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?
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Video: How our food choices impact climate change
Our food production systems emit greenhouse gas emissions just like fossil fuels. But we don't talk enough about it. This ...
Human carelessness and climate change are killing millions of animals. Gene editing could save them. Should we use it?
It wasn’t our intention that humanity would become the planet’s greatest evolutionary force; yet the fact that we are confronts us ...
Unresolved mystery: Why has Bill Gates quietly become the largest private owner of farmland in the United States
Bill Gates, the tech titan turned global philanthropist, has quietly amassed a portfolio of over 100,000 hectares of farmland across the United States, ...
Viewpoint: The promise and challenges facing India’s turn toward gene-edited rice
In a notable milestone for India’s agri-biotechnology sector, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) announced the development of two ...
India and other warm-weather countries are growing climate resilient crops to blunt climate change
A sweltering heat wave decimated Pritam Singh’s wheat crop in 2022. That year, temperatures reached a record-breaking 127 degrees Fahrenheit ...
Is the global food supply collapsing as temperatures gradually increase? Just the opposite, as world is on track for record harvests
It’s not uncommon for people to tell me that global food production is already collapsing due to climate change. They ...
Video: Should we revamp our diet to eat mostly organic foods? Harvard gastroenterologist says fears are based on hysteria not science
Dr Trisha Pasricha, a Harvard-trained gastroenterologist and scientist, who also writes the ‘Ask a Doctor’ column for The Washington Post, ...
Can gene editing be a game-changer in improving crop resilience and sustainability?
A Mexico-based research centre believes it may have hit the bull’s eye when it comes to using technology to enhance ...
How AI is rewriting the book on food and farming sustainability
The food production process begins on the farm, where AI technologies are helping farmers make smarter decisions. Precision agriculture, powered ...
Biotechnology is pushing the limits of beauty products
From fungi-derived ingredients to lab-grown collagen stimulators, biotechnology is rewriting the rules of what beauty products can achieve. At its core, ...
Viewpoint: ‘An entire ecosystem of antiscience has taken hold and turned deadly’
The ideologically-motivated assault on science threatens us all. Climate change is generating devastating heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods and superstorms. ...
7 ways biotechnology can mitigate climate change challenges
As the world grapples with escalating climate change, the impacts on agriculture have become acute and inescapable. In 2025, rising temperatures, erratic ...
Even biodegradable plastic is stressing plants
Micro- and nanoplastics cause stress to crops such as lettuce and carrots, PhD candidate Laura Julia Zantis found. This can ...
As temperatures climb, so does America’s sugar cravings
Pan He, an environmental scientist at Cardiff University in Wales, hit on the idea to look at ... how rising ...
Viewpoint — ‘Less food waste, lower carbon footprints and a socially sensitive food system’: Tech-enabled farming intensification is the only science-based path to sustainability
Several trends become quickly apparent when we engage the public about agriculture. Consumers across the industrialized world reject concepts like ...
Lab grown meat and other cellular agricultural products face environmental challenges
“Cellular agriculture has the potential to be more sustainable in areas such as water recycling and renewable energy use, if ...
Rewilding of former farmlands is increasing. What are the sustainability benefits?
Reaching "peak agricultural land" does not mean the problem of deforestation is solved. Growing demand for products like beef, soy, ...
The future of farming: Resilience vs Efficiency
Farmers should redesign agricultural systems by prioritising resilience over efficiency and supporting farmers through gradual, practical transitions rather than forcing ...
Trump’s EPA will stop collecting emissions data from most polluting companies
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to eliminate long-standing requirements for polluters to collect and report their emissions of the heat-trapping ...
Bio-based UV filter extracted from onions could replace petroleum in solar cells, improving solar tech sustainability
Solar power is one of the best tools in humanity’s decarbonization toolbox, but even these green energy technologies aren’t 100 percent sustainable. For ...
Viewpoint: If activists and trial lawyers have their way, the herbicide glyphosate will be banned. What would that world look like?
As a reminder for the doomsayers, the Environmental Protection Agency classifies glyphosate as “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” ...
How modern farming and science are driving a global rice boom
In a world worried about looming food shortages triggered by the climate crisis, the collapse in rice prices — now ...
Viewpoint: Gene-edited crops can save the planet—if regulators don’t screw it up
Crop breeding has long been used to improve agricultural productivity, but as modern biotechnology tools reshape the field, discussions over ...
Supporters of organic and genetically engineered crops want the same thing. How we get there most sustainably is the sticking point
Glyphosate (Roundup) is out but fungicides like copper sulphate are in. Genetically modified Bt corn is out but Bt spray ...
Ghanaian farmers hesitant on GM maize despite benefits
A new study of 550 maize farmers across five regions in Ghana found that while the majority are aware of genetically modified (GM) maize, ...
When farmers deny science: The hypocrisy hurting agriculture’s credibility
There is vast scientific consensus that our planet is experiencing a long-term climate change, and denying this trend — as ...
Fighting deforestation with CO2: Biotechnology breakthrough creates sustainable palm oil alternative for cosmetics
A significant advancement in sustainable innovation has emerged from a collaboration among the Mibelle Group, LanzaTech, and the Fraunhofer Institute ...
