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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Farmers running ‘unprecedented race’ to secure fertilizer, seeds and pesticides amid coronavirus outbreak
North America’s biggest farm suppliers are accelerating shipments of fertilizer, seeds and agricultural chemicals to crop-growing regions in an unprecedented ...
Viewpoint: ‘Fear profiteering’—organic activists, trial lawyers capitalize on coronavirus to make a buck
While 70 million Americans are under lockdown to contain spread of the 2019 form of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in order to ...
Podcast: Coronavirus isn’t just a bad flu; COVID-19 vaccine may be delayed; and have we cured HIV?
The novel coronavirus is not just "the flu," contrary to what you may have read on social media. There may ...
How a few pioneering botanists prepared us to battle the coronavirus outbreak
When German pathologist Robert Koch discovered the bacterium behind tuberculosis in 1882, he included a short guide for linking microorganisms ...
COVID-19 virus spread prompts food insecurity fears in Africa
The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is prompting food insecurity fears in Africa, with some countries already experiencing rising prices, ...
Viewpoint: Can pesticides on produce harm you? Not even if you ate 3,624 strawberries in one day
I am a registered dietitian who believes that any form of fruits and vegetables are healthy – organic or conventional ...
‘My cows don’t know about coronavirus’: Why America will have all the food it needs
My cows don’t know about coronavirus. They’re still giving milk on the schedule that they always follow. They love their ...
Next-generation GMO crops poised to make major contributions to sustainable farming and medicine
Transgenic crops have been planted in different countries for over twenty years, starting from 1996. About 191.7 million hectares were planted ...
Oil from GMO canola, high in omega-3 fatty acids, poised to hit US stores in mid-2020
A newly emerging omega-3 canola oil is set to be available in the market by the second quarter of 2020 ...
100 best-selling nutrition books give ‘puzzling’ advice, and few written by experts, study shows
Nutritional decisions may be important for health, and yet identifying trustworthy sources of advice can be difficult to achieve. Many ...
Customized biotech yeast could make more plant-based proteins and replace artificial food additives
A Brazilian biotech start-up is custom-designing novel, natural yeast strains that can be used to make plant proteins, replace artificial ...
Can we immunize our food supply the same way we combat deadly diseases with vaccines?
In 16th century China, physicians found that inoculating healthy individuals with pus or dried scabs from someone infected with smallpox, ...
Viewpoint: Lack of trust in science on GMOs, vaccines and climate change fuels coronavirus misinformation
What is driving the novel coronavirus infodemic? Fear, uncertainty and opportunistic marketing are all playing a role. But it is ...
Eat a big breakfast to lose weight? This old nutritional adage isn’t backed up by science
Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper is an old nutritional adage that at ...
Why it’s safe to order food and go grocery shopping during the coronavirus outbreak
President Donald Trump and governors of various states have suggested Americans should avoid restaurants due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead ...
Plant-based meat titans Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat face local competition as they expand into Asia
From lab-grown "seafood" to dumplings made with tropical fruit instead of pork, rising demand for sustainable meat alternatives in Asia ...
Coronavirus and food safety: Why there’s no need to panic
Every day seems to bring dire news about coronavirus COVID-19. As this virus spreads, how concerned should we be for ...
Coronavirus has ‘snarled’ food distribution operations, threatening shortages and higher prices
Global warehouses are stuffed with frozen cuts of pork, wheels of cheese and bags of rice. But as the coronavirus ...
College undergraduates embrace biotech after teaching high school students the science behind GMOs
Some college students tested a class on their knowledge of GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. "Two of these chips are ...
No, we aren’t losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren’t driving their health problems—here’s why
The meme targeting neonics with the not-all-that vulnerable honeybee as their symbol is a powerful fund-raising tool for activists ...
Responsible use of biotech crops can help feed 800 million-plus chronically undernourished people
In 2018, the number of chronically undernourished people in the world is estimated to have increased to 821.6 million, up ...
Should we abandon ‘monoculture’ farming to protect biodiversity and slow climate change?
How we farm can guard against climate change and protect critical wildlife -- but only if we leave single-crop farms ...
Boosting sustainability and combating world hunger using protein from CO2-munching bacteria
This 'miracle' protein powder has the potential to significantly impact our efforts to feed a growing population ...
Podcast: How editing bacteria with CRISPR could make food more nutritious
Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North ...
If the FDA doesn’t say they’re safe, ‘they won’t go to market’: What you should know about GMOs and food safety
Glow-in-the-dark mice, silk-producing goats, venomous cabbage — these are all wacky and downright unsettling examples of what can happen when scientists tinker with ...
Plant breeders rapidly adopting gene editing to commercialize more high-yielding crops
It would be inaccurate to say that plant breeders in Canada are ‘a dime a dozen’. A rough estimate places ...
CRISPR-Cas12b: Versatile gene-editing tool could help develop more high-yielding crops
In a new publication in Nature Plants, assistant professor of Plant Science at the University of Maryland Yiping Qi has ...
