Daily Food & Ag Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
How gene editing could create carbon-sucking trees to help address the climate crisis
Of all the potential fixes for the climate crisis, none has captured hearts and minds quite like tree planting. It’s ...
Is there a better way to make cell-based meat? Maybe the tobacco plant can help
FoodTech start-up, BioBetter, has assigned a new role for the much-maligned Nicotiana tabacum plant upon discovering it can overcome the greatest hurdle ...
‘Now they’re here’: Genetically engineered mosquitoes could help control dangerous spread of disease-carrying Aedes aegypti
Anthony James, who researches disease-spreading insects, never encountered the aggressive mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, when he grew up in Southern California ...
Viewpoint: Here are cutting edge ways technology can help us increase farm outputs without using more land
The world has plenty of nutrients. They circulate between air, soil, sea, living plants and animals. Neither population growth nor meat meals ...
Modified: Destigmatizing GMOs one bite at a time
“GMOs have been unfairly stigmatized, haven’t they?” Thus spoke a man in his 30s, a sympathetic expression on his face, ...
Turning lettuce into a bone-strengthening food? How scientists are using genetic modification to create foods of the future
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have genetically engineered lettuce to produce a drug based on a human hormone ...
Edible kelp: The next big thing in high-end cuisine?
The global population is growing, with an associated increase in the need for food, while arable land is in short ...
Following in Kenya’s footsteps: Behind Ghana’s quest to get GMO cassava approved–the country’s first genetically engineered crop
The most recently approved GM crop on the continent is the GM cassava, which Kenya has successfully greenlighted. This becomes the ...
Despite controversy and rising prices, farmers in Pennsylvania Amish country recommit to using glyphosate for no-till, reduced carbon-release farming
Sharp price increases for glyphosate and other chemicals, not to mention fears over shortages, will likely mean drastically higher input costs this ...
Future of food: Cell-based protein key to ensure sustainability of our global food supply
A 2018 meta-analysis estimated that food production releases more than one-quarter of all human-caused greenhouse gases and that agricultural irrigation accounts ...
Viewpoint: Gene editing crops is the very definition of ‘green technology’
One thing we have learnt from the GMO debate is that if you simply add layers of regulatory checks and ...
Viewpoint: Why we need to replace the current pesticide assessment system
The more we spray, the fewer insects are allowed to thrive. There is also that bird populations are affected by ...
How humans are driving plant evolution
A new study conducted by biologists out of the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) suggests that urban environments are altering ...
Viewpoint: GMO cowpea can support biodiversity
Nigeria’s biodiversity is rich and unique, including semi-arid savanna, mountain forests, seasonal floodplains, rainforests, vast freshwater swamp forests and diverse ...
Viewpoint: To persuade the public that GM foods are safe, advocates need to focus on scientifically confirmed health benefits
Ever since the first GM food was introduced, the debate about the risks of releasing GM crops has been substantial ...
Is mainstream media open to constructive conversations on GMOs and crop biotechnology?
Although nearly three decades have passed since genetically modified crops (so-called ‘GMOs’) were widely commercialized, vociferous debate remains about the ...
Milestone in plant breeding? New wheat variety might not require neonicotinoids or other chemical protectants
Every once in a while, there’s an innovation in plant breeding that sets down a true milestone. Barley yellow dwarf ...
CRISPR gene editing shown to increase corn and rice yields
A team of researchers affiliated with a large number of institutions in China and one in Germany has found that ...
Umami: A fifth basic human taste has been identified. Here’s what it does
Things are never simple. For generations, textbooks have stated there are four basic tastes — bitter, sweet, sour and salty ...
Video: Food fight — Inside the battle over public perception of GMOs
Imagine being able to prevent childhood blindness with rice. No, this isn’t a biblical miracle. It’s the reality of genetically ...
Bt cotton gives Kenyan farmers a reason to smile again
“Wow, wow.” I couldn’t stop saying wow as we caught a first glimpse of a field covered with what appeared ...
Is artificial intelligence the future of healthy eating?
DayTwo is just one of a host of apps claiming to offer A.I. eating solutions. Instead of a traditional diet, ...
The Netherlands positions itself to become Silicon Valley of cultured meat
The Dutch government has approved cultured meat tastings in the Netherlands for the first time, in a move local industry ...
Podcast: Tuskegee plant scientist on how outdated environmentalist ideology blocks biotech-led new Green Revolution
In the third episode on power in the food system, we speak with Channa Prakash, professor of crop genetics, biotechnology and ...
Viewpoint: No, coffee is not ‘steeped in pesticides’ or filled with bugs and mold
Myth #1: Conventional coffee is steeped in synthetic fertilizers and pesticides Truth: First off, this is something that is being ...
Love organic sweet Ruby Red grapefruits? Did you know it’s one of thousands of plants developed by shooting gamma rays at seeds?
You may be amazed to hear that some of the ‘natural’ foodstuffs you eat today may have also originated from ...
Video: As medicine and agriculture increasingly embrace gene editing, should the public be concerned?
Technologies such as genetic modification and ‘CRISPR’ will cure hereditary diseases, produce disease-resistant crops and enable the breeding of malaria-free ...
