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.
China approves gene edited wheat, in major move to embrace biotechnology solutions for food security
“China has approved the safety of gene-edited wheat for the first time as Beijing cautiously moves forward with commercial growing ...
Bayer tackles vitamin D deficiency with gene-edited tomatoes, enhanced lettuce greens
Stressing its belief in the power of cutting-edge technology to address pervasive nutrition problems, the agribusiness giant Bayer has revealed ...
Viewpoint: History of the transgenic Rainbow papaya shows that ‘sometimes it is unethical to ignore or discard GM technologies’
In 1998, the papaya industry in Hawaii was on the verge of collapse due to an uncontrollable virus. In just ...
Viewpoint: For nearly 3 decades, New Zealand has neglected GMO technology. Here’s why that needs to change
For nearly three decades now, New Zealand has neglected the development of GMO policy and technology. This is neither in ...
Viewpoint: Will China’s desire to boost food production with biotechnology clash with public wariness of ‘Western’ GM technology?
Asia Society Policy Institute has published a paper entitled China’s Genetically Modified Dilemma. This piece, authored by ASPI Australia Research Associate Genevieve ...
Viewpoint: GMO benefits are clear — Pest-resistant Bt cotton cuts pesticide use by 97% in Australia
GMOs began their chain of success with human insulin, then saved the papaya from extinction in Hawaii, and have since ...
‘She is the closest to perfection that we’ve attained so far’: Here’s why this $4 million cow may change the future of Brazil’s beef industry
Brazil has hundreds of millions of cows, but one in particular is extraordinary. Her massive, snow-white body is watched over ...
South Africa has grown genetically modified corn for 27 years. Here’s what Kenya and the rest of Africa can learn from their experience
South Africa was one of the last countries to gain independence, but it has some valuable insights into food security ...
Seedless, thorn free blackberries? With the help of CRISPR, startup Pairwise aims to get fruit on store shelves within a few years
As demand for berries sees significant growth, a three-year-old startup aims to change the DNA of these plants to make them ...
Viewpoint: Philippines’ vitamin A enhanced Golden Rice rejection is not just a ‘terrible, tragic, missed opportunity’ for the country’s children — it may deter other countries like Bangladesh and India
Imagine there was a superfood that could potentially save more than one million lives every year, as well as stopping ...
Let them eat… mold? CRISPR gene-edited mushroom derivative used to ferment soy sauce can enhance nutrition and flavor of meat-free proteins
Scientists have discovered how to make meat alternatives with fungi... The fungus tested is called koji mold and has a long ...
It’s official: FDA is going to regulate genetically engineered animals. Here’s what you need to know
The FDA announced in May 2024 that the agency will lead the charge on regulation of animals with intentional genomic alterations ...
‘We used to spray 12 times in a year. It is now at most four times’: Kenyan farmers reap benefits of embracing genetically modified pest resistant Bt cotton
In Embu and Kirinyaga counties, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) cotton is the most prized arrival since sliced bread ...
FDA issues study guide on how genetically engineered crops impact our world
Many people wonder what impacts GMO crops have on our world. “GMO” (genetically modified organism) is the common term consumers ...
Viewpoint: ‘The fight to save America’s iconic chestnut tree has become a civil war’
For the past two decades, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons has raised seedlings of the American chestnut in research orchards along the ...
Nuisance lawsuits against safe chemicals have soared due to proliferating junk science. Meet one whistleblower trying to change that
A vital battle is being waged daily by researchers like Lonni Besançon, who devote their spare time to fighting scientific ...
Pink pineapples? Tobacco and tangerine genes help make this juicy fruit more antioxidant-packed
At a time when orange cauliflower and white strawberries are now common sights in American grocery stores, a non-yellow pineapple ...
Viewpoint: Organic food certification is nothing more than a ‘belief system’ — Here’s how it went from a ‘weird cult to a $135 billion business’
If you buy kosher food, how do you know it is really created using a special process? The same goes ...
Here is how genetically engineered crops can aid in the quest for food security amid a changing climate
Many food crops can only grow under certain climate conditions, which means too little or too much heat or rainfall ...
GMOs and gene-edited foods: Can these fast-evolving technologies help make crops more climate-change resilient while boosting food security?
In this Q&A, Carbon Brief looks at the difference between GMOs and gene-edited foods and whether these technologies can help ...
Bayer begins push for nationwide legislative protection against what it believes are unfair suits against needed crop protection tools like glyphosate
After failing in several U.S. states this year, global chemical manufacturer Bayer said May 21 that it plans to amplify ...
In quest to help small-plot farmers, ‘precision agriculture’ may become as important as genetic modification
Genetically modified crops and biotechnology have substantially benefitted farmers in recent decades, however, the next agricultural revolution will be driven ...
Scientists in Uruguay investigate deployment of gene drives to eradicate screwworms devastating cattle
When a female screwworm fly attacks cattle, it lays eggs, which hatch and turn into worm-like larvae that screw down ...
Divide emerges between supporters of organic labels vs regenerative ag claims in battle for ‘sustainably-conscious’ consumers
USDA Certified Organic has taken a defensive position in recent years against the proliferation of eco-claims, many of which are ...
‘Thousands of children could die’: Far left The Guardian joins chorus criticizing Greenpeace’s ‘catastrophic’ plan to block Golden Rice rollout in the Philippines
Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in ...
Immaculate cow-ception? Synthetic embryos for cattle and pigs stir fears that humans are next
An experiment, at the University of Florida, is an attempt to create a large animal starting only from stem cells—no ...
Gene edited wheat planted in test plots for the first time in Canada
Agriculture Canada has planted its first research plots of gene-edited wheat ...
