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.
Genetically engineered algae for biofuel could pose potential risks
Algae are high on the genetic engineering agenda as a potential source for biofuel, and they should be subjected to ...
Investment goes into new bioenergy crop research
A $1.37 million (€1.1 million) grant is set to allow researchers to study and potentially develop shrub willow as a ...
Human-assisted evolution to help animals survive a human-dominated age
UK-based photographer Vincent Fournier collaborated with scientists to create his digitally enhanced photographs of genetically modified animals better suited to ...
Could genetically modified seeds be a drought solution?
Could genetically modified seeds be a drought solution? While farmers across the country struggle with the worst drought in 50 ...
Seeking hardier breeds for drought, climate change
Cattle are being bred with genes from their African cousins who are accustomed to hot weather. New corn varieties are ...
Willow could be a promising bioenergy crop
The commercialization of shrub willow as a bioenergy crop could be years closer, thanks to a $1.37 million grant that ...
Would Rachel Carson embrace ‘frankenfoods’? Scientist believes ‘yes’
The ‘Frankenfoods’ debate is coming to your dinner table. This debate is particularly poignant because fifty years ago this September, ...
High hopes for drought-resistant corn
The United States is having one of the worst droughts recorded in over 50 years. More than three-quarters of U.S ...
Can genetics improve ethanol production?
A California company with a stake owned by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced it has discovered a yeast gene that ...
Newly found genes may lead to nematode-resistant cotton
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers have made significant progress in finding genetic resistance to two key cotton pests—the root-knot ...
China: Australia can feed our “dining boom” with GM crops
The Australian government’s first national food strategy underscores what agricultural scientists have been saying for the past decade – that ...
Salt cress genome yields new clues to salt tolerance
An international team, led by Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, and BGI, the world's largest ...
A greener way to raise cotton and combat nematodes
Richard Davis, a plant pathologist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Tifton, Ga., and his colleagues are hunting for ...
Can biotechnology solve China’s food security problem?
When talking about agriculture in China, you are likely hear two statistics over and over again: China is home to ...
Banana genome sequence will aid crop improvement
Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of the banana, an important crop in developing countries that provides a fruit widely ...
Projecting agricultural impacts of climate change, can GM crops help?
In a summer like this, as we watch crop conditions wither in record-setting heat and dry conditions, we might wonder ...
Beets root of fuel source
A biofuel company hopes plots of high-sugar “energy beets” will fuel an ethanol project ...
“Agent Orange Corn”: NGOs skirt science, liken Dow’s new seed to Vietnam era pesticide
Researchers have developed a new variety of biotech corn that carries a natural resistance to the herbicide 2,4-D. Some NGOs ...
GM maize more environmentally friendly than conventional
Spain, one European country that favors genetically modified (GM) crops, claims that transgenic maize is more environmentally friendly than the ...
Organic agriculture: Is it a religion?
No person would choose organic food over conventional food on objective grounds to address regional needs or world hunger. Its ...
Chinese scientists identify yield-boosting rice gene
Researchers in China have identified a rice gene that could improve both the quality and yield of the staple crop ...
Types and uses of cassava
The plant has certainly been “rediscovered” and in many countries significant research has begun to evaluate the use of cassava ...
Can GMOs save us from climate change?
Malnutrition and starvation are problems that occur all over the world, primarily in developing countries. In coming years, as climate ...
Prairie cordgrass: Potential for energy crop
When D.K. Lee and Lane Rayburn, faculty members in the crop sciences department at the University of Illinois, talk about ...
Energy beet project moves forward
An energy beet project is going toward planned commercialization in 2014 in North Dakota, despite the loss of a key ...
Plea for allowing research trial on developing genetic crops
Government should allow scientists to conduct research trials for developing genetically modified crops and ensure technology is taken to the ...
Overcoming obstacles to GM crop adoption
This policy brief, published by the UK's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), examines the potential benefits and challenges ...
