Agricultural Regs & Ethics
Viewpoint: ‘Science does not matter in Europe’ — European Chemicals Agency says weedkiller glyphosate does not cause cancer, but it will be banned nonetheless
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Committee for Risk Assessment is unsurprisingly more literate than a San Francisco jury, so they ...
Australia slated to approve country’s first genetically modified crop: Disease-resistant bananas
Scientists have submitted Australia’s first genetically modified fruit – a Cavendish banana – to regulators for approval, saying it has ...
Does GMO corn increase crop yields? More than 20 years of data confirm it does — and provides substantial health and safety benefits
While many studies show that genetically modified crops contribute to yield gains, GMO critics say that they don’t. Such claims, ...
Here’s why Mexico’s looming GMO corn ban could disrupt US global trade
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador published a presidential decree banning genetically modified corn in Mexicans’ diets, and ending the ...
Four billion American chestnut trees have been killed by a deadly fungus. Can genetic engineering help scientists build a better tree?
Over the course of the 20th century, an estimated four billion [American chestnut trees], one-fourth of the hardwood trees growing ...
Insect-resistant Bt eggplant recently approved in the Philippines could triple farmers’ incomes
The most destructive insect pest that attacks the crop is called the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB). Scientifically, it ...
Viewpoint: Mexico remains divided on GMO corn ban. Here’s what one farmer wants to happen
In Mexico, we buy significant amounts of corn from growers in the United States because my country doesn’t have the ...
China approves its first gene-edited crop, a soybean that raises the level of healthy fat oleic acid in the plant
China has approved the safety of a gene-edited soybean, its first approval of the technology in a crop, as the ...
Canada will not regulate gene-edited crops as GMOs: ‘As the agriculture sector faces challenge of climate change, innovation is incomparable tool’
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced updated guidance for seed regulations that will provide clear direction ...
CRISPR sausages? FDA approves the first livestock for food: gene-edited ‘experimental pigs’
A sausage at Washington State University has made history. WSU received U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization to have gene-edited ...
GLP podcast and video: Golden Rice hits another roadblock; Glyphosate protects endangered species; Growing medicine in GMO crops
The Philippines recently approved the cultivation of Golden Rice to prevent blindness and death caused by vitamin A deficiency (VAD) ...
Viewpoint: Subverting the science of crop biotechnology — Leaked document from German NGO illustrates ‘scandalous’ strategy by anti-biotech activists to manipulate the public
A leaked internal document from the German anti-biotech NGO community recently found its way to the Risk-Monger’s dusty basement. As ...
Curse of good intentions? New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act could undermine climate-adaptive farming
S. 1856/A. 3226 also known as “The Birds and the Bees Protection Act” does nothing to address the actual threats ...
How the battle over Ukrainian grain supplies threatens EU unity
The breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine has for years exported vast quantities of grain through the Black Sea. But after Russia’s invasion ...
Viewpoint: Italy’s lab grown meat ban follows in path of science rejectionism across Europe
Italy’s right-wing government provoked immediate controversy when it proposed banning the production of lab-grown meats to “safeguard our nation’s heritage.” The farm ...
Germany is the major obstacle to the adoption of gene editing and other crop biotechnology innovations in the EU. When might that change?
Since 2000, the EU has adopted a very hostile stance towards GMO crops, and it’s carried over into its opposition ...
Indian farmers face threats from pest infestations, erratic weather, droughts, floods, salinity, and soil degradation. Gene-edited crops could help
Indian farmers have contributed significantly to the global agricultural industry with a wide range of crops. Agriculture employs nearly 60% ...
Viewpoint: Without glyphosate, critical wetlands and wildlife could be strangled by invasive plants
Almost two years ago, I wrote an article hoping “we are finally at a place when a few influential scientists with ...
Scientists say East Africa’s farmers need improved seeds to counter pests and effects of climate change
About 12 kilometers from Uganda’s Kampala City, along the Bombo-Gulu Highway, fleshy and dark-green banana plants thrive on a farm ...
Viewpoint: Rollout of agricultural gene editing in England is not yet a sure thing. This is what could derail it.
Last month, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill completed its passage through both Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent ...
‘Gene-edited crop regulations should be based on the product not the process’: UN’s FAO assesses impact of CRISPR and new breeding techniques on food
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a report on food safety considerations for regulating foods derived ...
United States promises Africa 7 billion dollars to tackle climate crisis and food insecurity
United States vice president Kamala Harris’s nine-day visit to Africa saw her discuss with leaders measures to tackle the continent’s ...
Farmers in the Philippines blocked from commercially releasing GMO Golden Rice and eggplant by 10-day Supreme Court ruling
Genetically modified rice and eggplant products will remain off the market after the Supreme Court (SC) issued a writ in ...
Mexico’s proposed GMO corn ban could damage the US economy
Mexico issued a proposed ban on GMO corn in 2022, putting the U.S. in a position to lose out on ...
Dutch wary of gene-edited crops, fear they will not advance sustainable farming
The Dutch are not necessarily against genetically modifying food crops. However, they doubt whether the adapted crops will contribute to ...
Podcast and video: Animal mRNA vaccines under fire; Too many antibiotics in agriculture? Does ‘Big Ag’ control the global seed market?
The same technology that yielded COVID-19 vaccines could help protect livestock from deadly diseases, but a growing chorus of skeptics ...
What are the commercial and regulatory challenges facing CRISPR gene-edited crops?
When you use CRISPR gene editing on crop plants, you can do “some pretty cool things,” says Timothy Kelliher, PhD, head of ...
