Sustainability/Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Black market GM cotton seeds flood Chinese market, cutting pesticide use and boosting yields
China is one of the world’s top cotton producers partly because of a widespread sowing of banned seeds, according to ...
Microbiologist, former Greenpeace supporter: Opposition to GMOs ‘responsible for death of poor people’
[Editor's note: The following article has been translated from Dutch and lightly edited for clarity.] [Editor's note: Hidde Boersma is ...
5 reasons why it’s so hard to know whether ‘organic’ food is really organic
Regulating [food] supply chains to ensure, for example, that “organic” foods deserve their labels is hard. Here are five reasons ...
Non-browning GM Arctic Apple set for fall consumer launch
The company behind the non-browning Arctic Apple is gearing up for its commercial launch with U.S. retailers this fall, following ...
Plants vs pathogens: CRISPR-created crops fend off pests, add nutrition
Potato blight sparked the Irish famine in the 19th century, causing a million people to starve to death and another ...
Evolution could push back against CRISPR gene editing of insects to stop Zika and malaria
Research published [May 2017] suggests that gene editing, a revolutionary cut-and-paste technology that allows bespoke adjustments to an organism’s genome, ...
To revive monarch butterflies, plant milkweed in yards and on wild lands, study says
If Monarch butterflies are going to stay off the endangered species list, they need more to eat. And it’s up ...
Anti-pesticide, anti-nuclear activist named France’s new environment minister
The new French president stunned businesses by appointing Nicolas Hulot, an anti-nuclear and anti-pesticide environmental activist, as the country's environmental ...
India’s agriculture ministry has ‘no reservations about promoting GM mustard’
The agriculture ministry ... said it has no reservations about GM mustard, which has been cleared by an expert panel ...
Maine approves 3 genetically engineered blight resistant potatoes that reduce pesticide use
With little fanfare, the Maine Board of Pesticides Control unanimously approved ... the registration of three new types of genetically ...
To feed 1.4 billion people China technologizing its agriculture sector–Will it be enough?
China’s 1.4 billion people are building up an appetite that is changing the way the world grows and sells food ...
New GE rice variety boosts plant’s immune system to fight multiple diseases at once
Plants don’t have a bloodstream to circulate immune cells. Instead, they use receptors on the outsides of their cells to ...
Infographic: India poised to dramatically increase its global GMO footprint
GM crop footprint in India is all set to grow once the government gives its final nod to GM Mustard, ...
Talking Biotech: Can ‘vertical farming’ help feed world’s growing population?
What is the potential for agriculture to move indoors—and into cities—as we try to feed more people on less land? ...
Democrats accuse Trump of turning USDA into ‘pro-industry advertising business’ in support of GMOs
[T]he Department of Agriculture under President Trump is throwing its weight behind genetically modified foods with a new GMO-friendly information ...
GMO rescue of American chestnut tree may take longer than anticipated
The nearly century-old effort to employ selective breeding to rescue the American chestnut, which has been rendered functionally extinct by ...
Less milkweed due to herbicide likely contributed to early monarch butterfly declines, study finds
[Monarch butterfly] numbers ... are shrinking. New research at Michigan State University, published in the current issue of the journal ...
Hype and agroecology: Is ‘low input’ farming better for the environment and economy?
[Editor's note: Henry Miller, physician and molecular biologist, is a fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s ...
Feeding the world: Will GMO seeds rescue yields as global climates dry and heat up?
Take the argument that more heat- and drought-resistant seeds are what’s needed to cope with climate change. The good people ...
Activists claim that without long-term studies, GMOs cannot be considered safe: What does science say?
No multi-generational GMO food studies? Bollocks. There are dozens, and all conclude biotech seeds are as safe or safer than ...
What would Whole Foods look like if it were ‘science-based’?
[Editor’s note: Jenny Splitter is a writer, storyteller and mother of two.] Whole Foods used to be my idea of ...
Why GMOs face tough go in China despite huge imports and successful crops
[Editor’s note: Mark Lynas is an author and journalist who reports on crop biotechnology around the world.] Sometimes I hear ...
Plants that ‘fertilize themselves’? Gene discovery could lead to reductions in synthetic fertilizer use
The lessons of plant diversity and competition learned from a clover patch, which are featured in a special issue of ...
Conflict of interest? Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott’s connections to organic industry raise concerns
Journalist Tom Philpott, who covers food and farming issues at Mother Jones, was recently the keynote speaker at a fundraising ...
US flower sellers forced to destroy 9 varieties of petunias after tests show they’re genetically modified
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced [May 16] that U.S. flower distributors have begun to destroy countless petunia plants ...
Infographic: Who to trust—and who not to trust—about food and farming
With conflicting claims about scientific topics everywhere on the internet, it’s hard to know who to trust. This is especially ...
India’s first approval of GMO food—mustard—could open door to over 100 GE food products
After many ifs and buts, the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard seems to have reached a decisive phase ...