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.
Africa looks to build food self-sufficiency as COVID disrupts global supply chain
As Africa grapples with disruptions in the global supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, some see it as an ...
Viewpoint: ‘Monocultures’ unnatural? Mother Nature grows them, too
....[Wh]at’s often in the crosshairs of activists is the philosophy of the planting system — the “dreaded” monoculture. Row crops ...
11 GMO, gene-edited animals and plants that will help us battle hunger and disease
The Genetic modification of foods, organisms, and animals, is very controversial, for quite obvious reasons. And yet, the practice has ...
Ugandan scientists use CRISPR in pioneering research to breed hardier cassava
Ugandan scientists have begun moving gene extracts into cassava cells in a first-of-its-kind research trial using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing ...
Podcast: Norman Borlaug a hero? Spread coronavirus for herd immunity? CRISPR v. agroecology
Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution saved an estimated billion people from starvation, but critics contend his work brought severe environmental and ...
COVID-19 nudges us to rethink our approach to the existential threats of our time
The world as we knew it ended a few months ago. What we have now is a seemingly alien muddle ...
GMO success story: South African farmer accused of witchcraft after achieving 1,600% corn yield increase
TELA maize products are transforming livelihoods at [the] household level in Matibidi village, Mpumalanga province in South Africa. Meet Mr ...
South Australia lifts 16-year-old GMO crop cultivation ban after months of political wrangling
South Australia will allow mainland farmers to grow genetically-modified (GM) crops from next season, but councils can apply to remain ...
Fluorescent foliage: Researchers grow glow-in-the-dark plants with help from mushroom DNA
Fans of the "Avatar" movie will have long dreamed of lush jungles teeming with glowing plants. But fluorescent foliage may ...
Coronavirus outbreak fuels surging plant-based meat demand in China
Demand for plant-based protein foods is surging in Asia, suppliers say, as suspicion over possible links between wild animal meat ...
Viewpoint: Blame the coronavirus on ‘industrial agriculture’? We need more, not less of it to stave off the next viral pandemic
An internet meme is circulating worldwide in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Every disaster starts with a scientist being ...
Podcast: Why scientists have an obligation to teach the public about GMOs
Dr. Maha Arujanan is the global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and also ...
Camelina vs. canola: Which GMO crop offers more sustainable source of omega-3 fish oils?
Field trials of a plant genetically modified to produce omega-3 normally sourced from fish oil have shown that it can ...
‘Climate proofing’ the world’s food supply with edible microorganisms
We need a global food production system that is tolerant to unpredictable climate fluctuations ...
Beyond Meat debuts plant-based menu options in China’s just-reopened Starbucks, KFC locations
As China reopens restaurants and cafes, more plant-based "fake" meat products are popping up on menus. On [April 22], Beyond ...
Video: Why gene-edited crops? Examining the nutritional and environmental benefits of CRISPR
As genetic engineering continues to improve our food supply, David Fikes of FMI Foundation explains that humans have always modified ...
Engineering plants to rapidly repair heat damage could preserve crop yields as climate changes
As plants convert sunlight into sugar, their cells are playing with fire. Photosynthesis generates chemical byproducts that can damage the ...
Bugpocalypse? New research challenges widely publicized claims of impending catastrophic insect declines
Drastic declines in insect biomass, abundance, and diversity reported in the literature have raised concerns among scientists and the public ...
Viewpoint: ‘Big Ag’ caused the coronavirus pandemic? Predatory science journal amplifies baseless COVID-19 conspiracy
With the global pandemic caused by Covid-19, agricultural supply chains around the world have been taxed to ensure consistent and ...
Gene editing will revolutionize crop breeding in Africa, new paper predicts
Genome editing technology has the potential to revolutionize crop development on the African continent, especially in sub-Sahara Africa, according to ...
Gene editing could cut food additive use and put more nutritious options in supermarkets
[In 2019], Minneapolis-based Calyxt introduced a soybean oil without trans fats for commercial sale. It was the first gene-edited food ...
Podcast: How domestication turned cattle into a key source of increasingly sustainable food
Cattle provide meat, milk and hide products to people all over the world, and are used as work animals for ...
Chipotle fined record-setting $25 million for allegedly sickening 1,100 customers with norovirus
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will pay a $25 million criminal fine to resolve allegations by federal prosecutors that its food ...
Why we need globalization: Locally grown food could only feed 27% of the world’s population
It is true that in North America and much of Europe you can grow plenty of wheat locally, but in ...
Gene-drive technology may combat notorious Fusarium fungus that decimates global wheat yields
The Fusarium fungus is the bane of every wheat farmer’s existence. Causing wheat scab—also known as head blight—it decimates harvests ...
Can vast ocean seaweed farms provide sustainable biofuel?
One day in the future, the Pacific Ocean could be home to kilometers of seaweed farms tended by submarine drones ...
GMO Impossible beef hits 1,000 new grocery stores as plant-based meat demand surges
Starting [April 17], 777 supermarkets in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Nevada [began] stocking the Impossible Foods plant-based meat substitute ...
