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.
Europe should embrace new breeding techniques to make farming more sustainable, says EU agriculture committee chair
The vice-chair of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee has argued that Europe should embrace innovative biotechnologies to boost food production ...
Despite GMO cotton controversy, Burkina Faso still open to GE crops, sterile mosquitoes to combat malaria
Agriculturalists in Burkina Faso say their country is still open to using the tools of biotechnology, despite the decision to stop ...
Stem cell breakthrough could improve cow health, milk production and more
After decades of effort, scientists have finally managed to derive embryonic stem (ES) cells from cows and keep them in ...
Advances in crop microbiome research could revolutionize agriculture
Editor's note: Davide Bulgarelli is a principal investigator at the University of Dundee in the UK. His research aims at understanding the ...
GMO label doesn’t deter European companies’ interest in new soybean oil with less saturated fat
DuPont Pioneer's soybean oil Plenish has been approved for the EU and, despite having to label on pack it as ...
International organic farming group IFOAM declares opposition to CRISPR gene-edited crops
IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements) has published a position paper on the new genetic engineering techniques. The aim is provide ...
Fish genes in tomatoes? The GMO lie that just won’t die
Editor's note: Mary Mangan, Ph.D., received her education in microbiology, immunology, plant cell biology, and mammalian cell, developmental, and molecular biology ...
House science committee to consider cutting US funding for IARC cancer agency
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee [Tuesday, Feb. 6] is likely to consider whether Congress should cut off millions ...
Rwandan scientists debate potential pros and cons of allowing farmers to grow GMO crops
[G]enetically modified organisms (GMOs), which scientists argue are primed to revolutionise agriculture and livestock, have attracted criticism and skepticism from ...
Farmers in four states sue Monsanto, BASF and Dupont over dicamba herbicide damage
Farmers in the heartland have filed at least 11 lawsuits in federal court over the last two years against the ...
Managed honey bees can harm wild pollinator species
There is widespread concern about the global decline in pollinators and the associated loss of pollination services. This concern is ...
Germany agrees to ban GMO crops, phase out glyphosate herbicide ‘as soon as possible’
After a week of talks, German coalition negotiators agreed on the cornerstones of their new programme. But when a new government ...
Cultivation without domestication: Unlike modern farmers, ancient civilizations grew crops that ‘spread like weeds’
Plant domestication, the theory runs, comprises a long history during which humans select traits advantageous to farming practice. Qualities such as seed ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide may increase honeybee survival when manure bacteria is present, lab study finds
Recent studies of honeybees and bumblebees have examined combinatory effects of different stressors, as insect pollinators are naturally exposed to ...
Cargill tries to balance science and its embrace of Non-GMO label
About 9 months ago Cargill sent out a tweet that unintentionally offended, and profoundly offended, thousands of North American farmers ...
Consumers more concerned about GMO crops’ environmental impact than health worries, German study finds
[H]ealth risks were generally perceived to be lower for bioenergy than food whenever full commercialization was pursued. Furthermore, full commercialization ...
Viewpoint: Congress should scrap burdensome regulations on GMO crops used for biofuel, fiber
Editor's note: This letter was signed by University of Minnesota College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources graduate students Matthew Ott, Leanna Leverich, ...
Indian farmers no closer to gaining access to GMO mustard 8 months after recommended approval
On May 11, last year, the GEAC, [India's] apex authority for assessing the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops, declared ...
Viewpoint: How the EU’s protectionist anti-GMO trade policy hurts US farmers
Editor’s note: Bernard Goldstein, MD is a professor emeritus and dean emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of ...
Video: Are GMO crops and organic farming necessarily at odds?
GMO vs Organic... The ultimate food fight right? Not really. Lots of GMOs could be grown organically, and lots of ...
Super bananas and red-fleshed apples: Under-the-radar GMO wonder foods
Thanks to GM crops, farmers have been able to upscale production of vital crops to feed our growing world. It ...
Trace amounts of neonicotinoid insecticides found in 70 percent of Great Lakes stream samples
Pesticides thought to harm some kinds of bees are turning up in Great Lakes tributaries at unexpected times of the year ...
How Asian consumers and farmers are tiptoeing into using GMO crops
High costs, back-breaking work and unpredictable yields compelled Rosalie Ellasus to give up on corn farming.... ... But Rosalie changed ...
USDA and FDA to coordinate and streamline regulations of GMO and gene-edited crops and animals
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. announced at the White House [Jan. 30] a formal ...
Why approved Chinese-developed GMO rice that boosts yields, reduces pesticide use not available to country’s farmers, consumers
In 2009, two insect-resistant genetically modified rice lines (Huahui-1 and Bt-Shanyou -63) were granted biosafety certificates by the Ministry of ...
Glory of plants in 3D: CRISPR gene-editing, imaging technology unlock genetic secrets
Advances in imaging technology — allowing researchers to peer inside plant structures in 3D — mean that biologists are seeking ...
GMO insect-resistant Bt tomatoes could control leaf miner pest, reduce insecticide use
Editor's note: Anne Frary is a professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at the Izmir Institute of ...
