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.
Food from thin air: Turning CO2 into protein could provide sustainable food source
Bacteria could feed the world. While some bacteria turn CO2 into valuable fuels, other bacteria – called ‘hydrogenotrophs’ – can ...
Plants are conscious? Some evidence says yes, but not all experts are convinced
Plants are conscious, according to LINV director Stefano Mancuso, an arboriculture professor at the University of Florence. Mancuso’s case for ...
Consumer pesticide fears spur chemical giant Syngenta to develop more eco-friendly farm technologies
Conventional pesticide makers including Syngenta and Bayer AG have been under pressure in recent years over their products’ impact on ...
GMO cotton that makes its own colors could eliminate need for chemical textile dyes
[Colored cotton plants] are the product of CSIRO plant breeders dedicated to producing better, sustainable natural fibers that will hopefully ...
Infographic: GMO tomatoes? There’s no such thing. Here are the only biotech crops grown in the US
Are you paying more for “non-GMO pasta?” Then you’re not using your noodle. What are the facts? There are only ...
We depend on bees for 1/3 of our food? Pesticides threaten bees? Farmer challenges pollinator myths
.... [W]ithout [bee] pollination efforts, the world would still have plenty of food .... The vegetables we eat don’t require ...
Insect-resistant GMO corn nutritionally equivalent to conventional counterpart, field study shows
DP23211 maize was genetically modified (GM) to express .... protein for control of corn rootworm. DP23211 maize also expresses ...
GMO rice in development could be the next revolutionary treatment for high blood pressure
In the future, taking your blood pressure medication could be as simple as eating a spoonful of rice. This “treatment” ...
China approves imports of two GMO soy varieties, green lighting production in Argentina
China has approved the import of two new genetically modified (GM) soybean varieties, including one developed by local firm Beijing ...
GMO aspen trees could provide sustainable source of biofuel, study shows
Hybrid aspen, a crossing between European and American aspen, is one of Sweden’s most productive tree species which grows better ...
COVID-19 disrupts Africa’s seed supply, threatening food security
The global pandemic has made it difficult for some African seed companies to produce and import sufficient quantities of quality ...
GMO skeptics are also likely to reject nano food technologies that could enhance flavor and nutrition, survey shows
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) have ...
Federal court backs EPA order allowing farmers to use banned dicamba weedkillers until July 31
EPA has defended its decision to allow farmers to continue to use three vacated dicamba herbicides -- XtendiMax, FeXapan and ...
Nigerian scientists say ‘smart’ agriculture can help mitigate climate change
Promoting smart agriculture is one step nations can take to help mitigate the negative effects of farming on the climate, ...
Waterhemp weed uses genetic ‘tricks’ to outsmart herbicides, threatening farmers’ crop yields
The weed that represents the biggest threat to Midwestern corn and soybean production, waterhemp, has outsmarted almost every kind of ...
Ancient farmers helped build the Amazon’s rich biodiversity, archaeologists find
Farmers helped build the Amazon's rich biodiversity by maintaining soil health with sustainable growing practices, an international team of scientists ...
African farmers yearn for biotechnology in the face of climate change
Southern Africa is on the receiving end of the devastating impact of climate change, driving millions into hunger. A record ...
Genetic engineering could tackle crop growth barriers that promote hunger in developing nations
Using potatoes and cassava plants, along with other species such as tomato, rice, and cotton as models, [researchers have] identified ...
Viewpoint: Trump Administration should cut funding to WHO’s IARC cancer agency
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer] IARC is supposed to be a scientific program that classifies ...
Oxitec wins approval to release GMO mosquitoes in US
Oxitec has received state and federal approval to release genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes in a pilot project planned for the ...
Conspiracy debunked: Bill Gates, Tyson Foods aren’t using COVID to boost lab-grown meat sales
“Do you wonder why the media wants you panicked about the food supply and why farms are slaughtering and aborting ...
As rising oceans encroach on arable land, gene editing, floating farms may help feed the world
A soil biologist and co-director of the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, [Duncan] Cameron had long known that ...
Insect-resistant GMO crops make key contributions to fighting hunger, US State Department reports
Farmers around the world are using advances in agricultural science to increase crop yields, reduce the need for pesticides and ...
‘No distinguishable difference’ between sugar from GMO and non-GMO sugarcane, study confirms
The goal of this manuscript is to present the results of studies with three genetically modified (GM) sugarcane varieties and ...
Indian environmental scientist blasts anti-GMO celebrity Vandana Shiva for ‘baseless’ assault on biotech crops
A reader curious about celebrities’ role in the radical environmental movement emailed me recently. He wondered if .... their claims ...
African experts urge a ‘special focus’ on agriculture in post COVID recovery
African experts are urging governments across the continent to give a “special focus” to agriculture in the post-COVID-19 recovery era ...
Drought hits Australian cotton growers hard, but GMO insect-resistant crops help mitigate the pain
It will compound the pain already being felt in surrounding regional economies, but the tough times are also forging a ...
