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.
Gene drives minimize biodiversity loss while optimizing productivity
Chinese scientists have reportedly engineered a way to use gene-editing technology to bypass natural plant behavior and force crops to inherit genes ...
Rwandan farmers and scientists turn to genetic modification to rescue disease-threatened potatoes, maize and cassava
Rwanda could soon start using genetically modified maize, Irish potatoes, and cassava crops as confined trials are underway. Maize is ...
Intelligent food labels: Technological innovations to prevent food waste
With everyone talking about the problem of food waste worldwide, its effects are reaching way beyond just the food industry ...
What’s a burger, sausage or a steak? European Union court rules can legally be used in marketing vegan products
The news that France or any member state can’t ban meaty terms in plant-based food labels has given [the] industry a ...
Pakistan drops ban on importing GMO soybeans
The federal government [of Pakistan] has officially authorised the import of genetically modified (GMO) soybean by granting licences to dozens ...
Viewpoint: Is the anti-corporate MAHA—pro-big business Trump alliance viable?
[Robert] Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) wants “to dismantle the corporate stranglehold on our government agencies that has led ...
Food-crippled Malawi rejects GMO crops, claiming they cause health problems
Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale has ruled out genetically modified organism (GMO) food supplements as a solution to Malawi’s perennial food ...
Artificial nose in development may make it possible to easily detect spoiled and damaged food
New artificial nose technology developed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) could make it possible to reliably ...
‘Banning pesticides would upend the US food system’: Farmers alarmed that the Trump-RFK, Jr. alliance could cripple US agriculture
Donald Trump’s embrace of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his fringe health theories is triggering a flurry of outreach in ...
Lab-grown fish face unique obstacles to create and scale
One of the main challenges that lab-grown fish startups have encountered is keeping cells from sticking to the sides of ...
Mexico’s ban on GM corn ‘could disproportionately affect the nation’s lower-income consumers’
A fully implemented ban on genetically modified corn in Mexico could disproportionately affect the nation's lower-income consumers, according to a ...
‘Milestone moment’: Drought-tolerant wheat trait deregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but it will be years until its commercially available
For 20 years, genetically modified wheat traits were set on the back burner, but now GMO wheat is back on ...
Viewpoint: As the UK edges closer to limiting regulations on gene-edited crops, concerns mount that precision breeding of farm animals will be left behind
It is encouraging that Defra food security minister Daniel Zeichner has since confirmed that the Government will introduce the necessary ...
Vegetable oils are often maligned as “industrial seed oils” that cause inflammation and oxidate damage. What does science say?
In the nutrition world, few topics are currently as polarizing as vegetable oils! While mainstream health guidelines typically advocate for ...
Here is a primer as the European Union edges closer to loosening regulations on gene editing
For more than 20 years, the use of genetic engineering in agriculture has been regulated uniformly across the EU. Current ...
The world’s wine production has dropped 10% mostly because of droughts, fire and ‘extreme environmental conditions’. China turns to AI for a solution
At a laboratory in Beijing, purple and green hybrid-species grapes are laid out on a board for testing, part of ...
Plastic for dinner? Newly discovered microbes may soon be a lunch treat
There are microbes that look at a plastic bottle and go, “Yum”. Do you think you’d ever look at a ...
Three technological advances that will power a food and farming revolutions
“Genetic editing for climate and disease resistance will protect growers in the developing world.” "[G]ene editing is not the same ...
How blockchain, AI and drones are reshaping farming
The future of farming technology is inextricably linked to the development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies. These innovations have the ...
Scottish farmers urge its government to follow the path of England in relaxing regulations on gene-edited crops and animals
A letter from industry stakeholders NFU Scotland, Agricultural Industries Confederation, and GB Potatoes to the Scottish Government. It reads: Precision ...
More than a dozen federal agencies oversee America’s food system. What can be done to clean up this regulatory mess
Complex and disparately funded regulatory oversight for food and beverage products, spread out among many federal agencies, has created a ...
Perhaps carbohydrates, not meat, provided early humans the energy needed to evolve bigger brains
From crispy French fries to crusty sourdough loaves, carbs are an integral (and delicious) part of the human diet. But why ...
Rwanda launches Gates-funded project to develop drought, virus and blight resistant crops
Farmers and agriculture sector leaders have said they expect a new five-year scheme called Rwanda Agricultural Biotechnology Program, to support improvement ...
This AI-powered ‘electronic tongue’ in development can detect if your food is spoiled or rotten
Ever wondered if that old carton of fruit juice in the back of your fridge is still safe to drink? ...
America has fallen behind in biomanufacturing. Is there a way to solve this issue?
As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, the United States has fallen behind when it comes to biomanufacturing. Our nation's supply chains ...
A new startup has joined the effort to genetically upgrade forests. The chestnut tree is first on their list
Under a slice-of-heaven sky, 150 acres of rolling green hills stretch off into the distance. About a dozen people—tree enthusiasts, ...
Food is medicine? 4 reasons why we need to be cautious about jumping aboard the FIM movement
Food is Medicine (FIM) programs are gaining national attention and funding as a method to treat chronic food-related diseases by ...
