Daily Food & Agriculture Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
CRISPR gene-editing technology heralds first generation of climate change resistant crops
CRISPR gene editing technology is beginning to deliver on a promise to quickly create crops with traits that withstand a ...
‘Affront to nature and creation’: Republicans launch war on lab-grown meat as a ‘liberal conspiracy’ even though it is not for sale yet
Cultured meat is the culture wars' newest bone of contention. Republican efforts to ban and even outlaw production of the ...
‘Pesticides of tomorrow’: Bayer uses AI to develop next-generation pesticides, targeting 2030 for roll-out
They are now doing "computational biochemistry", manipulating virtual molecules instead of plants. In the laboratory of chemist Bayer in Lyon, ...
Ghana approves 14 new genetically engineered seeds, including pest resistant and nutrition-enhanced varieties
As a farmer, I was recently excited to read a report that disclosed Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) has approved ...
Delicious new food in the making: Catfish with alligator genes resists fish disease problems
A group of scientists at Auburn University published a paper in January detailing their efforts to genetically modify catfish with the cathelicidin ...
Unpacking effects of GM crops on global health, labor, and sustainability
Many people wonder what impacts GMO crops have on our world. “GMO” (genetically modified organism) is the common term consumers ...
Disease resistance, crop diversity and enhanced fertilizer efficiency: Three desperately needed improvements that CRISPR brings to agriculture
Moderated by Howard-Yana Shapiro, a distinguished senior fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the March 19 and 20 World ...
Viewpoint: Center for Skeptical Inquiry rakes American Academy of Pediatrics for evidence-free claims that GMOs and glyphosate pose health hazards
The respected journal Pediatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, published a Clinical Report (12/3/23) strongly implying that parents should ...
Robots with poison guns target weeds and offer an alternative to some herbicides
The plants we eat have bitter enemies on all sides. Can robots with poison guns help them? “Aggressive weeds, insects, ...
Diverging paths of developing giants: GM seed approvals surge in China while Indian innovation blocked by biotech barriers
China’s moves since October 2023 to approve several genetically modified (GM) strains of maize and soybean have shined a spotlight on ...
‘Super banana’ controversy: Why orange-hued, blindness-fighting ‘Banana21’ that African researchers spent 20+ years crafting might never make it to market
Scientists in Uganda have created a genetically modified banana in the hopes of saving thousands of children in the country who die ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR gene editing is no silver bullet in in the battle to contain bird flu
Recently, a group of scientists announced a breakthrough approach to combat Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu or avian flu), a severe illness ...
Pest resistant beans: Gates Foundation in Nigeria helps develop insect-resistant, higher yield cowpeas
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the Kano State Government [in Nigeria] with anti-pest beans, a species developed ...
Eat what you want while staying healthy? Here’s how scientists are working to transform the sugar that you eat into fiber
We all know that too much sugar is bad for us. It can lead to weight gain, obesity, type 2 ...
37 Nobel laureates and 1,500 researchers are calling for relaxation of EU gene editing regulations
As regulations on genetic technology are now to be reassessed in both Norway and the EU, researchers are hoping for ...
Small rise in global temperature ‘will make a big impact on honey bees’. Is there a solution?
The famous work ethic of honey bees might spell disaster for these busy crop pollinators as the climate warms, new ...
Viewpoint: ‘We’ve passed inflated expectations and troughs of disillusionment’ — Food and ag industry insiders say best is yet to come for CRISPR gene-edited crops
Over the past 10 years, there has been incredible progress in CRISPR thanks to enormous private and public investment. Yet, ...
Viewpoint: Ready to abandon milk and meat to improve health and save the environment? Not so fast.
Substituting meat and dairy with more plant-based foods in our diets can achieve benefits for human and environmental health: this is ...
Farming uses too much water? These CRISPR gene-edited tomatoes resist drought and still bear fruit
Researchers have successfully used CRISPR to develop tomato plants that use water more efficiently, meaning they need less water to grow. This ...
How gene editing and AI can drive sustainable forestry and revolutionize the paper industry
About a quarter of wood consists of something called lignin. While lignin serves an important role for trees, helping them grow taller and get ...
Italy to launch first field test of a gene-edited crop, rice engineered to protect against disease without the use of agrochemicals
The witch hunt against old GMOs will soon be a distant memory (perhaps). And after more than twenty years of ...
Congress mulls transparency bills to limit booming industry of undisclosed third-party litigators
Litigation funders are hedge funds, credit lenders, and venture capitalists who front legal costs in exchange for a percentage of ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group up to its old trick of misrepresenting science to scare us about chemical traces in its attack on oat products containing micro-levels of chlormequat
So, here we go. Something else to worry about. At least according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit ...
How a cutting edge gene tracker can help map the rise of pesticide resistance in caterpillars
Farmers rely on pesticides to control agricultural pests. But insects often develop resistance to the toxins in pesticides. University of ...
Viewpoint: Two dozen gene-edited crop field trials set to begin later this year in England ‘could have major benefits’
Later this year gene-edited crops will be planted at about two dozen commercial farms across England for the first time ...
Iowa Senate bill insulating pesticide manufacturers from suits over disputed safety labels moves to House
Pesticide manufacturers would be protected from lawsuits stemming from their products' labeling under a bill advancing through the Iowa Legislature ...
Defying critics, US honeybee population continues five-year surge to record high — but not all the news is good
After almost two decades of relentless colony collapse coverage and years of grieving suspiciously clean windshields, we were stunned to run the numbers on the new ...
