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.
Scientists map and sequence genome of switchgrass relative foxtail millet
A newly published genetic sequence and map of foxtail millet, a close relative of switchgrass and an important food crop ...
European GM crop area diminishes
Fewer and fewer field trials with genetically modified plants are conducted in Europe. The only exception is Spain, where large ...
GM food, war metaphors and the perils of political entrenchment
Over a decade ago ago I wrote a few articles on cloning and GM, GMOs, genetic engineering, genetically modified foods ...
Precautionary principle should apply to GM food, claims former scientists
Genetic modification is not simply the insertion of genes which act independently of the rest of the genome. These genes ...
Is Africa’s slow adoption of GM crops justified?
Africa was one of the first places that adopted GM crops, but most of countries in Africa have refused to ...
Poland beekeepers kick Monsanto out of the hive
The decision comes after thousands of protesters recently took to the streets in demonstration of the undeniable fact that both ...
Hawaii’s biotech papayas hold a lesson for America
A new supply of fresh papayas from Hawaii will reach grocery-store shelves in Japan this year and consumers have biotechnology ...
GM foods: Science and society
Last weekend protesters gathered at Rothamsted Research, north of London, threatening to destroy a field of genetically modified wheat. In ...
Battle against GM soy intensifies in Brazil
Illegally smuggled into Brazil 14 years ago, transgenic soy has proved a boon to domestic farmers and now accounts for ...
Genetic discovery unlocks biosynthesis of medicinal compound in poppy
Scientists have discovered a complex gene cluster responsible for the synthesis of the medicinal compound noscapine ...
Global farming goes biotech
Farmers using improved seeds and biotech crop varieties continue to see significant economic and on-farm environmental benefits, according to the ...
At last, the tomato genome sequence comes to fruition
For years scientists have slaved away, trying to piece together the genes that make up the ripe, red goodness that ...
GM food research site hit by cyber attack
"The cyber-strike came after hundreds of protestors went to the agricultural research station in Hertfordshire to try to attack the ...
Maize diversity discoveries may help ease world’s hunger pangs
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, report that ancient farmers had a stronger impact on the evolution of maize, ...
Labeling of GMOs gains momentum
Despite the facade put in place by Monsanto that virtually all mainstream medical organizations believe there is no difference between ...
Despite Alaskan Senator’s protests, GM food is old hat
Somebody please get Sen. Lisa Luddite Murkowski, R-Alaska, down off her high-flying Frankenfish. Enough with the pandering to Alaska commercial ...
Could California force the rest of us to label GMO foods?
In November, California voters will decide on a ballot initiative that would require labeling of all foods containing ingredients from ...
Africa: Ban on GMOs
The government has maintained a ban on imports of GM crop seeds and GM products. The ban on products is ...
GMOs: What are they and what’s all the fuss?
We hear a lot about Genetically Modified foods, or Genetically Modified Organisms - GMOs. But what exactly are they, and ...
GM lobby still trying to force discredited GM foods, says GM opposer
Genetic modification was supposed to be the ground-breaking science of the future. Its magic wand would feed the world and ...
Africa: Biosafety regulators urged to strengthen links
In efforts to harmonise national biosafety regulations across Africa, the links between national regulatory authorities and key stakeholders must be ...
20 years of GMO policy keeps Americans in the dark, says GMO opposer
Popular resistance is boiling over on the GMO labeling issue, as the New York Times reported last week in a ...
Are Pro-GMO scientists against chemical pesticides?
Even scientists promoting Bt eggplant are against excessive and injudicious use of chemical pesticides. In a press release, Dr. Emiliana ...
It’s in the genes: Research pinpoints how plants know when to flower
Scientists believe they've pinpointed the last crucial piece of the 80-year-old puzzle of how plants "know" when to flower ...
Genes culled from desert soils suggest potential medical resource
Despite their ecologic similarity, soils from three geographically distinct areas of the American southwest harbor vastly different collections of small, ...
GM benefits are plain to see, comments GM supporter
IF CROP biotechnology had not been available to the 15.4 million farmers using it in 2010, maintaining global food production ...
Survey: Most see no need for biotech info on food labels
A new survey shows very few Americans cite biotechnology as an information need on food labels. Neither are most consumers ...
