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.
CRISPR-edited crops reveal gene responsible for salt tolerance in rice
Scientists from China National Rice Research Institute reported that FLN2, a gene that encodes fructokinase-like protein2, influences sugar metabolism as ...
Archaeologists revive ancient North American crops that may have fed thousands of people
The scientific cultivation of lost ancient seed crops has yielded much higher than expected growth rates, challenging assumptions about maize ...
Courts may suspend additional glyphosate trials as Bayer, plaintiffs negotiate possible settlement
Discussions are underway to postpone one or more highly anticipated Roundup cancer trials set to start in January, including trials ...
This simple technology could help prevent 72,000 tons of food waste every year
Imagine bananas that never go bad. To Aidan Mouat, chief executive of Chicago-based Hazel Technologies, it’s not so far-fetched. His ...
Impossible Foods cancels plans for McDonald’s GMO plant-based burger
Impossible Foods is no longer trying to win a coveted deal to supply McDonald’s Corp with plant-based burgers, telling Reuters ...
Viewpoint: California jury’s decision that Monsanto failed to disclose glyphosate could cause cancer undermines EPA’s oversight of pesticide regulations since evidence suggests it is safe, agency claims
It’s no secret that Monsanto and glyphosate have taken a beating in court over the last couple years. After IARC ...
Genetically engineered poplar trees slash air pollution in 3-year field trial
Field trials in the Northwest and Southwest show that poplar trees can be genetically modified to reduce negative impacts on ...
With Enlist, biotech firm Corteva aims to displace Roundup as top-selling herbicide as Bayer fights glyphosate litigation
Before it was targeted by tens of thousands of plaintiffs in lawsuits, Roundup was the king of the field—the world’s ...
Plant-based ‘Impossible Sausage’ set to debut
Impossible Foods just announced a new product: pork. And thanks to the new fake pork, there’s also sausage. It’s not ...
GMO cotton boosted farmer incomes $52 billion over 20 years, study finds
The area planted to biotech cotton in 2018 reached 24.9 million hectares, a 3% increase from 24.1 million hectares in ...
Five ways CRISPR plants can combat climate change
Plants occupy a unique nexus when it comes to climate change. On the one hand, they can help prevent climate ...
Canadian judge rejects activist bid to immediately ban neonicotinoid pesticide Thiamethoxam
Ottawa-Federal Appeal Court Justice Richard Southcott has dismissed an application by environment groups challenging a 24 month phase out of ...
Agriculture companies accelerate biopesticide development amid consumer pressure for less chemical-intensive farming
Agribusiness is increasingly turning to natural and sustainable alternatives to chemicals as consumers rebuff genetically modified foods and concerns grow ...
Viewpoint: Bill banning neonicotinoid insecticides from wildlife refuges based on bad science
The House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources recently approved HR 2854, the 2019 Protect Our Refuges Act, prohibiting the ...
Most food flavorings could be made with GMO microbes, sparing large amounts of farmland
In future, the majority of natural flavors could be produced from microscopic armies of microbes programmed to convert sugars into ...
EPA re-approves controversial weed killer atrazine, arguing benefits outweigh potential ecological risks
Atrazine is widely used in agriculture across a range of crops, primarily corn but also sugarcane and sorghum, as well ...
Anti-glyphosate activist Carey Gillam ‘collaborated’ with attorney charged in extortion plot
In a press release, the [Department of Justice] said that one of the lead plaintiffs' attorneys, Timothy Litzenburg, who helped ...
Australia glyphosate-cancer class action lawsuit gets underway
The first directions hearing in a class action against chemical giant Monsanto, over claims commonly used herbicide Roundup causes cancer, ...
Public will accept CRISPR if they trust scientists who develop the technology, sociologist says
As a sociologist who studies food and agriculture, I’m frequently asked whether the public is going to accept gene-edited foods ...
EU Parliament calls for full ban on sale, production and use of neonicotinoid pesticides to protect bees
The European Parliament has called on the Commission to strengthen its plan to protect Europe’s declining populations of bees and ...
CRISPR immunizes rice against multiple diseases, preserving crop yields and biodiversity
Scientists from China National Rice Research Institute used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit Semi-Dwarf1 (SD1) in elite Chinese rice varieties, which has ...
GMO plants produce antibiotic to fight off deadly bacterial infection—without harming environment
Scientists from the University of Glasgow have discovered a safe and novel method that can safeguard important crops from the ...
Consumers love technology, survey shows—but not when it comes to GMOs and farming
Technology in agriculture is how we’ll feed a growing population, make farming more sustainable and improve the lives of farm ...
Natural coloring from purple carrots could replace some synthetic food dyes
Purple Carrots sound like something straight out of the creative mind of Dr. Seuss. But they might just become North ...
Lab-grown burgers? Cell-based steaks? Alternative meat industry scrambles to find consumer-friendly product names
The debate over what to call cell-cultured meat remains unresolved—and it could soon develop into a headache for the global ...
USDA organic farming standards ‘loophole’ may threaten rainforests
Many shoppers have heard about the high environmental costs of palm oil. Take, for example, the fact that much of ...
New CRISPR gene-drive system could crack down on antibiotic resistance in animal agriculture
Taking advantage of powerful advances in CRISPR gene editing, scientists at the University of California San Diego have set their ...
