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.
Controlling harmful soil microbes may be key to protecting biodiversity
An international team led by researchers at The University of Manchester have discovered why some plants "live fast and die ...
GMO crops may be necessary to counter impacts of climate change, study shows
New research suggests that the type of yield gains made possible by genetic engineering (GE) will be needed to offset ...
Podcast: Countering the ‘culture of alarmism’ surrounding modern farming
The culture of alarmism is an unending and relentless drumbeat that everything sold in the grocery store, every piece of ...
This mom and gardener doesn’t fear glyphosate—and says we shouldn’t either
One of the perpetual battles I’m fighting these days is countering the misinformation about pesticides that gardeners like me responsibly ...
GMO corn doubles crop yields in Paraguay, report shows
The use of transgenic maize doubled the production of the cereal in Paraguay during two decades of variety planting. A ...
How will gene editing impact agriculture? Experts offer 10 predictions
In the U.S., it’s full speed ahead for gene editing in animal agriculture. In August, the biotech company Recombinetics, based in ...
Newly passed biosafety bill in Uganda aims to ensure ‘safe development’ of GMO crops
Parliament has passed the Genetic Engineering Regulatory Bill, 2018, formerly known as the National Biotechnology and Bio-safety Bill. The bill ...
There is a ‘broad scientific consensus’ on GMO crop safety, expert affirms
Despite the long enunciated national policy of safe, responsible use of modern biotechnology, a few local government units in the ...
Meat industry may back its cell-based competitors to gain foothold in health food market
According to Andrew Noyes, the head of communications for Just Inc., meat companies are discussing the possibility of helping cell-based meat ...
Plant scientist Kevin Folta: Claims about glyphosate in orange juice are ‘brilliantly devious’
Since 2013 the science communication community and wacky food activists learned something important — you can fill a table with creepy numbers, ...
Why are strawberries so big? The genetics behind ‘up-sizing’ fruits and vegetables
Once upon a time, there was a land where food was not guaranteed everyday. Children were searching woods to pick ...
Why some Canadian farmers don’t want glyphosate-tolerant GMO wheat
Delegates attending the Keystone Agriculture Producers’ (KAP) advisory council meeting [in Manitoba] Nov. 12 passed a resolution .... to lobby ...
Better livestock breeding could help bring Uganda’s farmers out of poverty
“Kafuuzi!” Grace Bwogi shouted. A black and grey goat turned in the caller’s direction before shifting her gaze and continuing ...
Citizen scientists are tackling agriculture’s toughest challenges
The power of citizen science to contribute to both science and society is gaining increased recognition, particularly in physics and ...
Mapped British honey bee genome could help safeguard hives against infectious disease
Efforts to protect the UK's native honey bees could be helped by research that maps their entire genetic make-up. Experts ...
‘Low to non-existent’ safety risks and higher yields support widespread adoption of GMO crops, researchers say
The anticipated world population growth emphasizes a need to produce more food on less land. Cutting-edge technologies, including genetic engineering, can ...
Genetic basis for fruit and vegetable shapes helps tell the story of plant evolution
From elongated oblongs to near-perfect spheres, vegetables come in almost every size and shape. But what differentiates a fingerling potato ...
Some wild bee populations are declining. What can we do about it?
In recent years, a significant amount of attention has been paid to the numerous threats that are facing the honeybee ...
Let’s approach the GMO conversation with ‘cooler heads’ in 2019
As consumers strive to become more aware of food-production terms and practices, they often bludgeon farmers with a body of ...
Time Magazine’s coverage of glyphosate-cancer trial is ‘crying out for balance,’ biologist says
TIME magazine has a story on DeWayne ‘Lee’ Johnston who took Monsanto to court claiming RoundUp caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma ...
GMO cotton not to blame for farmer suicides in India, expert reconfirms to UN panel
An expert on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) from India has told a UN conference on biodiversity that GMO cotton growing ...
Kenya will push for 10-year moratorium on foods produced with synthetic biology
Kenya will press for a moratorium on introduction of laboratory generated foodstuffs produced through synthetic biology when the Conference of ...
Low-gluten, high-fiber wheat varieties may begin to hit the market next year
Last winter, Paul Sproule read an article regarding niche wheats being developed by Arcadia Biosciences, a Davis, California, agricultural biotechnology ...
New biocontainment strategy could prevent spread of GMO microbes in the wild
Hiroshima University (HU) researchers successfully developed a biocontainment strategy for …. GMOs. Their new method prevents genetically modified cyanobacteria from ...
Experts must counter ‘simplistic’ anti-GMO narrative with facts, says neurologist Steven Novella
The Pew Research Center has recently published a large survey regarding American’s attitudes toward food, including genetic modification .... There ...
How crop biotechnology preserves and promotes biodiversity
Experts attending the [recent] United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Egypt say that adopting smart agronomic practices can play a significant ...
Bt insect-resistant crops don’t cause allergies, European safety oversight organization reaffirms
Following a request from the European Commission, [the European Food Safety Authority] assessed the scientific publication by Santos‐Vigil et al ...
