Chain Reaction

Australia's SolGold pushes ahead in Ecuador despite unrest

Jul 08, 2020

Community leader addresses concerned citizens in meeting

Communities barricaded a bridge in Chical, close to the Colombian border, on January 17 to express their frustration with mining companies continuing to explore despite community opposition. The event took place around 5 kilometres from the Chical concessions of Australian gold and copper mining company SolGold, where they announced significant deposits last year.


Droughts, floods and fires: where does water fit in the climate crisis?

Jul 01, 2020

Drought affected areas increase bushfire risk

Charlotte Borthwick – The severity of the recent bushfire crisis makes it clear that things are no longer 'business as usual'. Bushfires are being exacerbated by our rapidly warming climate and lack of water in our waterways due to drought and over-extraction for irrigation.


'Miracle cows' highlight the risks of gene editing

Jun 24, 2020

Gene-edited cow

Louise Sales – They were the poster children of the gene editing revolution. In 2014, the US company Recombinetics announced they had developed gene edited hornless dairy cattle. They argued that the genetic modification was just a small genetic 'tweak' and that their cattle shouldn't be subject to onerous safety assessments or regulation. Really this was just a way of speeding up natural breeding – or 'precision breeding' as they called it. Except this wasn't actually true.