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.
Disease resistance, crop diversity and enhanced fertilizer efficiency: Three desperately needed improvements that CRISPR brings to agriculture
Moderated by Howard-Yana Shapiro, a distinguished senior fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the March 19 and 20 World ...
Viewpoint: Center for Skeptical Inquiry rakes American Academy of Pediatrics for evidence-free claims that GMOs and glyphosate pose health hazards
The respected journal Pediatrics, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, published a Clinical Report (12/3/23) strongly implying that parents should ...
Robots with poison guns target weeds and offer an alternative to some herbicides
The plants we eat have bitter enemies on all sides. Can robots with poison guns help them? “Aggressive weeds, insects, ...
Diverging paths of developing giants: GM seed approvals surge in China while Indian innovation blocked by biotech barriers
China’s moves since October 2023 to approve several genetically modified (GM) strains of maize and soybean have shined a spotlight on ...
‘Super banana’ controversy: Why orange-hued, blindness-fighting ‘Banana21’ that African researchers spent 20+ years crafting might never make it to market
Scientists in Uganda have created a genetically modified banana in the hopes of saving thousands of children in the country who die ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR gene editing is no silver bullet in in the battle to contain bird flu
Recently, a group of scientists announced a breakthrough approach to combat Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu or avian flu), a severe illness ...
Pest resistant beans: Gates Foundation in Nigeria helps develop insect-resistant, higher yield cowpeas
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the Kano State Government [in Nigeria] with anti-pest beans, a species developed ...
Eat what you want while staying healthy? Here’s how scientists are working to transform the sugar that you eat into fiber
We all know that too much sugar is bad for us. It can lead to weight gain, obesity, type 2 ...
37 Nobel laureates and 1,500 researchers are calling for relaxation of EU gene editing regulations
As regulations on genetic technology are now to be reassessed in both Norway and the EU, researchers are hoping for ...
Small rise in global temperature ‘will make a big impact on honey bees’. Is there a solution?
The famous work ethic of honey bees might spell disaster for these busy crop pollinators as the climate warms, new ...
Viewpoint: ‘We’ve passed inflated expectations and troughs of disillusionment’ — Food and ag industry insiders say best is yet to come for CRISPR gene-edited crops
Over the past 10 years, there has been incredible progress in CRISPR thanks to enormous private and public investment. Yet, ...
Viewpoint: Ready to abandon milk and meat to improve health and save the environment? Not so fast.
Substituting meat and dairy with more plant-based foods in our diets can achieve benefits for human and environmental health: this is ...
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 ...
