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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
If biofortified crops are goal, both genetic engineering and conventional breeding necessary
[Dr Swati Puranik, of the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University in the UK] and her ...
India’s biotech regulator greenlights GMO mustard—But hurdles to commercialization remain
India's central biotech regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), on Thursday [May 11] cleared the genetically modified (GM) Mustard for ...
American Veterinary Medical Association joins 275+ organizations in endorsing safety of GM foods, opposes mandatory labeling
Given the safety of genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered foods, mandatory labeling of GMO and GE foods and food ...
Nigeria’s environment minister: We must ensure country does not become ‘dumping ground for GM foods’
The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril has tasked regulatory agencies in the country to ensure that Nigeria ...
Do real farmers think of Monsanto as ‘the oppressor’?
[Editor's note: Michelle Miller, known on social media as the Farm Babe, is an Iowa-based farmer, public speaker and writer ...
CRISPR race: Gene editing’s lower costs, regulations open door to more competition, improved crops
Monsanto ... is investing in gene editing in an effort to keep an edge over rival suppliers of high-tech crop seeds ...
Merchants of doubt: US Right to Know’s latest smear targets public-service-focused Canadian scientist
A familiar pattern is emerging, and if you love science and respect scientists it should give you chills. This week ...
GMO corn that shuts down carcinogenic fungal toxin could be healthcare boon in developing countries
Amid the GMO debate, one researcher is striving to use genetic modification to not just improve crop health, but potentially ...
New generation GMO soybeans: How genetic tweaking might offset detrimental impact of rising temperatures
Published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, this study found the modified crop yielded more when subjected to both increased ...
US Right to Know calls Canadian researcher and university Monsanto ‘sock puppets’ — But finds no financial ties
The University of Saskatchewan and one of its well-known professors are acting like "sock puppets" for agri-business giant Monsanto, says ...
How to reduce pest tolerance to insect-resistant GM Bt crops? Breed the plants with conventional ones
Insect pests that are rapidly adapting to genetically engineered crops threaten agriculture worldwide. A new study published in the Proceedings ...
Agriculture secretary Perdue: Non-GMO and organic labels ‘all about marketing’
Newly confirmed agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue said labeling food as organic and free of genetically modified organisms (GMO) is mainly about ...
Florida sheriff’s office offers free GMO testing–of heroin to ‘protect’ drug users
If you’re worried about genetically modified organisms in the drugs you’re taking, the Martin County [Florida] Sheriff’s Office has an ...
How a permanent ban on neonicotinoid insecticides would impact UK farmers
The world’s most widely used insecticides could be banned for use on all field crops [in 2017], if proposals are ...
Eric Lander and Eric Schmidt: Science’s Miracle Machine — government investment in basic research — in danger
[Editor's note:Â Eric S. Lander is president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. Eric E ...
Video: Obama on GMOs — ‘Humanity has always engaged in genetic modifications’
The former president said that, like climate change, science drives his views on biotechnology. He advocated for prudent legislation and ...
CRISPR Chardonnay? Gene-edited grapes could fend off mildew, reduce pesticide use
Chardonnay is among the most popular and recognizable wines in the world. The grape’s genes essentially have been passed down ...
Legal wrangle puts brakes on new strawberry that’s ‘bigger, brighter and stays sweeter longer’
Two retired food scientists are locked in an epicurean feud with the University of California over the fate of the ...
Dangerous GMO petunias? Bright orange-red flowers pulled from UK shelves
Garden centres [in the UK] have been ordered to withdraw orange petunias from sale over concerns that they may be ...
Bangladesh’s embrace of GMO technology may embolden innovation in developing countries Â
Bangladesh's successful application of biotechnology and development of its own GM crops could serve as a model for other developing ...
Bombing of Monsanto’s Italian research facility highlights how anti-GMO rhetoric inspires terrorists
Based on the reports, an individual threw Molotov cocktails at a Monsanto research facility in Italy over the Easter Weekend,  the ...
Infographic: Global GM crops reduced farm chemical usage and CO2 emissions in 2016 boom year
[T]he International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released its annual report showcasing the 110-fold increase in adoption ...
Pamela Ronald reinvents rice: Drought-resistant varieties show progress
Pamela Ronald stands in front of two rows of rice plants, sprouting from black plastic pots, in a stifling greenhouse ...
Dow Chemical tripled lobbying since 2008, outstripping other agricultural and biotech firms
Dow Chemical has poured money into lobbying efforts over the last decade as other corporate giants have remained steady or ...
Cargill’s Non-GMO Project partnership highlights food companies’ ‘unwillingness to educate consumers’
[Editor's note: Julie Gunlock is a policy director at the Independent Women's Forum and runs the organization's Culture of Alarmism ...
Talking Biotech: Genetic engineering’s role in breeding more disease resistant and nutritious potatoes
Michigan State's David Douches builds a better potato combining genetic engineering and traditional breeding ...
Backward regulations may prevent Europe from ever benefiting from easy-to-develop disease-resistant tomatoes
Engineering a tomato resistant to a pernicious fungal disease doesn’t seem like it’d be the easiest part of a plant pathologist’s ...
