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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Kennedy’s HHS set to define ultra-processed foods—but will the slippery designation make scientific sense?
The federal government is about to attempt what nutrition scientists haven't managed: a workable definition of "ultra-processed food." HHS Secretary ...
AI-driven crop innovation gets a boost from the USDA
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is taking steps to speed up progress in plant science by calling on universities ...
Viewpoint: Follow the money: How Bloomberg Philanthropies and the NGO Lighthouse Reports manufactured a Big Food safety scandal
What happens when you want to run a campaign, but you have very limited data and evidence? One strategy more ...
The perfect cookie? 3D-printed cookies made from upcycled plastic waste
Scientists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have found a way to turn plastic bottles and crop waste into protein-rich cookies, ...
Viewpoint: No, regenerative agriculture—whatever that means—is no better for the planet or your health than conventional farming that uses pesticides judiciously
Americans have been subjected to a decades-long misinformation campaign about agriculture. Instead of the truth—conventional farmers grow ever-increasing amounts of ...
For millions with peanut allergies, Nurtured Nuts’ CRISPR gene-edited peanuts could ease the fear of accidental exposure
A Minneapolis food-tech startup is commercializing CRISPR-edited strip peanuts tos strip it of the proteins that trigger allergic reactions, aiming ...
Viewpoint: Assessing and dissecting digital disinformation
Recent reports have highlighted AI-generated “doctors” spreading dubious health advice to millions of social media users. Fabricated wellness trends can ...
‘Glyphosate-free oats’ claim is fearmongering: Every risk agency in the world has assessed it as safe, and it isn’t even sprayed on oat plants
Slap "glyphosate-free" on a bag of oats and watch it fly off the shelf, even though the herbicide is barely ...
Viewpoint: Kennedy moves to close Big Food’s GRAS loophole—but will politically-protected Prevagen and Big Supplement slip through another?
With great fanfare, Secretary Kennedy announced the closing of the GRAS (“Generally Recognized As Safe”) loophole. But separating the rhetoric ...
Viewpoint: Denying agricultural biotechnology to African farmers won’t fix food insecurity
South Africa's long-running GMO fight isn't really about ideology — it's about whether local farmers can compete on a level ...
CRISPR-edited tomatoes could deliver dramatically higher cold-season yields
Researchers identify a genetic mechanism that coordinates flower development and fruit formation, paving the way toward tomato varieties with more ...
What’s the political and health battle over GRAS–ingredients ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’
Behind every significant advance in US food safety lies a public health disaster that forced Congress to act. A regulatory ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR licensing for gene-edited agriculture is booming — just not where you’d expect
Pairwise, the CRISPR gene-editing company built on row crops like corn and soybeans, is now finding its fastest growth elsewhere ...
GMO food scares and organic myths stall Africa’s embrace of agricultural technology and food security
Across Africa, conversations about food are becoming increasingly intertwined with conversations about science as stakeholders across the value chain work ...
RFK Jr.’s FDA wants to close a food-safety loophole. Critics say it’s still half-open.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Health and Human Services Department unveiled a plan on August 17, 2026, to close a decades-old ...
Gene editing’s next frontier: Farm animals
Agriculture has always evolved through better tools. From selective breeding and artificial insemination to precision nutrition and modern biosecurity, producers ...
Viewpoint: Will RFK, Jr.-led MAHA voters swing the midterm elections toward like-minded Republicans?
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Make America Healthy Again movement will be a decisive ...
Fake AI celebrity endorsements of quack wellness cures are surging among the elderly
Paris Hilton’s mother Kathy recently tried the “Jell-O diet” to lose weight. She believed other celebrities – Oprah Winfrey, Doctor ...
Viewpoint: Organic food costs more—but is it healthier, safer, and more nutritious? The latest science findings may surprise you.
Few symbols on food labels evoke such an immediate sense of health as the “organic seal.” Its promise of "natural" ...
Trojan fly: Gene-edited living insecticides could help farmers spray less
On June 3, a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, was found with fly larvae feeding on a wound. While ...
From breakthrough to business: The challenging work of scaling gene-edited food for the public
When CRISPR technology first hit the scene in 2012, many saw its promise in tackling stubborn genetic diseases in humans ...
How technology transformed India from a health basket case into a breadbasket in three generations—and more than doubled its life expectancy
The average human life expectancy in India has risen to over 68 years, a substantial jump from the baseline of ...
Disinformation tracker maps declining confidence in science and public health
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, false claims about “US-run biolabs” began circulating almost immediately through Russian state ...
Viewpoint: Bible radio and other social media falsely claim Heinz ketchup contains ‘dangerous GMOs’
A viral image circulating on social media platforms claims that Heinz ketchup has been “forced to now carry a ‘contains ...
Chips, sodas and other ultraprocessed foods made with GMO corn or soybeans will have to carry bioengineered labels
[A federal] court’s ruling tees up a major rewrite of the U.S.’ bioengineered labeling rule, which for the first time ...
Activists vs. Scientists: Could “Butterfly Effect” fears derail gene-drive research targeting the flesh-eating screwworm?
The United States once defeated a ravenous, parasitic fly with mass releases of sterile insects. A genetically engineered strain could ...
Viewpoint: Cyclospora alert—explaining the devastating impact of Trump’s cuts to public health
The next foodborne illness outbreak could be much worse. That’s the concern of food safety leaders across the U.S. who ...
