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.
GMO disease-resistant bananas may be key to saving African staple
Banana is an important staple food crop feeding more than 100 million Africans, but is subject to severe productivity constraints ...
Key to developing flood-resistant crops: Genetically engineering plants’ stress response survival strategy
[The following is a Q&A with Dr. Emily Flashman, organic chemistry researcher at the University of Oxford, about a study she ...
Bee-apocalypse update: Honeybee deaths linked to gut microbe-altering antibiotic
[Editor's note: Kasie Raymann, Zach Shaffer, and Nancy Moran are researchers in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University ...
Bangladesh announces release of 3 more GMO pest-resistant eggplant varieties
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) will release three more varieties of the country's first genetically modified (GM) crop--Bt Brinjal [eggplant], ...
Greenpeace’s ‘double standard’ on lab-created seedless watermelons and GMOs
[Editor's note: Myles Power is a chemist in Manchester, England. Read the GLP profile of Greenpeace here.] Last year [2016], I ...
To ban GMO crops, European countries must prove ‘serious and evident risk’ to health, environment
An EU high court adviser on Thursday [March 30, 2017] gave member states a very limited go-ahead to ban the ...
Non-GMO Wild Turkey whiskey? Latest absurd food label illustrates hypocritical anti-GMO cancer fears
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular biologist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] [April 2, ...
Scientists challenge Center for Biological Diversity report claiming wild bees near extinction
An environmental group's report grabbed headlines for claiming 1 in 4 wild bee species is at risk of extinction. Many ...
Biotech proponents ask Trump Administration to fast-track updated GMO regulations, unshackle innovation
In July 2015 the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, under President Barack Obama, mandated that the USDA, ...
Disease resistant, stress tolerant GE mustard could replace rapeseed as source of vegetable oil, biodiesel
University of Copenhagen and ... Bayer CropScience have successfully developed a new oilseed crop that is much more resistant to ...
Video: Facts, fears and future of GMOs—in a nutshell
GMOs are one of the most controversial areas of science. Genetic engineering is used in many fields, but even though ...
Oregon considers new restrictions, labels for neonicotinoid insecticides over bee health concerns
Neonicotinoid pesticides, which critics blame for death and illness among pollinators, would be subject to new restrictions and labeling rules ...
How we can preserve biodiversity while maintaining agricultural yields, meet nutritional demands
[Editor's note: Claire Kremen is a professor of conservation biology at University of California, Berkeley, where she also co-directs the Center for Diversified ...
Talking Biotech: What environmental hazards remain from accidental release of GMO grass seeds?
Oregon State's Carol Mallory-Smith says transgene flow from Roundup Ready bentgrass to non-GMO grass species offers lessons for regulators ...
Farmer’s view: Celebrities embrace organic cotton over GMOs, but is it more sustainable?
Emma Watson wants people to buy the latest fashions made with organic cotton. Would that be more sustainable than clothes ...
Non-GMO movement plagued by ‘rampant sexism’, critic says
It’s no secret that [moms are] among the most coveted demographics of the non-GMO marketing machine. Jeffrey Smith, one of ...
Australian commission calls for state governments to lift GM crop bans
The Productivity Commission has released a range of sweeping recommendations to cut the costs of regulation in agriculture. ... It ...
Potato pest developing resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides
The potato industry may be losing a mainstay in the battle against [the plant-feeding insect] psyllids, according to a recent ...
Plant probiotics: Genetic switch in plants could trigger soil bacteria to increase crop yields
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have pinpointed a key genetic switch that helps soil bacteria ...
CRISPR gene editing could speed up photosynthesis and boost crop yields—But it will take time
Unlike previous approaches to GM crops that introduce foreign DNA into an organism, genome editing achieves much the same outcome ...
Extreme Green hypocrisy? Center for Biological Diversity, other anti-GMO groups partner on March for Science
[Editor's note: The following is an open letter to the Center for Biological Diversity regarding their participation in the "March ...
ChemChina’s proposed takeover of Syngenta fuels GMO fears among some in China
The opposition to genetically altered food and grains in China has been brought to the forefront by China National Chemical’s ...
Worst 10 list: Advocacy groups that put ideology ahead of science on food and farming issues
Which organizations promote ideology over science in the debate over crop biotechnology? The list includes some of the most well-known ...
Ripen on demand? New generation of GMO crops could dramatically increase yield
Farmers could one day control when their crops ripen after the development of modified rice that flowers on demand. Despite ...
Is post-Brexit Britain poised to embrace less political, more science-based approach to regulating pesticides?
[Editor's note: The following is a briefing paper on bees and neonicotinoids by the House of Commons Library, a library ...
Monsanto, corporations accused of ‘buying scientists’ to place fake news in academic journals
[Editor's note: Paul Thacker is a consultant to nonprofits critical of GM technology. He is well known for his personal attacks on ...
To expedite development of climate-resistant crops, Australia may have to relax gene-editing rules
Australia's classification of genetic modification is inhibiting the country's potential for future crop growth, according to a University of Western ...
