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.
UK: Modern genetics applied to 19th century potatoes
Researchers led by Professor Bruce Fitt, now at the University of Hertfordshire, have used modern DNA techniques on late nineteenth-century ...
Genetically engineered rice: Protection from arsenic?
In an article this week, Consumer Reports is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to set standards for how ...
Flawed GM corn study fallout: Russia suspends import of Monsanto corn
In what can only be described as a hysteria-driven reaction, the Russian government has "temporarily" suspended the import of a ...
New Zealand may reverse its stance on GMOs
The debate of whether New Zealand should grow genetically modified crops could be shifting away from the anti-GM stance the ...
GMOs and junk science: Pro-GM supporter questions latest study condemning GMOs
In some ways it’s remarkable that Rachel Carson is still controversial, as we’ve been reminded by this month’s 50th anniversary ...
American Medical Association reiterates support for GM technology
The American Medical Association (AMA) released a statement reiterating its position on genetically modified crops. It continues to recognize the ...
GM crops may not resolve food crisis, scientists say
Genetically modified (GM) crops have so far been promoted as the 'breakthrough' technology that will help resolve food insecurity in ...
Transgenic tomato withstands bacterial spot, yields more fruit
When a gene from bell and hot peppers is inserted into tomatoes, it not only imparts resistance to bacterial spot—a ...
Whole Foods endorses genetically modified food labeling measure
Whole Foods Market, the upscale seller of organic products and other "natural" foods, has endorsed a California initiative that would ...
Does GM corn cause cancer? A flawed study fails to convince
Last week a scientific paper appeared that reported that eating genetically modified (GM) corn causes cancer in rats. Specifically, the ...
GM corn could soon be used to make drugs
Genetically modified corn could soon be used to mass-produce the enzymes used in rare-disease therapies, according to new research ...
Media manipulation by anti-GM scientists and NGOs
The controversial study purportedly documenting the dangers of GM corn continues to come under fire--not from industry critics but from ...
Genetic Literacy Project cited in Maui debate over GM labeling
Are genetically engineered food products safe? And, should such products be labeled to give consumers informed choices? Those questions hung ...
India: Parliamentary panel seeks stopping of trials of GM seeds
A Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, which examined in detail the prospects and effects of cultivating genetically modified food crops, sought ...
Noted European scientist defends embattled maize GM study
Scientists have hit back against the criticism levelled at the research linking the world’s best-selling weedkiller and a strain of ...
Under controlled: Why the new GMO panic is more sensational than sense
A new toxicology study states that rats eating genetically modified food and the weedkiller Roundup develop huge tumors and die ...
Internationally known scientist stands up for GM crops
Dr Peacock says one of his big disappointments is the way GM food crops have been represented as harmful to ...
Growing better poplars for biofuels
It took mankind millennia of painstaking trial and error to breed hardier, healthier food crops. "We can't wait that long ...
Kenya emerges as hub for bio-tech in east African region
Kenya has emerged as a leader in the development and use of biotechnology in the east and central African region ...
As corn withers, biotech companies focus on drought-tolerant crops
The worst U.S. drought in half a century is withering the nation’s corn crop, but it’s a fertile opportunity for ...
Spain: Genetic study will help produce better quality melons
Producing better quality melons with guaranteed results before planting; this will be possible thanks to the "Melonomics" project, involving several ...
Tanzania embracing genetic engineering
Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives has started using genetic engineering to ‘modify’ seeds and control diseases that inhibit ...
Foes of modified corn find support in a disputed study that links GM corn to greater health risks
Rats fed either genetically engineered corn or the herbicide Roundup had an increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage ...
Zimbabwe urged to lift ban on growing genetically modified food
From poultry products to fish, potatoes to apples, Johnson Moyo, a primary school teacher in Bulawayo, has come to enjoy ...
Prop. 37: Another example of the perils of the initiative process?
Love it or hate it, the one thing you can say for sure about California's ballot initiative process is that ...
The case of the GMO papaya: How does it relate to the Prop 37 fight?
Until Californians go to the ballot box on Nov. 6, rhetoric from both supporters and opponents of the state’s Proposition ...
Scientists savage study purportedly showing health dangers of Monsanto’s GM corn
Are GM foods harmful or nutritionally less beneficial when compared to conventional or organic foods? Scientists and regulators almost universally ...
