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.
Just one genetics lesson can increase acceptance of GMOs
Observational studies have shown that educational attainment is related to heightened consumer perception of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically ...
Bayer-Monsanto merger faces backlash in Germany
German lawmakers called on regulators to curb Bayer AG’s $66-billion (U.S.) takeover of U.S. seed giant Monsanto Co. in a ...
Monsanto strikes deal with Broad Institute to use CRISPR for crop modification
Agriculture giant Monsanto has licensed CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technology from the Broad Institute for use in seed development, the company announced on [Sept. 22] ...
Disease resistant GMO cassava promising, but approvals in Uganda, Kenya still years away
...In many parts of East and Central Africa, farmers are experiencing declining yields of cassava due to brown streak virus ...
How will Bayer-Monsanto merger affect future of GMO crops in EU vs. US?
Monsanto has agreed to a $57 billion cash offer from Bayer... If shareholders and regulators approve, the merger will form ...
Success of GMO crops in neighboring countries may influence adoption in Ghana
Genetically engineered (GE) crops have a role to play in increasing agricultural productivity. However, efforts to promote genetic engineering agriculture ...
Almost one-fifth of Canadians trust intuition over science on GMOs
[The] Leger survey, [is] done for the Ontario Science Centre to mark Canada's Science Literacy Week... The survey suggests [Canadians have] got ...
Clover Dairy to begin marketing conventional milk produced with non-GMO feed
For grocery shoppers who want to avoid genetically engineered ingredients, the only milk they can buy is organic — usually ...
Bayer considering dropping Monsanto brand name
With Bayer's proposed $66 billion purchase of Monsanto Co., the company that invented aspirin is poised to take on one of ...
Allegations of misconduct at Chinese GMO research lab revives public’s skepticism
A former employee at a state laboratory that studies genetically modified foods said his superiors had him falsify reports, reviving ...
USDA will now allow organic meat, poultry producers to add ‘non-GMO’ claims to labels
Organic meat and poultry producers can now use a streamlined process to get approval for labels verifying that their products ...
Are GMO labels ‘a Trojan horse for big government intervention’ in our food supply?
Mark Bittman, the former New York Times food writer... is baaaaack–with a Times op-ed titled,“GMO Labeling Law Could Stir a Revolution.” . ...
Anti-biotech groups claim agrochemical industry consolidation endangers food security
Just 20 years ago, about 600 companies were manufacturing seeds, fertilizer and pesticides, according to the watchdog ETC Group. Now, ...
Anti-GMO activists can’t admit success of Bangladesh’s insect-resistant GMO eggplant
For more than a decade controversy has raged in the world’s media about whether genetically engineered crops are dangerous, as ...
Australia’s GMO canola ban was huge loss for farmers, environment
[Canadian] farmers started growing GM canola in 1997. By 2004, 75% of canola farmers in Canada were growing GM varieties. After a decade ...
CRISPR opens door to new generation of more nutritious and delicious fruits and vegetables
A few weeks ago, Stefan Jansson, a Swedish plant biologist, sat down to a plate of pasta with cabbage harvested from his ...
Senate questions possible anti-competitive consolidation of seed and agrochemical industries
One of the biggest stories in agriculture right now is the jaw-dropping consolidation among companies that sell the world’s seeds, ...
Could the end of Monsanto signal a new beginning for GMOs and crop science?
Putting Monsanto out of its misery could mean future debate about genetically-modified crops will be based on facts rather than ...
EU regulations contributing to consolidation in biotech, agrochemicals industries
Bayer AG’s big push into the U.S. agrochemical market with its planned acquisition of Monsanto Co. could help it offset a growing problem on its home ...
With Bayer acquiring ‘Monsatan’, anti-GMO activists need new bogeyman
The German conglomerate Bayer has agreed to buy Monsanto ... Now the speculation has turned to American anti-science groups and how ...
Genetically engineered self-fertilizing crops in development
A handful of biologists are working to endow major crops with the ability to "fix" nitrogen from the air into ...
Burkina Faso’s switch from GMO to conventional cotton increases pesticide use, cuts yield
[F]armer Elie Gnoumou scanned his cotton field in the south of Burkina Faso... with visible relief. ...“I’ve had to do ...
Gene-edited animals should be covered by same regulations as gene-edited plants
In vivo gene editing techniques have attracted great interest, not only in the scientific community, but also among regulatory agencies ...
Insecticides and fungicides—not neonicotinoids—contribute most to bee mortality, study says
The impact of pesticides on pollinators remains an ongoing concern, especially as new research highlights the complex web of pesticide ...
IARC assessment of glyphosate only served to confuse policy makers, public
On March 20, 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) labeled glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, ...
AAAS editorial: Shift GMO regulations to focus on “consequences of doing nothing”
In Canada, a trait-based regulatory system is used in which the actual trait, such as drought or disease resistance, rather ...
Indian regulation of GMO cotton traits benefits seed companies, not farmers
Nothing assures Monsanto of a steady income stream other than offering products that farmers want to use at a price ...
