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.
Multi-country effort helps develop gene-edited rice that both boosts yield and resists disease
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and an international team of scientists used the genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas to create ...
Flipping the script: Gates Foundation funds ‘farmer-centric’ approach to developing next-generation agricultural technologies in the developing world
Across the world, agricultural scientists are starting to work backward. For years, they’ve seen how improved crop varieties — which ...
Video: Do pest-resistant GM crops harm workers? Kenyan farmers say no, tout benefits of Bt cotton grown harvested in semi-arid region
Farmers from Kenya's semi-arid Mbeere region have embraced Bt cotton, a genetically modified variety, despite the discussions on the dangers ...
‘We live in a changed climate’: Here’s what may happen to wheat crops as number of heat waves and droughts increase
The world is getting hotter, causing shifts in seasonal patterns and increasing the amount of extreme weather such as severe ...
Can regenerative agriculture live up to its hype and help feed a globally growing population?
Decades of industrial agriculture have caused environmental and social damage across the globe. Soils have deteriorated and plant and animal species are ...
‘It’s the only way we’ll have Cabernet Sauvignon in 50 years’ — Disease-resistant gene-edited ‘SuperGrapes’ can help farmers control pernicious powdery mildew that’s destroying vine crops
Powdery mildew comes from a fungus called Erysiphe necator that’s native to eastern North America. While America’s native grape species have developed ...
Viewpoint: Climate crisis forces Europe to reconsider technology-rejectionist food and farming policies
Experts are advocating the use of new strains of gene-edited crops that are capable of surviving the punishing heat waves ...
22% yield increase: How non-photochemical quenching, or NPQ, could dramatically boost corn production
Awash in a rowed sea of its brethren, a corn leaf relegated to the lowest rung of its stem spends ...
East African Community member states urged to harmonize policies on waste management
East African Community member states should harmonize their policies on waste management because there is more value in tackling the ...
Podcast: Gene-edited avocados in development could stop quick browning and reduce food waste
The global consumption and trade of avocados have seen remarkable growth, but commercial challenges exist. A natural enzymatic process in ...
Viewpoint: ‘No magic wand will answer the grim tidings of climate change’’ — Asian farming experts urge wider adoption of technology in agriculture
The father of India’s green revolution, M.S. Swaminathan, once famously said: “If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance ...
Faster growth, higher yields, heat and drought resistance — Is there anything gene-edited seeds can’t do?
Israeli agtech start-up BetterSeeds distinguishes itself by its focus on a burning issue of the day that affects all crops ...
Viewpoint: Here are 10 misconceptions about reforestation benefits. There’s a better alternative
Public dialogue has emphasized potential benefits of tree planting while downplaying pitfalls and limitations that are well established by social ...
Viewpoint: Protectionist food trade policies — ‘EU’s obsessively unilateral embrace of organic farming is intransigent, impractical, and inconsiderate of other nations’
As the World Trade Organization is meeting in Geneva... Biden administration officials have taken aim at Europe’s protectionist trade policies ...
Viewpoint: Genetically-modified mustard is key for India to reduce expensive imports of oilseed, a ‘prime guzzler of foreign currency’
India’s dependence on edible oil imports to meet its growing domestic demand has been cause of concern over the years ...
Climate-induced ketchup shortage? How AI and other advanced technologies are helping farmers navigate global warming
Three summers’ worth of unprecedented high heat in the world’s key tomato-producing regions—Australia, Spain, and California’s central valley—have led to ...
Viewpoint: ‘Elites are reprogramming us to tolerate poverty’ — Green ‘degrowthers’ lobby against carbon-free nuclear power and high-production farming
Political elites throughout the developed world are embracing the ideology of ‘degrowth’. They now seem to believe that shrinking our ...
Will AI-optimized solar farms finally open door to more ‘clean’ energy — or are companies just angling for the next government green subsidy?
With the rise of ChatGPT and other artificial-intelligence chatbots, AI is everywhere, from your doctors office to your brokerage account. It’s also poised ...
Viewpoint: Do you really want a sustainable food system revolution? Let’s expand the definition of regenerative ag to include all the tools in the farmer’s toolbox
Climate change and land and nature lost to settlement and agriculture were not important topics then. When students of today ...
How the America Grows Act will improve agricultural innovation and spur research on climate change crop innovation
Agricultural research is key to ensuring food security, economic stability, and sustainable development. It is the driving force behind advances ...
Viewpoint: Is the predicted ‘Silent Earth insect armageddon’ the inevitable result of using farm chemicals — or is it alarmist activist propaganda? Insect scientists challenge the doomsayers
For years, journalists and environmental bloggers have been churning out story after story claiming that insects are vanishing, in the ...
Viewpoint: Cultured meat mixed with plant-based protein might be good for the environment but it still can’t match the taste of a quality regular hamburger
I stared down the lineup of sliders, each on a separate bamboo plate. On the far left was a plant-based ...
Cultured meat’s hidden carbon footprint raises questions about whether it’s a sustainable substitute for retail beef
Lab-grown meat, which is cultured from animal cells, is often thought to be more environmentally friendly than beef because it’s ...
GLP podcast and video: Mind-reading social media platforms; Developing countries reject Greenpeace’s ‘privileged’ green beliefs; New antibiotic coming soon?
Social media companies are experimenting with new technologies that measure human brain activity. Does this drive to fine tune the ...
Viewpoint: How Russia teams up with US environmental activists to promote disinformation about the crop biotechnology science
As the now year-old war in Ukraine continues to unravel, so do the stories revealing the ruthlessness with which the ...
Viewpoint: Gene editing and climate change — Aquaculture’s vulnerability to high temperatures, parasites and contagion could be solved with biotech
Aquaculture is a diverse sector with about 600 cultured species, as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United ...
Viewpoint: How agricultural biotechnology can help North American farmers cope with climate change
The use of modern seed genetics, which includes genetically modified crops, chemical and fertilizer use, greatly contributes to improved agricultural ...
