Category Archives: Agriculture

Heard It Through the Grapevine: More Scientific Infrastructure Problems

Posted on February 10, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

Our usual plaint about the state of research infrastructure: One of the ridiculous things about many depictions of science in TV and movies is the notion that there’s this huge infrastructure: shiny labs (which are always neat and spacious), high-tech … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Booze, Funding, Plants | Comments Off on Heard It Through the Grapevine: More Scientific Infrastructure Problems

New Chicken Microbial Survey Reveals Very Little That’s New

Posted on December 20, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Before I get into the meat of the post (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?), let me state for the record that I think the U.S. needs to do much more in terms of limiting antibiotic use in agriculture, especially since … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics, Food, KPC, Public Health | 2 Comments

Democrats Finally Understand the Power of the Agriculture Bill

Posted on December 19, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Four years ago, I noted that many conservatives can be ‘got’ by holding the agricultural bill hostage (though this probably doesn’t apply to the completely batshitloonitarian wing). Despite what popular press accounts claim, Democrats can find leverage to use against … Continue reading →

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The Price of Pork and the Externalities of Antibiotic Resistance

Posted on November 22, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

If you haven’t read Maryn McKenna’s excellent piece on antibiotic resistance, you should. Before I get to a point about agriculture, I just want to point out this bit from McKenna’s article: At UCLA, Spellberg treated a woman with what … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics, E. coli, Economics, KPC | 10 Comments

Our Ignorance of the Link Between Antibiotic Resistance and Agricultural Use Is No Accident

Posted on July 19, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

We come across two posts and an online forum hosted by the British Medical Journal about whether agricultural antibiotic use results in the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. A common theme that emerges is that the scientific evidence is … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics | 3 Comments

Misunderstanding NARMS and Missing the Solution: How Not to Do Antibiotic-Related Advocacy

Posted on May 9, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

During the past month, the Environmental Working Group (‘EWG’) released a report (pdf) about 2011 Retail Meat Annual Report of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (‘NARMS’; pdf). In short, EWG mistated the problem, demonstrated some astonishing ignorance (or cynicism), … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics | Comments Off on Misunderstanding NARMS and Missing the Solution: How Not to Do Antibiotic-Related Advocacy

Reconsidering the Easter Island Collapse (and the Irony of Jared Diamond’s Interpretation of It)

Posted on January 24, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Barbara King recently asked “Why Does Jared Diamond Make Anthropologists So Mad?” It’s not my place to speak for anthropologists (I’m not Mike the Mad Anthropologist), but I do know what has made me very skeptical of Diamond’s claims: his … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Easter Island, Ecology, Environment | 3 Comments

Republicans Inexplicably Kill the Ag Bill

Posted on September 19, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

What the Republicans are doing, only much, much cuter (from here) A while ago, I argued that the Northeastern Congressional delegation should play hardball with the agriculture bill to make sure that we get some of what we need too. … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Conservatives, Fucking Morons | Comments Off on Republicans Inexplicably Kill the Ag Bill

Northeastern Congresscritters Have an Opportunity. Will They Seize It?

Posted on July 29, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

We read in the NY Times (boldface mine): The impact of the hot and dry weather on the nation’s farmers has put new pressure on Congress to move ahead on a pending five-year farm bill. But House Republican leaders have … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Democrats, Get a Pair, Will Ya?, Transportation | Comments Off on Northeastern Congresscritters Have an Opportunity. Will They Seize It?

So How Will the Ag Lobby Explain This?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

A brand spanking new paper in mBio describes how a clone of MRSA (the bacterium methicillin rensitive Staphylococcus aureus), known as ST398, long-associated with agriculture including pigs gained its methicillin and tetracylcine resistance. Surprise! It happened in the agricultural setting. … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics, Evolution, Microbiology, MRSA | 4 Comments