Agriculture & 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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Video: 101 seconds on the plant biology synthetic revolution
There’s a famous quote attributed to the eminent scientist Richard Feynman: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” Those ...
The world’s agricultural farmland is shrinking but production is up. Can this trend continue?
Throughout the 20th Century, humanity demanded more and more land leading to the loss of vast areas of natural forest ...
Will Europe squander its biotechnology opportunity?
Europe’s next wave of biotech innovation could determine how the continent feeds itself as climate disruption and supply-chain shocks intensify ...
Viewpoint: Frost season is nearing in Florida’s citrus-growing region. Here’s how backward science at the EPA has closed down a protective solution
“That morning I squeezed every orange and it felt like a wet sponge – I knew I lost the whole ...
‘Deficient, Unreliable, Corrupted’: Independent EU food science watchdog agency eviscerates junk studies weaponized by NGO activists to manufacture microplastic crisis and litigation
Not a day goes by where some study isn’t published on some micro or nanoplastic found in the environment, humans ...
Can we expect a wave of corporate breakups as seed industries liberate themselves from litigation-laden pesticide businesses
Companies involved in both the seed and pesticide sectors see a pipeline of pesticide-related class action lawsuits, MDLs and unlimited ...
Viewpoint: What’s on the line as India ponders the future of biotechnology and agriculture?
Reports suggest that over 60% of industrial products could be made using biotechnology, though technical difficulties need to be resolved ...
Future of food security: The downside of the digitalization of agriculture for the most vulnerable countries
With an average temperature increase of more than 1.2°C, and extreme weather events compromising 30% of global harvests, applied genetics ...
Viewpoint: Organic fantasies—Why rejecting industrial agriculture for regenerative farming would be a big mistake for food security and sustainability
Last year, Scientific American published a short but ominous article titled “Only 60 Years Left of Farming if Soil Degradation ...
A remarkable discovery may open the door to gene editing, tripling yields of wheat and other grain crops
A groundbreaking discovery from the University of Maryland promises to revolutionize wheat cultivation and dramatically boost global food security. Researchers ...
Colade Royale: Dole’s brain-enhancing pineapple bred to taste like a piña colada arrives in grocery stores next month
For pineapple lovers, a new chapter in tropical indulgence is about to unfold. ... Consumers and food enthusiasts are buzzing with ...
Viewpoint: Indigenous groups and their Western NGO allies line up to block the genetic engineering revolution
[Members] of the International Union of Conservation of Nature, one of the world’s largest conservation groups, voted against a moratorium on the ...
Saving life from extinction: Why it’s critical to protect and preserve bacteria and other microbes
Hundreds of scientists have joined together to save a group of species from extinction, a group that might not seem ...
Mexican scientists call for quick approvals of gene-edited crops even as restrictions persist on GMO agriculture
Researchers in Mexico are urging the government to develop clear regulations that distinguish gene-editing technologies, such as CRISPR, from genetically ...
Trump’s plan to import millions of dollars of Argentinian beef to lower prices runs into opposition from ranchers and economists
President Donald Trump ’s plan to cut record beef prices by importing more meat from Argentina is running into heated opposition from U.S ...
Farming in poorer countries suffers from poor weather forecasting. AI is poised to change that
For farmers, every planting decision carries risks, and many of those risks are increasing with climate change. One of the ...
Australia approves commercial planting of genetically modified cotton
Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued license DIR 216 to Bayer CropScience Pty. Ltd., authorizing the ...
“It’s raining neonicotinoids in Japan!” How the French media, environmentalists, and activist scientists conspired to distort science and severely damage the farm economy
Based on only eleven rain collections, researchers from Tokyo and Hokkaido Universities detected five neonicotinoids in Japanese rainwater at sub-nanogram-per-liter ...
Will ‘neophobia’ kill the newly-developed gene-edited, non-browning banana
When a banana is bruised, cut, or peeled, enzymes trigger a chemical cascade that ends in melanin, the same pigment ...
Argentina and Japan far ahead of U.S. and Canada in developing gene-edited livestock
A more permissive approach to gene editing regulation in Argentina has led to greater diversity of innovation and a shift ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate is agriculture’s scapegoat
Glyphosate has played a central role in modern agriculture’s ability to increase yields, reduce labour costs and conserve soil through ...
As you age, even a small amount of alcohol each week can increase the risk of dementia
For years, the common wisdom and science was that a little bit of alcohol wasn’t bad — and even beneficial ...
Transforming food waste into biodegradable ultra-thin plastic
In the face of the growing global crisis due to plastic pollution, a team from Monash University in Melbourne (Australia) has managed to transform food ...
Viewpoint: Tylenol causes autism? Diet Coke brain tumors? Ice cream shark attacks? None of the claims is true—unless you’re an activist or a tort lawyer
Every week, the headlines blare a new health apocalypse: “Diet soda causes depression!” “Tylenol in pregnancy linked to autism!” “Pesticides ...
India negotiating removing block on importing US GMO grains to forge new trade deal
In a world where an ever-growing portion of grains is grown from genetically modified seeds, India has sat on the ...
Understanding the recent boom in ‘regenerative’ food labels
Stroll through a grocery store and you’ll likely spy the word “regenerative” on everything from cocoa powder to hot dogs. ... But this seemingly ...
Viewpoint: Why de-extinction efforts should be redirected at classical habitat conservation or improving agricultural production
“In considering the risks of recombinant DNA, we shy at kittens and cuddle tigers.” Thus James Watson, co-discoverer with Francis ...
