Agriculture Spotlight
African scientists call for implementation of biotech crops to further food security, development
Scientists are calling for technological transformation in how Africans undertake agricultural production to help improve food security on the continent ...
Do GMOs, pesticides cause cancer? The Amish would say ‘no’
Amish farmers may not get cancer as much, but it's not because they don't use pesticides or GMOs. In fact, ...
Uganda becomes newest country to approve growing of GMO, gene-edited crops
Uganda’s Parliament voted the long-awaited National Biosafety Act of 2017 into law ... ending years of governmental debate over whether ...
EU delays vote on whether to extend license for glyphosate herbicide
Health experts from European Union countries [were] expected to discuss whether or not to extend the license for herbicide glyphosate ...
Trace amounts of neonicotinoid pesticides found in 75% of honey samples worldwide—’far below’ levels dangerous to humans
A new study has found traces of neonicotinoid chemicals in 75% of honey samples from across the world. The scientists ...
Viewpoint: No, we are not facing an imminent global food shortage
The Quartz article [“The world could run out of food two decades earlier than thought”] leaned heavily upon the testimony ...
Pass the manure: Organic farming practices increase planet-warming methane emissions
The realization that livestock like cows are ruminants - and produce a lot of methane while chewing - was a ...
Brazil regulator says Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto could be ‘detrimental to competition’
A unit of Brazil’s competition regulator Cade said the $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co. by German life sciences firm ...
Guided evolution of wheat and other grains could feed growing population
Can we breed wheat and other cereal grains with the ability to fertilize themselves? Researchers report promising results that could ...
Why are thousands of bumblebees dying around the fragrant Linden trees of London?
Visitors in the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens near London have reported hundreds, if not thousands of bees, especially bumblebees, sick or ...
Are ‘free-from’ (gluten, GMO) food labels informative—or misleading?
What could be conceptually simpler than labeling a food product? You tell the customers what’s in the product, or maybe ...
UK environmental groups ramp up effort to ban ‘bee-harming’ neonicotinoids
Environmental group Friends of the Earth has released a YouGov survey showing that over three quarters of the UK public ...
Scientists urge US Interior Department to lift ban on GMO seeds
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), one of the world’s top science and technology think tanks, along with a ...
Plant scientist: ‘Needless and expensive’ GMO crop regulations hurt less-developed countries
[Editor’s note: Graham Scoles is a plant science professor at the University of Saskatchewan.] About 30 years ago, Canada and other ...
GMO seeds could be critical for extended space travel, colonization
If we hope to colonize space, scientists must figure out how to feed astronauts on journeys that could last years ...
India should allow GMOs to boost lagging soybean yields, US says
“For India to increase production, it should allow the use of innovative technologies, including GMOs,” said Scott Sindelar [the agriculture ...
Antibiotic use on farms could be cut by up to 80 percent globally, study finds
Almost 80% of all antibiotics in the United States aren’t taken by people. They’re given to cows, pigs, and chickens ...
GMO soybean oil causes less obesity in mice than conventional oil
Long-term tests in mice indicate that a genetically modified (GM) brand of soybean oil causes less obesity and insulin resistance ...
Calls to ban glyphosate, neonics highlight need to ‘protect science’, say French corn farmers
At a meeting hosted on Wednesday [27 September] by CEPM, the maize lobby in Europe, maize farmers stressed the need ...
Russia trying to reduce dependence on imported seeds—without GMOs
Many growers use specialized seeds designed to resist pests, disease and drought, but more than half for some crops come ...
GMO algae—environmentally-friendly alternative to palm oil—runs into resistance
When green cleaning company Ecover announced the launch of a new laundry liquid containing an oil made from algae, as ...
Why Indian farmers are buying unapproved herbicide-resistant GMO cotton seeds
If market and industry estimates are true, Indian farmers have, in the current kharif season, bought and planted about [350,000] ...
Viewpoint: Conventional farmers take better care of soil health than media portrays
[Editor’s Note: Amanda Zaluckyj is a practicing attorney and farmer's daughter who shares her family's story at The Farmer's Daughter ...
Many consumers mistakenly believe organic and non-GMO labels are interchangeable
[Editor’s Note: Jayson Lusk is a food and agricultural economist and head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University.] ...
Creating ‘super wheat’: Genetic modification supercharges photosynthesis
A growing global food demand is challenged by the problem of limited crop-growing space. Could GMO-edited wheat meet this need ...
Monsanto glyphosate lobbyists barred from EU parliament
[Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)] have decided to bar lobbyists for Monsanto, the US agrochemical company, from the European ...
Talking Biotech: Is genetic engineering the best way to resuscitate the American chestnut from blight?
Plant biologist Jared Westbrook: 4 billion American chestnut trees have died because of blight in the 20th century. Now, there ...
