fundamental importance to research since it…
Molecular cytogenetics, genome evolution and agricultural genomics 