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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Fluorescent foliage: Researchers grow glow-in-the-dark plants with help from mushroom DNA
Fans of the "Avatar" movie will have long dreamed of lush jungles teeming with glowing plants. But fluorescent foliage may ...
Coronavirus outbreak fuels surging plant-based meat demand in China
Demand for plant-based protein foods is surging in Asia, suppliers say, as suspicion over possible links between wild animal meat ...
Viewpoint: Blame the coronavirus on ‘industrial agriculture’? We need more, not less of it to stave off the next viral pandemic
An internet meme is circulating worldwide in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Every disaster starts with a scientist being ...
Podcast: Why scientists have an obligation to teach the public about GMOs
Dr. Maha Arujanan is the global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and also ...
Camelina vs. canola: Which GMO crop offers more sustainable source of omega-3 fish oils?
Field trials of a plant genetically modified to produce omega-3 normally sourced from fish oil have shown that it can ...
‘Climate proofing’ the world’s food supply with edible microorganisms
We need a global food production system that is tolerant to unpredictable climate fluctuations ...
Beyond Meat debuts plant-based menu options in China’s just-reopened Starbucks, KFC locations
As China reopens restaurants and cafes, more plant-based "fake" meat products are popping up on menus. On [April 22], Beyond ...
Video: Why gene-edited crops? Examining the nutritional and environmental benefits of CRISPR
As genetic engineering continues to improve our food supply, David Fikes of FMI Foundation explains that humans have always modified ...
Engineering plants to rapidly repair heat damage could preserve crop yields as climate changes
As plants convert sunlight into sugar, their cells are playing with fire. Photosynthesis generates chemical byproducts that can damage the ...
Bugpocalypse? New research challenges widely publicized claims of impending catastrophic insect declines
Drastic declines in insect biomass, abundance, and diversity reported in the literature have raised concerns among scientists and the public ...
Viewpoint: ‘Big Ag’ caused the coronavirus pandemic? Predatory science journal amplifies baseless COVID-19 conspiracy
With the global pandemic caused by Covid-19, agricultural supply chains around the world have been taxed to ensure consistent and ...
Gene editing will revolutionize crop breeding in Africa, new paper predicts
Genome editing technology has the potential to revolutionize crop development on the African continent, especially in sub-Sahara Africa, according to ...
Gene editing could cut food additive use and put more nutritious options in supermarkets
[In 2019], Minneapolis-based Calyxt introduced a soybean oil without trans fats for commercial sale. It was the first gene-edited food ...
Podcast: How domestication turned cattle into a key source of increasingly sustainable food
Cattle provide meat, milk and hide products to people all over the world, and are used as work animals for ...
Chipotle fined record-setting $25 million for allegedly sickening 1,100 customers with norovirus
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will pay a $25 million criminal fine to resolve allegations by federal prosecutors that its food ...
Why we need globalization: Locally grown food could only feed 27% of the world’s population
It is true that in North America and much of Europe you can grow plenty of wheat locally, but in ...
Gene-drive technology may combat notorious Fusarium fungus that decimates global wheat yields
The Fusarium fungus is the bane of every wheat farmer’s existence. Causing wheat scab—also known as head blight—it decimates harvests ...
Can vast ocean seaweed farms provide sustainable biofuel?
One day in the future, the Pacific Ocean could be home to kilometers of seaweed farms tended by submarine drones ...
GMO Impossible beef hits 1,000 new grocery stores as plant-based meat demand surges
Starting [April 17], 777 supermarkets in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Nevada [began] stocking the Impossible Foods plant-based meat substitute ...
Viewpoint: Government-funded anti-GMO groups promote hunger in world’s poorest nations
Too many US, EU and UN government agencies have been captured by neo-colonialist elements in their leadership and ranks, and ...
Viewpoint: How plant-based meat and other biotech innovations fuel ecological restoration
Agriculture, livestock and fishing are the sectors with the greatest ecological impacts on the planet. Soon, in a generation, they ...
Our food has never been safer, so why are we so scared of it?
Why you shouldn't trust your brain ...
Puff piece: Lab-made ‘Incredible Cotton’ may grow 10 times faster and cut environmental impact of the traditional crop
You might call this a puff piece, because it’s about cotton that’s just as fluffy but more sustainable than the ...
Will genetically improved crops be enough to sustainably feed a booming global population?
A growing, increasingly affluent and urban human population is driving demand for more food grown in more-sustainable ways. ... Sustainable ...
Will CRISPR spawn a new wave of crop biotech innovation despite regulatory hurdles?
The fact that gene-edited crops can be indistinguishable at the molecular level from those that occur in nature or are ...
Fast carbs: Do the products of modern agriculture short circuit your biology to make you fat and diabetic?
In recent weeks, foods of all kinds have flown off the shelves at grocery stores as Americans stocked up to ...
Gene editing and agroecology compatible? Yes, and they may lead to more eco-friendly farming
New gene techniques and agro-ecology can reinforce each other in making agriculture more sustainable, say researchers at Wageningen University & ...
Can we meet global food demand using conventional, intensive agriculture without sacrificing the environment?
The expansion of farmlands to meet the growing food demand of the world’s ever expanding population places a heavy burden ...
