Modified

modifiedgmopodcast
  • 5.0 (3)
  • SCIENCE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Join me as we dig into a heaped serving of GMO crops through the lens of science, history, and culture. From the Victorian origins of plant genetics through to the genetically modified world we live in today. I’m Orlando de Lange and I’ll be your guide as we explore (true) stories that just might change how you think about the food on your plate, and the future of agriculture.

Episodes

  1. JAN 10

    The Early Days of Genetic Engineering

    How did a few labs in the San Francisco area transform our relationship to life itself?   Guidelines for Hybrid DNA Molecules - Maxine Singer and Dieter Soll - Science, 1973 Potential Biohazards of Recombinant DNA Molecules - Berg et al., Science, 1974 Electron Micrograph of plasmid DNA, 1967 Valentine remembered for visionary thinking that transformed agriculture - Trina Kleist, 2023

    27 min

  2. 12/27/2025

    How Science Took Over Plant Breeding

    What actually is plant breeding and how did it become so deeply intertwined with genetics?

    39 min

  3. 12/13/2025

    What makes a plant a crop?

    Learn what sushi and sugar beets can teach us about how to turn a plant into a crop and how this connects to GMOs.

    29 min

  4. 11/15/2025

    Your Questions Answered

    Ant plants, Chameleon plants, and skinny-peel mangoes. Let's dive into your questions and I'll do my best to answer them.    References Leaf Mimicry in a Climbing Plant Protects Against Herbivory - Gianoli & Carrasco-Urra - Current Biology, 2014 Boquila trifoliata Mimics Leaves of an Artificial Plastic Host Plant - White & Yamashita - Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2021 Endophytic Bacterial Communities are Associated with Leaf Mimicry in the Vine Boquila trifoliata - Gianoli et al. - Scientific Reports, 2021 How the Tulip Breaking Virus Created Striped Tulips - Wong, Carrero & Hillen - Communications Biology, 2025 Start of the Art of Dahlia Breeding - A dissertation by Karen Renae Bender - Iowa State University, 2022 The Genome Evolution and Domestication of Tropical Fruit Mango - Wang et al. - Genome Biology, 2020

    57 min

  5. 11/02/2025

    How Genes Keep Plants Alive

    How do plants defend themselves, fighting a war of attrition cell by cell? And how did a scientist in Minnesota in the 1950s reshape how we understand plant immune systems and the genetics at their heart. And of course, how does this all connect to GMOs? Let's find out.    References H. H. FLOR: PIONEER IN PHYTOPATHOLOGY Jin L, Chen M, Xiang M, Guo Z. RNAi-Based Antiviral Innate Immunity in Plants. Viruses. 2022 Feb 20;14(2):432.  FAO. 2022. FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division. Rome. PAPAYA RINGSPOT VIRUS (PRY): A SERIOUS DISEASE OF PAPAYA   2024 STATE AGRICULTURE OVERVIEW - Hawaii

    26 min

  6. 10/18/2025

    How Genes Make Plants

    What are these little bundles of DNA we call genes and how does a bunch of genes work together to make a whole plant? In this episode we’ll take a journey through plant genetics and see why scientists have been so keen to unlock these secrets and ultimately to shape them to human ends.    References: On the history of Japanese rice research in Taiwan: Tracing the Roots of Taiwanese Rice. Cathy Teng, photos Chuang Kung-ju, tr. by Scott Williams July 2016  Leow, W.Y. (2020). Horai Rice in the Making of Japanese Colonial Taiwan. Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 9(1), 40-66. Wikipedia: Taiwan Under Japanese Rule On Gibberellin research Hedden, P., Sponsel, V. A Century of Gibberellin Research. J Plant Growth Regul 34, 740–760 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-015-9546-1 RADLEY, M. Occurrence of Substances Similar to Gibberellic Acid in Higher Plants. Nature 178, 1070–1071 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/1781070a0 Bernard O Phinney. By Ann Hirsch. UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

    33 min

  7. 10/04/2025

    The One with Mendel and his Peas

    Around the same time as Miescher was tinkering with DNA in Tubingen castle, a middle aged friar-scientist Gregor Mendel was experimenting with inheritance of pea plants. He was the first to define a set of mathematical rules behind inheritance that birthed the field of genetics - a field that lay dormant for a few decades before exploding in the 1900s, and continues to develop to this day. Genetics gives us the tools to reshape the living world with intention and at speed.    References: 1. Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden. Zwei Abhandlungen. (1865 und 1869.) Von Gregor Mendel. Herausgegeben von Erich Tschermak [Experiments in Plant Hybridization. Two Treatments. (1865 and 1869). By Gregor Mendel. Published by Erich Tschermak. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hs118q&seq=7   2. Gregor Mendel and his Precusors. Conway Zirkle. 1951. https://www.jstor.org/stable/226964?seq=1   3.  Bateson W. (1906) "The progress of genetic research" Report of the Third International Conference 1906 on Genetics, W. Wilks, ed. London, England: Royal Horticultural Society. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/206746#page/129/mode/1up    4. Fairbanks, D.J. Demystifying the mythical Mendel: a biographical review. Heredity 129, 4–11 (2022). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-022-00526-0

    33 min

  8. 09/20/2025

    What Genes are Made of

    Genes can be a metaphor for our sense of self. But they are also real, physical, things made up of DNA parts, locked inside the cells of every living organism. In this episode we explore the materiality of genes, as well as some of the human stories behind the science.    References: Waclaw Szybalski on Martha Chase - Cold Spring Harbor laboratory - Oral history collections.  Martha Chase at the University of Rochester: The Woman in STEM Who Was Forgotten. The Journal of Undergraduate Research - University of Rochester. Spring 2024, Volume 22, Issue 2. Michelle A. Bischoff ‘24, Xuke Wang, Erin Song, Gabrielle Wilson, Monica Brody, Suchi Iyer, Kirya Caine, and Michael Clark*

    30 min

  9. 09/06/2025

    Introducing Modified

    The roots of today’s genetically modified world stretch back two centuries, to a castle kitchen in Southern Germany. This episode will set the stage for our whole podcast introducing key themes and foundational concepts of genetics and molecular biology.

    27 min

  10. TRAILER

    Announcing Modified

    Everything you wanted to know about GMO crops and hopefully a lot of things you would have never thought to ask. Announcing Modified, a new podcast by Dr. Orlando de Lange - plant scientist, biotechnology educator, and lover of podcasts.  This announcement episode briefly introduces the podcast and lets you know what to expect.

    5 min

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Join me as we dig into a heaped serving of GMO crops through the lens of science, history, and culture. From the Victorian origins of plant genetics through to the genetically modified world we live in today. I’m Orlando de Lange and I’ll be your guide as we explore (true) stories that just might change how you think about the food on your plate, and the future of agriculture.

Information

  • Creator
    modifiedgmopodcast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Modified