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 plant pollen could speed development of higher yielding CRISPR-edited crops
The genome editor CRISPR has transformed many areas of biology, but using this tool to enhance certain varieties of crops ...
Biotech industry, USDA hype CRISPR gene-editing benefits to avoid second GMO safety debate
The U.S. agriculture industry is trying to get ahead of any backlash over gene-edited foods and win over the public ...
New herbicide controls hard-to-kill weeds, could be paired with resistant GMO crops
Purdue University researchers have developed a compound effective for controlling weeds that is also safe for people and the environment. They ...
From pesticide scare stories to insect ‘extinction,’ reporters are addicted to ‘pseudoscience,’ says science writer Matt Ridley
Three times in [February 2019], pseudo-science flew around the world before the scientific truth had got its boots on (as ...
Viewpoint: Monsanto’s Roundup is safe, but PR battle to defend weed killer may be lost cause
Let me state for the record. I believe glyphosate to be perfectly safe. There have been hundreds of studies by ...
First gene-edited food—Calyxt’s high oleic soybean oil—now on sale
Calyxt, Inc. announced [on February 26] the successful commercial launch of its highly anticipated Calyno high oleic soybean oil, which ...
Wheat with ‘built‑in defense’ against gluten could make bread safe for people with celiac disease
Researchers at Washington State University have created a new, genetically distinct variety of wheat that’s safer for people with celiac ...
Brewer’s yeast could be used to produce rare cannabis-derived compounds that treat anxiety, pain
The yeast that people have used for millennia to brew alcoholic drinks has now been engineered to produce cannabinoids — ...
Mysterious genes that make citrus fruit sour could lead to sweeter lemons, limes and oranges
Lemons are known for their face-puckering sour taste. Now scientists have uncovered the mysterious genes behind this acidity, new findings ...
Citing ‘unintended’ environmental impacts, Scottish politician urges UK to ditch EU’s neonicotinoid ban post Brexit
EUROPE’S ban on neonicotinoid pesticides should not be transferred into the UK’s post-Brexit legislation, according to Scottish Conservative MP Colin ...
Billionaire investors led by Bill Gates back biotech start-up Ginkgo Bioworks to expand plant-based meat industry
As demand for plant-based food like fake burgers heats up, biotech start-up Ginkgo Bioworks is launching a venture to bring ...
Bayer’s legal woes multiply as chemical giant battles onslaught of glyphosate, dicamba lawsuits
Many Bayer AG investors didn’t realize just how much litigation risk they were getting when the German company spent $66 ...
Pro-farming social media campaigns haven’t changed consumer opinion on GMOs: Here’s why
It happens at almost every farm meeting in Canada. Someone gets up from their chair, walks over to the podium ...
Swapping tractors for computer tablets: Is the future of farming digital and indoors?
Workers at Bowery Farming's warehouse near New York have swapped out a farmer's hoe for a computer tablet that takes ...
Meet the Israeli start-ups aiming to make earth-friendly steak in the laboratory
Several Israeli start-ups have joined a handful of companies around the globe trying to develop lab-grown meat, something they see ...
As US legal battle over Monsanto’s Roundup rages, Brazil health officials say glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer
Analysts at Brazil health agency Anvisa have determined that the weed-killer glyphosate does not cause cancer while recommending a series ...
EU neonicotinoid insecticide ban, Brexit prompt some UK farmers to grow less risky crops to protect yields
The [UK] Paterson Farming Partnership is a joint venture between Worstead Farms, run by brothers Gavin, Bruce and Alex Paterson, ...
USDA moves to streamline biotech crop approvals by updating 30-year-old regulations
USDA’s new regulation updating its plant biotechnology guidelines is being reviewed by [the Office of Management and Budget], suggesting it’s ...
Activist group finds drinking 140 glasses of wine a day could expose alcoholics to potentially harmful levels of the herbicide glyphosate
A new report by the public-interest advocacy group U.S. PIRG reveals that tests of five wines and 15 beers....found traces of the controversial ...
Claims of ‘insect armageddon’ based on ‘patchy, unrepresentative and piecemeal’ data, entomologists say
In 1828, a teenager named Charles Darwin opened a letter to his cousin with “I am dying by inches, from not having ...
Monsanto lawsuit: Judge threatens to ‘shut down’ plaintiff’s attorney for presenting banned evidence in glyphosate-cancer trial
Monsanto is facing its first federal trial over allegations that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, but a US judge has blocked ...
Nanotubes and CRISPR gene editing could make producing disease-resistant crops faster and cheaper
Inserting or tweaking genes in plants is more art than science, but a new technique developed by University of California, ...
As trade talks progress, US says it’s ‘high time’ Europe get over GMO fears
US officials on [February 21] ratcheted up pressure on the European Union to address longstanding agricultural issues between the two ...
How plant breeders produce new crops to stay ahead of climate change, disease
Global warming and changes in the amount – and location – of water, are key factors in the need to ...
Biodiversity declines threaten world food production, warns United Nations
A drop in global biodiversity is putting our ability to produce food at risk, a new United Nations report warns ...
Food label fatigue? Iowa farm group survey indicates shoppers growing skepticism of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ food marketing claims
Eight in 10 Iowans find food labels misleading, according to the Iowa Food & Family Project’s (Iowa FFP) annual Consumer ...
With lab-grown meat coming to our plates, will we be eating animals in 50 years?
Climate change has altered the debate over the ethics of meat consumption, adding a new dimension that certainly changes the ...
