Daily Food & Agriculture Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Will CRISPR plant breeding be used for good — Or mostly to drive corporate profit?
This rapid-fire timing [of agribusiness mergers] may have been a coincidence, but it also may be a sign of what’s ...
Biodiversity on the farm: It’s more complicated than you might think
[Editor's note: William Price is a statistician in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho ...
Herbicide use has increased more for non-GMO crops than genetically engineered varieties
[Editor's note: Andrew Kniss is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Wyoming.] Herbicide use is ...
Will China relax GMO cultivation restrictions in wake of Syngenta takeover?
Although China imports preapproved GM foods, the agriculture ministry has never approved a biotech food crop—other than papaya, a minor ...
After warning label victory, California activists push for a glyphosate herbicide ban
[A]fter a yearlong legal battle, California’s environmental health agency has announced that it will list it as a known carcinogen ...
Kenyan oncologist: Shift health focus away from safe GMO foods to actual carcinogens — Like alcohol
[Editor's note: David Makumi is an oncologist and chairman of the Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations.] Every time the Health ...
Infographic: The history of modern crop breeding — And how biotech seeds fit in
Biotech crops are an important milestone for agriculture as it continually improves to keep pace with the growing demand for ...
Agriculture’s Big Data revolution increases efficiency, reduces food waste from farm to table
[A]bout a third of food produced is lost or wasted every year. Globally, that’s a $940 billion economic hit. Inefficiencies ...
‘Refuge planting’: How farmers could help slow developing insect resistance to GMO Bt crops
To date ... Bt crops have been remarkably successful. However, insect pests have shown the ability to evolve resistance to ...
President of Senegal bucks anti-biotechnology pressure: ‘I am for the use of GMOs’
President Macky Sall of Senegal has thrown his weight behind the adoption of agricultural biotechnology in the country. .... President ...
Selling marijuana like wine: ‘Flavor’ genes identified that could lead to tastier strains
Scientists at the University of British Columbia have reportedly identified those parts of the cannabis genome which determine flavor, potentially paving ...
Microbiomes could help plants grow, resist disease and make agriculture more sustainable
Feeding a growing world population amidst climate change requires optimizing the reliability, resource use, and environmental impacts of food production ...
Ayman Jallad: Mysterious Syrian-Lebanese businessman funds anti-GMO activist network in Europe
Ayman Jallad has two battles on his hands. The Syrian-Lebanese businessman is in the challenging business of selling imported Caterpillar ...
‘Opportunity or death knell’? Organic movement debates embracing CRISPR plant breeding
There have been public debates and whether certain novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) such as CRISPR, could be used within ...
Inexperienced hobbyist beekeepers ‘major driver’ of honey bee colony losses in Europe
Reports of honey bee population decline has spurred many national efforts to understand the extent of the problem and to ...
Neonicotinoid insecticides in trace level parts per trillion detected in drinking water in Iowa
[A] team of chemists and engineers at the [U.S. Geological Survey] and University of Iowa reported that they found neonicotinoids ...
Our food system isn’t broken, it’s flourishing — and GMO crops are a big reason why
[Editor's note: Randy Krotz is CEO of the US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance.] Activists and others [say] the food system [is] broken, ...
Video: Genetic engineering could help African farmers increase yields without expensive fertilizers
In this video by Robert Hazen of the [Cornell] Alliance for Science, scientists from the Engineering Nitrogen Symbiosis for Africa ...
GMO sugarcane: Dual-purpose bioenergy crop produces oil for biodiesel, more sugar for ethanol
A multi-institutional team led by the University of Illinois have proven sugarcane can be genetically engineered to produce oil in ...
California v EPA: Legal challenge possible over Prop 65 labeling of herbicide glyphosate as carcinogenic
Monsanto officially lost its fight to avoid a Prop 65 warning label on its products containing glyphosate, a chemical used ...
Next generation insect-resistant GM cotton could be ‘game changer’ for Australian farmers
A new variety of genetically modified cotton is shaping up to be a game-changer for those looking to grow cotton ...
Drought resistant, higher-yielding GM rice developed by Japanese researchers
Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science have developed strains of rice that are resistant to drought in ...
Fertilizer-making GE microbes could boost crop yields, fight malnutrition in developing world
Industrial fertilizers help feed billions of people every year, but they remain beyond the reach of many of the world’s ...
CRISPR crops focused on sustainable farming could soften African resistance to genetic engineering
[Nteranya Sanginga is director general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.] The role of genetic engineering in agriculture and ...
Chipotle fumbles science in attempt to justify its anti-GMO stance
[Editor's note: Stephan Neidenbach is a middle school teacher and blogger. He runs the popular We Loves GMO and Vaccines ...
What are natural flavors and scents? Biotechnology blurs the definition
A company in the United Kingdom can transform chemicals found in oranges into the coveted flavor of grapefruit. By mixing ...
ChemChina takeover of Syngenta approved by US, EU regulators in China’s biggest foreign acquisition ever
U.S. and European regulators have cleared a Chinese conglomerate's proposed $43 billion acquisition of Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta on condition ...
