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.
‘Big Oil’ can’t ‘buy’ science organizations on climate change, neither can Monsanto on GMOs
Would you eat a plant that makes its own toxic pesticides, contains DNA from viruses and bacteria, sports genes that ...
GM corn no longer resistant to tropical pests in Brazil
Genetically modified corn seeds are no longer protecting Brazilian farmers from voracious tropical bugs, increasing costs as producers turn to ...
Label this: Anti-GMO activists’ stance posing ‘actual threat’ to public health
This spring, Vermont passed a law requiring any food that includes genetically engineered ingredients - otherwise known as "GMOs" for ...
Chinese researchers edit genes to make fungal-resistant wheat
Advanced genome-editing techniques have been used to create a strain of wheat resistant to a destructive fungal pathogen—called powdery mildew—that ...
Term ‘genetic modification’ loaded with baggage, undermining rational debate
With food security firmly on the international agenda, there's a growing appetite to look again at the opportunities promised by ...
Anti-GMO activist Vandana Shiva has long history of rejecting science
Vandana Shiva is a chain reaction that cannot be stopped. It can only be witnessed from a safe distance. The ...
GM critic says biotech proponents perpetuate African dependency and poverty
The recent article, GM scaremongering in Africa is disarming the fight against poverty, published in the Guardian’s PovertyMatters Blog on ...
Sweet corn roadside taste-off: Customers learned, sampled and chose GE over conventional
GM foods are disparaged by some critics because they allegedly promote 'industrial agriculture,' such as growing grains for animals or ...
Fast-growing AquaBounty GM salmon ‘precedent-setting’, offers sustainability advantages
A genetically modified salmon, called AquAdvantage, is awaiting FDA approval, and, when it does, the fish should be available for ...
Africa ‘missed out’ on Green Revolution, needs ‘growth spark’ from biotech
Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural sector needs to harvest the fruits of biotechnology in order to establish sustainable development, says a report. A ...
GMOs could save honeybees by eliminating virus and mites
President Obama has made saving pollinators a top priority, announcing the assembly of a task force designated to saving the ...
Promise of CRISPR gene editing–and the challenges
Two papers published in the last week were signal events for agricultural genomics. First was the draft of the huge, and ...
FBI turns up heat on Mike Adams as ‘Health Ranger’ fiasco widens, plus Adams’ archive
Mike Adams, who advocates the murder of those who believe GM technology can play a constructive role in food and ...
2014 World Food Prize recipient: ‘Shameful’ if India lets biotech pass
Dr Sanjaya Rajaram often remembers that his mentor, Nobel Peace prize winner Dr Norman Borlaug, always said: “Peace does not ...
European scientists call for GMO legislation revamp to prevent stifling genome editing
Genome editing, a powerful technology that allows researchers to make minute changes to crops with pinpoint accuracy, could be stifled ...
Nigerian scientists declare opponents of biotech ‘enemies’ of African development
As the controversy over the safety of biotechnology continues, Nigerian scientists yesterday reiterated their stand on the safety of the ...
Anti-GMO activist campaign slams biofortified GM crops, claims biodiversity ‘far better’
Attempts to genetically modify food staples, such as crops and cattle, to increase their nutritional value and overall performance have ...
Study claiming organic more nutritious captures why it’s harder to figure out risk
A study in the news last week perfectly captures why it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what’s risky ...
Video: Africa’s leaders need education about role of biotech in agriculture
As a boy growing up on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, Harvard international development professor Calestous Juma noticed ...
How GM crops can help address India’s food security problems
The new environment minister Prakash Javadekar is yet to take a call on allowing further trials of genetically-modified (GM) crops ...
Why GM debates do not persuade public opinion
When, earlier this year, SciDev.Net decided to host a live online debate around genetically modified (GM) plants and animals, it was because we knew ...
Plant-based, animal-free cow’s milk soon to be reality with GM yeast
Biohackers Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi are working on crafting a plant-based concoction that’s nearly identical in makeup to what’s ...
No fooling science with anti-GMO myths
The internet is full of false information about genetically modified crops and derived food. Unfortunately the average person — including many ...
Biotech can help increase food security in sub-Saharan Africa but opportunities ignored
Transforming agriculture is central to sub-Saharan Africa's development prospects. Three-quarters of people in extreme poverty – existing on less than $1.25 a day ...
Will consumers accept GM yeast that could save our oceans?
Scientists at DuPont have genetically modified a yeast to produce a long-chain omega-3 fatty acid, essential to human health and ...
Video: Sequencing of bread wheat genome ‘game-changer’ for meeting climate change challenge
Scientists reported a draft sequence of bread wheat's genetic blueprint, boosting efforts to produce new varieties of bread wheat that ...
Harvard scientists call for debate on new gene-manipulation technique
A powerful new technology could be used to manipulate nature by “editing” the genes of organisms in the wild, enabling ...
