Daily Food & Ag 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.
CRISPR-edited bananas immune to killer pathogens advance toward commercialization in Africa
For more than two decades, I have been working to improve several staple food crops in Africa, including bananas, plantains, ...
Viewpoint: Eating organic food reduces diabetes risk? Evidence is ‘rather thin’
A recent prospective study finds an inverse association between eating organic and the risk of type 2 diabetes. But the ...
Beyond Meat launches plant-based pork in bid to outcompete Impossible Foods in China
The California-based company unveiled its latest product on [Nov 18]: meatless minced "pork." The new product is intended to mimic ...
Ghana recognizes crop biotech as ‘vital tool’ in food security battle
Ghana continues to be open for import of GM crops, with no restrictions to feed and feed products from other regions ...
Viewpoint: The failure of corn-powered cars – How America’s ethanol subsidies boosted food prices and carbon emissions
E-15 is only available at about 2 to 3% of gas stations in the United States, so for those unaware, it means ...
EU needs new guidelines to evaluate environmental impact of gene-drive mosquitoes, food safety officials say
After being mandated by the European Commission, [European Food Safety Authority's] experts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) published the scientific ...
Bt insect toxin in GM crops ‘has no negative effects on honey bees,’ study confirms
Cry78Ba1 is Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) (Bt) protein found with high insecticidal activity against the piercing–sucking insect Laodelphax striatellus Fallén (Homoptera: ...
Viewpoint: Farming one of the ‘most inefficient industries.’ The CRISPR revolution could change that
Agriculture is one of the most inefficient industries on the planet. Current industrial farming methods demand unsustainable amounts of water, ...
Consumers remain wary of GM foods, potentially slowing global adoption of biotech crops
Despite nearly three decades in the marketplace and near-universal scientific consensus on their safety, a new international survey finds that ...
Beyond Meat announces 2021 launch of leaner plant-based burgers to satisfy ‘health-conscious consumers’
As demand for plant-based products surge, Beyond Meat is making sure it keeps its health-conscious consumers coming back. The company ...
Golden Rice could illegally make its way to India as country struggles to stay ‘GMO free’
India has traditionally been a ‘no-GMO’ country, a status recently reinforced when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ...
Philippines’ major eggplant-producing provinces back insect-resistant Bt GM brinjal approval
Eggplants are susceptible to the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB), a pest that causes around 70-80% yield loss annually ...
Viewpoint: ‘Frankenfood’? Anti-GMO rhetoric more harmful than ever in a hungry, post-COVID world
With trend culture emphasizing ‘earth-to-table’ recipes and organic ingredients, it’s no wonder that the perception of GMOs as a kind ...
CRISPR-edited coral: Gene editing could help Great Barrier Reef survive climate change
An international team of experts used CRISPR-Cas9 to elucidate the heat tolerance of a coral in the Great Barrier Reef ...
Meat from plants: Could animal proteins grown in GM crops be used to make burgers?
Using a genetic engineering technique known as molecular farming, [Moolec Science] believes it can leverage the scale of production of ...
Eating plant-based burgers doesn’t cause ‘man boobs’
[December 2019, cattle veterinarian James] Stangle cautioned that Impossible’s meat substitute, which debuted in the spring of 2019 and started ...
Viewpoint: Plant biodiversity cuts pesticide use, but may slash crop yields needed to feed more people
Everyone recognizes that less less food means fewer pests but when you have to grow food to keep billions from ...
Video: How do you breed CRISPR cows? A crash course on animal gene editing
How do you breed gene-edited animals? This 30-minute video from the University of California, Davis details the making of a ...
Mexican biotech expert says his country’s proposed glyphosate weed killer ban ‘based on lies’
[A] researcher and specialist in Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology in Plants, José Miguel Mulet, considered the arguments of supposed ecologists ...
Some African scientists fear the continent will be left behind as gene editing transforms food production
Scientists in Africa are calling on their governments to ensure the continent isn’t left behind as gene editing revolutionizes food ...
Bayer makes ‘substantial progress’ in settling more glyphosate-cancer suits, but other cases may go to trial
A court-appointed mediator on [Nov, 9] said Bayer AG has made "substantial progress" toward resolving tens of thousands of remaining ...
Nigerian farmers excited about growing country’s first GM crop, insect-resistant cowpea
Farmers in Tudun Wada in Kano State have expressed joy at the release of the new Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) ...
AquaBounty ‘on track’ to sell GM salmon by year’s end, despite court ruling calling for more environmental impact data
The FDA should have given more consideration to the risks genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon posed to wild populations before approving ...
Viewpoint: GM cotton failed India’s farmers? Another study says yes, but relies on false assumptions and misinterpreted data
Insect-resistant Bt cotton has been the subject of controversial debates for many years. Bt cotton is one of the few ...
Thailand advances legislation to repeal GM crop cultivation ban for second time in 5 years
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment anticipates that the Biodiversity Law, which includes biosafety regulations covering research, field trial, ...
‘If you have no food, you have hunger’: Why one Nigerian biotech scientist breeds drought-tolerant and biofortified corn
Nigerian scientist Dr. Sylvester Oikeh has long used his research prowess to advance healthy crops for humanitarian purposes. His motivation ...
McPlant: McDonalds poised to launch proprietary menu of plant-based meats in 2021
On [November 9], the fast-food giant [McDonald’s] announced it is developing a new line of menu items called the "McPlant." ...
