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.
Viewpoint: How an anti-GMO reporter discovered science and embraced the benefits of crop biotechnology
I’ve ... come to learn that GMOs are a stand-in for many other gripes, like industrialization and corporatization. They’re viewed ...
Reviving the American chestnut: 10,000 blight-resistant GMO trees being grown in New York
For nearly 30 years, researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry have been ...
Gene editing in agriculture: Disclosure, communication and transparency critical to public acceptance
Communication is critical around the topic of gene-editing, an emerging technology that involves making precise changes in the genetic material ...
Bill Gates endorses CRISPR gene editing to spur food, medical innovation
Philanthropist Bill Gates today strongly endorsed new gene editing techniques such as CRISPR, saying they could help humanity overcome some ...
South Korean protesters demand labeling of GMO foods
Hundreds of farmers, consumers and environmental activists gathered in front of the Government Complex in Seoul [April 10] to demand ...
Viewpoint: Anti-biotech activists don’t understand the difference between GMOs and CRISPR crops
CRISPR-Cas9 may genetically modify a crop, but it doesn’t necessarily result in a genetically modified organism, the dreaded GMO. To ...
Scientists are skeptical of regenerative agriculture’s ‘extraordinary claims’
What is regenerative agriculture? Why is it different from sustainable agriculture? And how do I reconcile what practitioners of this system ...
Why FDA’s proposed gene-editing regulations could stifle CRISPR research on food animals
A 2017 draft Food and Drug Administration guidance proposes mandatory, multigenerational premarket new animal drug evaluation of all “intentional genomic ...
Wheat gene discovery could give breeders new tool to boost crop yields
A new study has isolated a gene controlling shape and size of spikelets in wheat in a breakthrough which could help breeders ...
Large-scale switch to organic farming would imperil natural habitats, study finds
Organic agriculture is not as good for the environment as commonly believed, according to a new scientific study reviewing multiple lines of ...
Plant scientists embrace USDA decision to not regulate gene-edited crops
Researchers in the US have been given the go-ahead to use gene-editing techniques to alter crops and plants. The decision ...
‘Well Fed’: Dutch documentary challenges rich countries’ anti-GMO views
A trip to Bangladesh with your friends might be a great idea, but that won’t be possible for everyone. But ...
Potential of GMOs to combat crop diseases converting skeptical Ugandan politicians
Ugandan banana breeders at Kawanda have improved local banana varieties to resist the devastating banana bacterial wilt. ... Potato breeders ...
US tentatively approves Bayer’s $62.5 billion takeover of Monsanto
The Justice Department has decided to allow BayerAG’s megadeal to acquire Monsanto Co., valued at more than $60 billion, after the ...
Vaccines for plants? RNA spray could help protect crops from pests and disease
Novel technologies are being sought to replace the traditional pesticides used to protect plants, particularly edible plants such as cereals ...
Viewpoint: Why California labels everything a carcinogen—and why it should stop
You may have heard that coffee gives you cancer. Or that everything gives you cancer—if you live in California. The reason: Proposition 65. It’s ...
Kenya approves field trials of bollworm-resistant GMO cotton
The National Environment Management Authority [of Kenya] will approve performance trials for genetically modified cotton by [May]. Chief compliance officer ...
CRISPR crops in India? USDA decision could open the floodgates for gene-edited food
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on March 28 2018, that some plants whose genes have been edited can be designed, ...
Video: Does ‘organic’ mean GMO-free?
The definition of what "GMO" means is most important in the context of organic production, because they’ve been the champions ...
Viewpoint: JAMA falls short in ‘correction’ of research letter reporting glyphosate in urine
In October 2017, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) added to the weight of evidence they care more about media ...
Viewpoint: Health Canada right to approve GMO Golden Rice as ‘safe for sale’
Health Canada’s decision to approve Golden Rice as safe for sale in Canada is the right move, despite complaints by ...
Non-GMO Project label doesn’t mean product is non-GMO, Canadian Food Inspection Agency says
After forcing some companies to change their labels over complaints of the Non-GMO Project Verified seal, the Canadian Food Inspection ...
Video: How CRISPR can help us feed the world
Bread and chocolate are staples of the American diet. And a scientific team in California is working hard to make ...
Caught stealing GMO seeds, Chinese scientist gets 10 years in US prison
A Chinese scientist in Kansas was sentenced on Wednesday [April 4] to more than 10 years in a federal prison ...
‘Junk science’? Judge and UCLA scientist square off in glyphosate-cancer lawsuit
Returning to the witness stand, a scientist on Wednesday [April 4] defended her opinion that Monsanto’s popular weed killer Roundup ...
Anti-GMO network protests Golden Rice commercialization in Philippines
More than two dozen anti-GMO groups are meeting in the Philippines in a last-ditch attempt to stop the deployment of ...
Gene-edited crops vs GMOs: What’s the difference—and why does it matter?
Gene editing has an advantage over genetic modification for several reasons. It’s more precise than GMO processes, and technology keeps ...
