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.
‘Future foods’: How kelp, maggots, fungus and other nutrients grown outside of the traditional agriculture system can help fight climate change
In a new perspective piece, researchers at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk explain that ...
2 in 5 dairy farmers believe cows should not be genetically engineered to reduce disease susceptibility. What might change their minds?
[E]ven before the consumer sees a product on the grocery shelf... farmers’ decisions can make or break a technology’s chance ...
Banned in Uganda: While the Irish potato faces disease and climate change, politics stymie farmers eager to adopt still unapproved GM seeds
It's a five-hour drive into the western part of Uganda to Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (KaZARDI), where ...
Are bees disappearing due to ‘climate chaos’? Out of 250 bumblebee species around the world, only a few species are in danger
It’s easy to find... articles on the internet which claim that bumblebees and wild bees will be extinct in 20 ...
‘Gene hacking’ fall armyworm moths: Biotech company Oxitec behind Florida Keys gene drive mosquitoes approved for pest-release test run in Brazil
Oxitec, the British biotech firm behind the genetically engineered mosquitoes that just took flight in the Florida Keys [recently], is ...
Cultured meat is key to a sustainable farming future, but its success depends on a key, yet-missing ingredient: Fat
“When it comes to tasty and realistic meat alternatives, what you need is texture, cooking performance, and taste. Plant-based companies ...
Viewpoint: Mexico’s ‘cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face’ glyphosate ban — Why prohibiting one of the safest herbicides in the world will dramatically increase the use of a demonstrably more harmful alternative
It appears that the proposed Mexican government plan to ban all genetically engineered corn and the widely used herbicide glyphosate ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate is great at killing weeds, but there are concerns its use could imperil the microbiome of some insects — both beneficial and harmful
[A] study, published in the journal Communications Biology, showed that glyphosate inhibits a biochemical pathway in bacteria that was previously ...
‘Carbon is not our enemy but our ally’: Here’s a living laboratory in India studying how crop and livestock farmers can address agriculture’s adverse climate impacts
43 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [are] caused both by use of fossil-intensive fertiliser and land-use change, which in ...
‘Food culture disruptors’: Gen Z — the largest and most diverse generation ever — is demanding better prices, quality and ethics in agriculture
Gen Zers have been called “food culture disruptors” based on their culinary skills (thanks to internet tutorials and recipes, many ...
RNA technology brought us effective COVID vaccines. Next up: ‘Precisely targeted, environmentally-friendly’ techniques that dramatically reduce use of problematic chemicals
[RNA-based COVID vaccines let] a vaccine-recipient’s immune system learn to recognise a crucial part of the enemy before the real ...
Viewpoint: ‘It’s time to invest in meatless meat’ — Why Biden’s climate plan should address the environmental impact of animal agriculture
For decades, the US government has been pouring money into the meat industry. That funding effectively built the industry into ...
Will biotechnology roil religious dietary laws? Cell-based meats raise prickly questions among Muslims about how to apply halal guidelines
[I]s cell-based meat halal? In the below interview, we ask [CellAgri founder Ahmed Khan] a whole slew of questions around ...
Viewpoint: Reaching net zero US agriculture emissions — As part of his infrastructure plan, Biden could ‘unleash climate-friendly food innovation’ by backing novel foods like alternative proteins, low-emission meats
By procuring novel foods like alternative proteins and low-emission meats, the Biden administration could unleash a wave of climate-friendly food ...
Genetically modified AquaBounty salmon hits US markets after two decades of regulatory delays — and it’s already sold out
Way back in 1995, biotech company AquaBounty began the process of seeking regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration ...
Viewpoint: 2,000 Nigerian farmers are reaping benefits from genetically modified Bt cowpea. Other African countries could leverage similar biotechnology tools
A number of African countries have begun to take advantage of agricultural biotechnology to overcome crop production challenges. The last ...
Hardier rice crops without genetic modification? Tweaking its microbiome is one option
Yes, plants have microbiomes, too, and those billions of tiny hitchhikers can help them grow and fight off invading pathogens ...
The younger you are, the more likely you are open to trying cell-based protein like cultured meat, survey shows
The cultured meat market is poised to take off, evidenced by new research affirming that many consumers are willing to ...
Viewpoint: Farm-to-Fork plan suggests Europe wants sustainable farming. So why do EU politicians ignore the ‘green’ benefits of GM crops?
There is ongoing disagreement between the popularly elected European Parliament and the executives in the European Commission over approvals of ...
Edible wood? By tapping into the ‘natural genetic potential of microorganisms’, tree waste can be transformed into food-grade protein
The protein sector is squeezed between the drive to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – required if global warming ...
Ideological rigidity is hampering efforts to leverage the regenerative agriculture ‘revolution’. Here are two paths forward
Does regenerative agriculture require a completely new economics of farming to achieve scale? Or should the focus be on the ...
‘Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s sustainable or biodegradable’: Here’s the complicated truth behind plant-based materials — the latest eco fashion fad
In the accelerated push for mitigating the plastic crisis and exhaustive raw material use while appeasing a new guard of ...
Seafood distributors welcome AquaBounty’s sustainable GM salmon
AquaBounty will mark a new milestone for truly sustainable seafood this month with the first commercial harvest of fast-growing genetically ...
Viewpoint: ‘What’s the difference between a GM vaccine and a GM crop?’ Key to developing COVID shots, biotechnology could boost Europe’s farm yields and lower costs — if the public will accept it
Millions of Europeans have been happy to receive a coronavirus vaccine, which relies on genetic engineering, prompting the question: What’s the ...
‘In nature, everything is connected’: Can synthetic biology reverse the decline in our depleted marine ecosystem?
Our blue planet runs on ocean ecosystems that are currently in steep decline. In the last 50 years, the amount ...
‘Last and only hope’: With global banana crop under siege from fungal disease, CRISPR may be only remaining solution
The banana as we know it is in trouble. Emerging reports suggest the fruit’s deadliest disease has been spotted in ...
Viewpoint: Advocates for regenerative agriculture greet questions about its viability ‘not with facts or science but with defensive hype’
In Part One of this series, we looked at the historical reasons why interest in regenerative farming has eclipsed organic ...
