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.
Farming uses too much water? These CRISPR gene-edited tomatoes resist drought and still bear fruit
Researchers have successfully used CRISPR to develop tomato plants that use water more efficiently, meaning they need less water to grow. This ...
How gene editing and AI can drive sustainable forestry and revolutionize the paper industry
About a quarter of wood consists of something called lignin. While lignin serves an important role for trees, helping them grow taller and get ...
Italy to launch first field test of a gene-edited crop, rice engineered to protect against disease without the use of agrochemicals
The witch hunt against old GMOs will soon be a distant memory (perhaps). And after more than twenty years of ...
Congress mulls transparency bills to limit booming industry of undisclosed third-party litigators
Litigation funders are hedge funds, credit lenders, and venture capitalists who front legal costs in exchange for a percentage of ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group up to its old trick of misrepresenting science to scare us about chemical traces in its attack on oat products containing micro-levels of chlormequat
So, here we go. Something else to worry about. At least according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit ...
How a cutting edge gene tracker can help map the rise of pesticide resistance in caterpillars
Farmers rely on pesticides to control agricultural pests. But insects often develop resistance to the toxins in pesticides. University of ...
Viewpoint: Two dozen gene-edited crop field trials set to begin later this year in England ‘could have major benefits’
Later this year gene-edited crops will be planted at about two dozen commercial farms across England for the first time ...
Iowa Senate bill insulating pesticide manufacturers from suits over disputed safety labels moves to House
Pesticide manufacturers would be protected from lawsuits stemming from their products' labeling under a bill advancing through the Iowa Legislature ...
Defying critics, US honeybee population continues five-year surge to record high — but not all the news is good
After almost two decades of relentless colony collapse coverage and years of grieving suspiciously clean windshields, we were stunned to run the numbers on the new ...
Impact of Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’: ‘Consumers shy away from purchasing any produce – organic or conventional’
A legacy of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is that they are the original food bullies. Yes, they began their ...
Bayer announces its Roundup alternative formulated without glyphosate should be ready for sale by 2028
The pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer is making progress in the development of an alternative to the controversial weed killer glyphosate ...
Viewpoint: There’s enough common ground for organic, regenerative, and conventional agriculture to live in harmony
Agriculture has been mired in a philosophical war for decades. One, the so-called establishment: multi-generational, legacy farmers, who practice conventional ...
Bird flu detected in US dairy cattle for the first time, milk supply remains unaffected
Multiple U.S. agencies said on March 29 that for the first time, the rampant bird flu has spread to dairy ...
Mexico indefinitely suspends 2024 glyphosate ban, saying it would ‘compromise agricultural productivity’
The Mexican Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with other agencies of the federal government, announced the postponement of the application ...
Iowa legislatures join three other states considering ban on pesticide manufacturer lawsuits for alleged health issues if chemical labels are EPA approved
As cancer rates rise in Iowa, the Iowa Senate is considering a bill that would prevent people from suing manufacturers ...
Vibrant all-natural dyes harvested from microorganisms could bring sustainability to fashion and food industries
Biotechnology is revolutionizing the world of natural color production, bringing forth a new era of captivating shades. Advances such as ...
German professor calls country’s organic lobbyists ‘dishonest’ for hyping potential dangers of gene-edited crops
Up to €50 million has to be invested in an approval process for GM plants, and the smaller plant breeding ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO arguments seem silly after 28 years of false narratives about health harms and and genetic contamination
Since the first genetically engineered or modified crops or organisms (GMO) were approved for commercial production in 1995, no new ...
Coming era of cattle farming: Genetically engineered dairy cow produces human insulin in milk
Scientists generated a transgenic cow that produces milk with human insulin. Their research may help patients with diabetes ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s trade and agricultural biotech policy is held hostage by environmental activists, hurting farmers and consumers
Recently, two more shiny new regulatory appliances started to roll off the EU’s legislative assembly line: a due diligence law ...
Viewpoint: Food Network experts blast organic-funded ‘Dirty Dozen’ list for misleading consumers about trace pesticides on crops
Every year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its list of the Dirty Dozen, a group of 12 fruits and vegetables ...
Belgium Public Health Council endorses safety and efficacy of gene edited crops, urges EU approval
A European legislative proposal is being studied to authorize the cultivation of NGT plants. These are plants created by the targeted ...
‘Over a million seeds are safely locked away here’: Remote Norwegian island keeps Earth’s plant diversity safe in case of disaster
“Over a million seeds are safely locked away here,” Ola Westengen says. He is a researcher and former head of ...
Viewpoint: Will European farmer protests drag the EU into the 21st century on biotechnology and AI in agriculture?
Among all the demands that European farmers are making (claims of an economic nature, which have to do with imports, ...
Viewpoint: ‘Flashy junk science tort lawyer ads’ that claim glyphosate causes cancer warp public’s view about weedkiller dangers
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the nation’s tort system cost the U.S. economy $443 billion in 2020, a sum equivalent ...
Here are the states trying to ban cell-based meat, and why
Months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees—those are the consequences Alabamians and Arizonans could soon ...
How CRISPR gene drives could help eliminate pesticide-resistant ‘superweeds’
A gene drive – a bit of DNA that cheats evolution and can spread even if harmful – has been ...
