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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GM labeling bills on docket in Massachusetts, Rhode Island
New England could once again be a hotbed of action for GMO labeling during this legislative session, with hopes particularly ...
Combination of stresses contributes to bee deaths
In a recent review paper for Science, a team of researchers argue that the combination of modern stresses facing bees ...
5 reasons how Consumer Reports rejects science on GMOs
Consumer Reports is escalating its opposition to GMO foods. Now, even responses to subscriber/customer inquiries are met with the a ...
Investigative food journalism should go for more than the yuck factor
Recent articles in the UK news media have 'lifted the lid' on the production of convenience food. While on the ...
Eaten alive: Crops can ‘feel’ insects eating them, providing clues to insect resistance
A new study arrived at the fairly gruesome conclusion that plants can feel insects eat them alive. And a specific type of plant, ...
Robots find genetic mutations in crops, accelerating breeding solutions
If you want to find what’s probably the best example of what robots are doing in crop development, come to ...
AAAS presidents: ‘Anti-GMO harassment of best scientific thinkers must stop now’
In the latest organised attack on science, 14 senior U.S. scientists are being targeted by anti-GM lobby group U.S. Right ...
Genetically altered rice variety yields for years without replanting
Ten thousand years ago, China’s ancient inhabitants harvested the grains of wild rice, a perennial grass growing up to 15 ...
Can Arctic apples be ‘poster child’ for GMOs?
Count me among the bystanders shouting encouragement to the gladiator to go in for the kill. The GMO arena seems ...
How do you really make a GMO tomato?
Anti-GMO activists claim you do this? But this is how it is really done ...
Crusaders slam GM foods, glyphosate, conventional agriculture
A “GMO Plenary” held last month in Missouri featured a panel of anti-GMO activists who discussed multiple health and environmental risks ...
Atrazine critic-scientist Tyrone Hayes’ own data shows frogs thriving in ag regions
An herbicide popular with farmers but targeted by environmentalists because it is supposedly responsible for chemically castrating frogs has been ...
Monsanto said to offer ‘sustainable solutions’ to arrest decades long monarch butterfly decline
Monarch butterflies are in trouble. These popular insects, which have captured the public imagination with their several-thousand mile migrations, have ...
Genetics give conventional fruits and vegetables heirloom taste
When you order a sandwich at Subway you can watch the guy lay out pink, anemic tomatoes on your sandwich ...
Would farmers grow GM wheat if approved?
Any future deregulation and commercialization of bioengineered/genetically modified wheat in the United States would pose questions. Might yield and disease-resistant ...
New genetically engineered peanuts resistant to pests, diseases
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a major species of the family, Leguminosae, and economically important not only for vegetable oil but ...
Cornell Alliance students challenge ‘anti-GMO bullies’ over FOI demand
The Cornell Alliance for Science--a global initiative for science-based communications at Cornell University--has launched a petition to support biotech scientists ...
Organic farmer says “no” to organic-led ‘New MacDonald’ GMO demonization campaign
Polarizing "New McDonald" video sparks outrage among organic farmers more interested in sustainable farming than winning debate points. Will this ...
Concerned consumers can easily avoid non-labeled foods with GMOs
The failure of Measure 92 in Oregon's last election, which would have required genetically modified food to be labeled, has ...
EPA limits planting of GM corn to curb pest resistance
U.S. regulators for the first time are proposing limits on the planting of some genetically engineered corn to combat a ...
GM soybean oil healthier than organic versions
Soybean oil accounts for more than 90 percent of all the seed oil production in the United States and genetically ...
Anti-GMO activist ‘ecologists’ destroy GM eucalyptus seedlings in Brazil
Recently 300 peasants organized by La Via Campesina occupied the meeting of the Brazil National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio) in ...
Oregon legislature divided on GMO “contamination” bills
Backers of two bills that would allow the state to regulate where genetically modified crops could be grown in Oregon ...
Genome editing more efficiently targets desirable traits in crops
A novel strategy to enhance genome editing promises to increase the efficiency of making genetic improvements in a wide range ...
New ‘Non-GMO’ label rolls out to promote organic production
California Certified Organic Farmers has released the "Non GMO & More" seal, which its members can use to verify that ...
China scientists facing ‘soft violence’ over GMO crops
China is about to get serious on the use of genetic modification (GM). After years of uncertainty, funding cuts and ...
Why do strawberries taste like straw, and can genetics bring flavor back to the big red berry
The modern supermarket strawberry looks sumptuous but often tastes like...well, straw. With a bit of help from modern genetics, can ...
