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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African Centre for Biodiversity claims South Africa’s GMO maize provides poor nutrition, will not help nation cope with drought
[Haidee Swanby is Research and Outreach Officer and Linzi Lewis is a Researcher at the African Centre for Biodiversity.] A new report by ...
UK research facility spent over $2.5 million to protect GMO wheat trial from threatened vandalism by anti-GMO activists
[Editor's note: Rothamsted Research is the longest running agricultural research center in the world. It has three campuses in Britain. The research ...
Environmental groups raise alarm about GMO salmon being licensed to multiple facilities
A bio-tech firm established in the maritime province of Prince Edward Island has created a [genetically modified] salmon that grows ...
Why the international seed bank includes no GMOs
The [Svalbard Global Seed Vault] is a frozen cavern in a mountain on the arctic island of Svalbard, halfway between ...
Could glyphosate cause other health problems even if it’s not carcinogenic?
GMO skeptics have raised health concerns about glyphosate beyond claims, proven unfounded, that they cause cancer. Here is what the ...
USDA’s decision to not regulate CRISPR mushroom, other ‘knockout’ crops sets up potential conflict with Europe
The ruling of the USDA to not examine the CRISPR-modified mushrooms was initially a huge shock to me when I ...
US state attorneys join federal antitrust probe of Dow-Dupont merger, increasing scrutiny of deal
U.S. state attorneys general have joined a federal antitrust probe of the planned merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical Co, according ...
African researchers develop drought-tolerant GMO maize variety
Maize is a staple food crop for millions of Africans. Despite this fact, African farmers have been harvesting average grain ...
US scientist Matt Ross briefly resigned from WHO cancer agency IARC over fears his emails would be made public
A scientist involved in an international organization researching cancer offered his resignation in April because of uncertainty over whether its ...
Myth busting on ‘contamination’: GMO farms’ halo effect often protects organic farms
Some organic farmers worry that their farms can be ‘contaminated’ by modified crops grown nearby. But no organic farmers in ...
South Africans gradually embrace GMO foods as crop biotechnology boosts economy
The Department of Science and Technology Director General, Dr Phil Mjwara, says biotechnology or genetically modified (GM) crops have had ...
Beer maker SABMiller working with scientists to produce flood-tolerant hops
[Editor's note: This excerpt was translated by Google Translate and lightly edited for clarity] Hops, one of the main ingredients ...
Using genomics and light to manipulate flavor, nutrition of crops
Crop scientist Kevin Folta of the University of Florida is renowned for his tireless efforts in science communication.... He’s less ...
GMO grasses could provide healthier forage for livestock, reduce environmental impact
Grasses of the future will make animals healthier, more productive and reduce their impact on the environment. AgResearch scientist Tony Conner said advances in modern ...
Could genetic modification via insects protect crops against agricultural bioterrorism?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) has announced a Proposers Day for the new Insect ...
Boulder farmers concerned about finding replacements for GMO crops on county-owned farmland
Boulder County farmers are voicing concerns about a proposed plan to phase out the use of genetically engineered corn and ...
British consumer skepticism of GMO foods and crops appears to be softening
Public opinion has swung behind genetically modified crops for the first time after decades of opposition, according to a survey ...
German Plant Breeders Association says EU should not regulate gene-edited plants as GMOs
[Editor’s Note: The author, Petra Jorasch, is vice-secretary general of the German Plant Breeders’ Association.] A key issue, not only ...
GMO sugar beets offer 30% yield boost, but mandatory labels could devastate farmers
[F]armers began using genetically modified beet seeds eight years ago. Sugar extracted from ... beets shows no trace of genetic modification. It’s the ...
Pakistani scientist claims biotechnology key to feed undernourished nation
To overcome food insecurity in the country, it is direly needed to draw plans to start using biotechnology in the ...
Model predicts banning GMOs would spike greenhouse gas emissions and food prices
A global ban on genetically modified crops would raise food prices and add the equivalent of nearly a billion tons ...
Three scientist-mothers explain why they avoid non-GMO products
[The Non-GMO Project] NGP leads consumers to believe that choosing non-GMO is consistent with values that consumers (including ourselves) seek ...
Does the herbicide glyphosate cause cancer? The GLP does a deep dive into the science
Glyphosate--an herbicide pioneered by Monsanto but now off patent--has emerged as a proxy for critics of crop biotechnology and intensive ...
Developing countries, universities beginning to develop genetically engineered crops
A very common criticism against genetically modified (GM) crops, whenever they are mentioned, is to automatically associate them with a ...
European scientist: WHO’s IARC faces scrutiny over glyphosate cancer designation
One of the World Health Organization's cancer research bodies faces increasing criticism because of its questionable categorizations of numerous safe ...
Indian Supreme Court seeks public input on safety, benefit of GM mustard
A locally developed variety of genetically modified (GM) mustard seed is not swadeshi enough for the Swadeshi Jagran Manch... saying ...
Regulators to discuss whether gene edited crops should be allowed under organic label
[Editors note: Melody Meyer is the Vice President of Policy and Industry Relations for United Natural Foods(UNFI), a is a distributor of ...
