Crops & Food
We eat to live. Humans use approximately 11% of Earth’s land for the cultivation of crops for food, but also for clothing, medicine and biofuels. Globally, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize (corn), wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton.
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Could heart-healthy soybean oil pave the way for more gene-edited, biofortified foods?
Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) have been successfully used to develop premium quality high-oleic soybean oil from gene-edited soybean plants. The ...
GM plant grows insect sex pheromones as alternative to crop pesticides
Scientists have discovered how to genetically modify the camelina plant to produce pheromone precursors that can control agricultural insect pests ...
Podcast: Debunking ‘dangerous’ anti-GMO misinformation that harms developing countries
Crops and foods improved through biotechnology, popularly known as “GMOs” (for “genetically modified organisms”) remain at the center of a ...
Many shoppers prefer organic food—unless GM products are cheaper, Canadian survey finds
Agricultural biotechnology produced genetically modified (GM) crops, not only provide economic benefits to farmers, but are beneficial to the environmental, ...
Regulation gone wrong: A critique of the FDA’s nonsensical animal gene-editing rules
The “Guidance for Industry #187” entitled “Regulation of Intentionally Altered Genomic DNA in Animals” was published in the Federal Register ...
China approves two GM crop varieties in bid to support biotechnology and boost food security
China last year approved three domestically designed GMO crops as safe, the first in a decade, in a fresh push ...
CRISPR-edited eggs offer novel way to eliminate slaughter of newborn male chicks
[Most consumers] are blissfully unaware that the egg industry also slaughters billions of animals every year, but not to put ...
USDA green lights high-yield, herbicide-resistant GM corn variety, finding it unlikely to pose a plant pest risk
The Notice in the Federal Register states that APHIS is advising the public that the genetically engineered corn variety DP202216 is no ...
Eliminating dairy cows would reduce US greenhouse gas emissions just 0.7 percent while cutting essential nutrient supply, study finds
A commonly suggested solution to reduce greenhouse gas output has been to reduce or eliminate [the dairy] industry in favor ...
Mexican farmers and scientists speak out against government’s anti-biotech agenda
The Mexican government’s nonstop attacks on genetically modified (GM) crops — resulting most recently in a ban on GM maize ...
GE animals: While the federal government delays approvals, antibiotic use, animal suffering and food prices increase
They say good things come to those who wait. Well I have been waiting my entire career to eat milk, ...
Viewpoint: Impossible and Beyond Burgers are delicious, but are they good for you?
The leading companies offering fake meat are mission-driven, with vegan roots. Any benefits to human health are icing on the ...
Viewpoint: Why organic farming won’t help preserve the world’s biodiversity
A recent paper finds that if just 15 percent of farmland reverted to nature, it would wipe out nearly a third ...
FDA aims to combat GMO misinformation with crop biotech high-school curriculum
Though a new curriculum guide offers high school teachers helpful tools for navigating the complexities of crop biotechnology and a ...
USDA bioengineered food labels are coming in 2021. Will they change consumer behavior?
Four years after the thunder in Congress over labeling foods made with GMO ingredients, the deadline for compliance with the ...
US grew 13 million pounds of genetically modified apples in 2020, but most fruit growers still resist growing biotech crops
[G]rape and nut growers appear to have sustained a particularly rough 2020. But that was probably due at least as ...
Drought-tolerant GM corn comes with added, unexpected benefit—pest resistance
Water stress arising from drought conditions can trigger outbreaks of bark beetles, wood borers, and sap feeders like spider mites ...
GM trees that suck up more CO2 could help stem growing threat of climate change
In order to fight the growing threat of global climate change, scientists are now suggesting that we genetically modify trees ...
Viewpoint: GMO ‘opposition based on emotion and dogma must be stopped’
Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have featured heavily in this presidential campaign and are without question two of the ...
Mexico’s GM corn ban could ‘imperil’ nation’s food chain, farm groups warn
Mexico will “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified corn seeds into the environment,” stated ...
GM, insect resistant Bt cotton and 11 billion sterile moths eliminated pink bollworm from the US and Mexico
Invasive organisms pose a global threat and are exceptionally difficult to eradicate after they become abundant in their new habitats ...
‘Like finding missing puzzle pieces’: Sequenced genome of 15 wheat varieties could speed search for heartier crops
[Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have] sequenced the genomes for 15 wheat varieties representing breeding programmes around the world ...
‘Circular economy’: Turning waste into reusable products makes food and energy production more sustainable
We need to find a way to reduce waste, and the answer could be moving to a circular economy, which ...
European Commission may greenlight GM crop imports rejected by EU Parliament
The EU Parliament has again spoken out against the approval of a number of genetically modified plant species. MEPs in ...
Calyxt gene-edited, heart-healthy soybeans help alleviate America’s biggest soy shortage in years
[Calyxt Inc has] agreed to sell all the gene-edited soybean grains it produced in 2020 to agricultural merchant Archer Daniels ...
New crop-destroying locust swarms threaten east Africa, where 35 million people already face food shortages
A new generation of locust swarms is threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of farmers and herders across eastern Africa ...
Farming palm trees for oil destroys forests. Now there’s a GM synthetic version that might help preserve global biodiversity
[Many everyday products] are made with palm oil, which is responsible for the rapid deforestation of some of the world's ...
GM, insect-resistant, Bt maize offers Kenyan farmers chance to boost yields while cutting pesticide use, local soil scientist says
Wilhelm Mukhongo is a soil expert and works with the county government of Busia, [Kenya, in] the department of agriculture, ...
