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About This Podcast
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 Dr. Orlando de Lange and I’ll be your guide as we explore true stories that just might change how you think about the past, present and future of food.
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Recent Episodes
S1E15 The colorful world of GMOs
From glowing petunias to purple tomatoes - this episode is a roundup of some of the lesser known GMO crops that are nonetheless out there in our world. Key references Glowing plants I Bought a…
Your Questions Answered - Part 2
From glowing fish to feminizing tofu - the second and final installment of me answering your questions about GMO. References relevant to Question 1 - Soy Phytoestrogens Article on use of the term…
Round Up Ready - The GMO that launched a thousand lawsuits
Why did Monsanto take a canadian farmer all the way to the supreme court? And what does this have to do with controversial herbicide glyphosate? Learn about the science and history of Round Up Ready…
Bt Crops - GMOs go mainstream
The NewLeaf potato was a failure, appearing and disappearing in under a decade. But it was the first of a new wave of GMO crops that have endured to the present day - Bt crops. Key…
S1E11 First ever GMO: The FlavrSavr tomato
How one tomato changed the world? Or was it two? And what is a GMO tomato anyway. Slice into the story of the FlavrSavr tomato. Key references Grierson D. Identifying and silencing tomato ripening…
S2E10 How to Make a GMO Plant
From hacking bacteria to blasting your way into the heart of the cell, in this episode we explore the ways to get a transgene into a plant cell and go from there to a whole genetically engineered…
S1E9 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…
How Science Took Over Plant Breeding
What actually is plant breeding and how did it become so deeply intertwined with genetics?
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.
S1E6 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 -…
S1E5 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…
S1E4 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…
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…
S1E2 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…
S1E1 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…
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,…
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Modified has published 16 episodes since August 2025, covering topics in History, Science.
Modified is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 34m.
