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.
How scientists are genetically tweaking cotton to make it more sustainable
Scientists can use good genes from other organisms to replace the defective ones in cotton, yielding cotton plants with all ...
Exotic animals are off our plates for ethical reasons, but cell-cultivated meat could make cruelty-free substitutes a reality
London-based company Primeval Foods focuses exclusively on cultivating exotic meats, such as lions, tigers, and zebras. Similarly, the Australian company Vow Foods ...
Viewpoint: For centuries, grain yields remained stagnant — but they have tripled since 1960. We can thank biotechnology innovations
For centuries, yields for crops like corn remained relatively steady. Everything changed in the middle of the 20th century ...
Selling a myth: Former OXFAM development expert on why agroecology cannot address global food security
Agriculture shares with education the dubious honor of being a field of knowledge where everyone feels empowered to give their ...
Viewpoint: Could a GMO herbicide-resistant milkweed help save the Monarch butterfly?
Sobering news broke this month for those of us who love monarch butterflies – and who doesn’t? Those black and ...
Study: Why plant-based meats are healthier for you and better for the planet
There are increasingly strong reasons to move away from industrial animal agriculture for the good of the environment, animals, our ...
‘Feed Your Mind’: FDA releases guide on GMOs, emphasizing their safety, sustainability and occasional nutritional advantages
GMO foods have been available to consumers since the early 1990s. Since then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ...
Are robot bees a viable solution to pollination problems?
Every so often a headline will shout about the coming of the robo-bees, with the vision of a dystopian future ...
GM seeds likely to be in the hands of Ghanaian farmers by next year, scientists say
Ghanaian scientists say genetically modified seeds will most likely be in the hands of farmers by the start of the ...
Maci Mueller: Pioneering revolutionary changes in livestock breeding through gene editing
Scientific innovator Maci Mueller is using gene editing to revolutionize the way that ranchers and dairy farmers perpetuate their herds ...
‘Solving Africa’s food challenges’: Will anti-GMO activists and other market obstacles block adoption?
“We're living on borrowed time,” says Wijnand Swart, a plant pathologist at the University of Free State (UFS) in South ...
Viewpoint: Switching to organic food because it’s healthier, safer and better for the environment? Think again
Many consumers are committed to organic products for reasons that are more emotional than logical. They frequently define their purchasing ...
Nigeria endorses safety of GMO foods
The Director General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, has restated that all approved Genetically Modified ...
Viewpoint: Why genetic engineering of livestock is compatible with sustainable and humane treatment of animals
Society faces challenges to feed a growing population with a reliable supply of wholesome food, produced to high standards of ...
‘Using insect biology against themselves’: New type of pesticide uses caterpillar pheromones to stop pests from mating
Scientists from the University of Missouri are on the edge of a new frontier in pest control: They are filling ...
Podcast: How gene editing can prevent devastating consequences from sharply rising temperatures
Propelled by climate change, future heat waves promise to increase in frequency and intensity, posing a dangerous threat to human ...
Study: How GMOs and crop gene editing can increase genetic diversity and help contain climate change
In this essay, we explore the potential of crop biotechnology to contribute to this diversification, especially in industrialized systems, by ...
Genetically-engineered disease-resistant potato eagerly awaited by farmers in Rwanda
Potato farmers have welcomed the government’s ongoing trials on the use of agricultural biotechnology in producing a new Irish potato ...
India debates new ways to make biofuels as sustainability threats rise
For many countries such as India, domestic biofuel production can reduce the consumption of imported fossil fuels, which provides economic gains, in ...
Once insulated from bee health crisis, Australia invaded by honeybee-killing Varroa mites. How have other countries adapted?
Just three short weeks ago the bee parasite Varroa destructor was detected in Newcastle, NSW. Beekeepers and government bodies have sprung into ...
Rice with longer roots, faster growth and up to 40% higher yields with just a gene editing tweak
By giving a Chinese rice variety a second copy of one of its own genes, researchers have boosted its yield ...
A yield-boosting wheat gene could help address growing climate and food insecurity crises
Wheat, one of the most important food rations, is an inbred crop with low genetic diversity and unique evolutionary constraints ...
The newest superfood: Environmentally-friendly seaweed may be a ‘one stop shop for our crucial nutrient needs’
Seaweed helps to support other marine life and to clean the water surrounding it. When out of the water, it ...
Viewpoint: Collapse of the organic-farming experiment in Sri Lanka has not shamed activist-philosopher Vandana Shiva and other GMO rejectionists
Sri Lanka ran an evil experiment on its citizens last year. Under the sway of nitwit organic-food activists, the government ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s Green Deal Farm to Fork strategy brings innovation possibilities — but economic trade-offs are costly
The European Green Deal is the name of the EU’s overarching policy that aims to make the EU climate neutral ...
Sri Lanka’s pro organic/no pesticide policy fiasco brings woes to country’s once-flourishing tea industry
With Sri Lanka in the throes of its worst ever economic crisis, its prosperous tea industry has taken a hit, ...
Synthetic biology is more than just cruelty-free meat. Here’s how it could address biodiversity concerns and pollution
Advances in synthetic biology will be just a part of the solution to some of the most severe threats to ...
