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.
Monsanto’s Robert Fraley: Comparing corn crops—Genetically modified in Ontario v non-GMO in France
Dr. Robert T. Fraley is Monsanto's Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He awon the 2013 World Food Prize for "breakthrough achievements ...
Yale professor calls New York Times’ Hakim GMO story ‘a hack piece with a biased narrative’
Steven Novella is an American clinical neurologist and assistant professor at Yale University School of Medicine. He is best known for his involvement in the skeptical movement and is ...
CRISPR democratizes biotechnology
The biggest mistake we can make... is to prematurely vilify CRISPR and the food it makes. We should instead push ...
Golden Rice could be released commercially in Bangladesh as early as 2018
The first field trial of the Golden Rice in Bangladesh has yielded promising results, triggering prospect of the vitamin A-rich ...
France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research may pursue gene-editing research
Philippe Mauguin’s appointment in July as president and chief executive of France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) sparked widespread protest among researchers.... In ...
Spray on GMOs: RNA interference spray silences fungal pathogens, controls disease
RNA interference has emerged as a powerful genetic tool for scientific research. The demonstration that agricultural pests, such as insects ...
New York Times reporter claims GMO crops have failed to live up to expectations
The promise of genetic modification was twofold: By making crops immune to the effects of weedkillers and inherently resistant to ...
Rift between realists and idealists in food movement threatens to undermine it
When acclaimed food reform writer, Michael Pollan, recently published a lengthy article critical of the Obama food reform legacy, he exposed a ...
Post Brexit Britain could become major grower of GMO crops, bucking Europe
Genetically modified crops will be grown across England after Britain pulls out of the European Union, under plans being drawn ...
Biopesticides: Leveraging nature’s pesticides to protect our food
[Brooke Borel writes in bioGraphic about a demonstration trial in Canada using bumble bees to deliver a 'biopesticide' to a ...
How will CRISPR be deployed in the battle against weeds?
[Editor's Note: Weeds are one of the biggest threats to crops. Farmers use more weed killer than any other kind ...
Chinese use CRISPR to breed hairier cashmere goats
In China, the world’s top producer of cashmere, scientists have been trying to breed more productive cashmere goats. They’ve now ...
Farmers need to understand and communicate with public about gene editing technology
...The next wave of genetic modification is called gene editing, and you will see huge impacts of this technology in ...
Don’t fall for this trick: Organic, non-GMO candy treats aren’t healthier
You might see more candy labeled "organic" or "non-GMO" in your little sweetie's Halloween bag this year. ... But is ...
‘Unscientific criticism’ delays India’s approval of GMO mustard while import costs soar
As controversy grips the indigenously-developed Genetically Modified (GM) mustard ... the man who developed the variety has termed this an issue "which ...
Calyxt’s bruise-resistant, non-browning GMO potato cleared for sale
The [USDA] has advised the potato’s developer, Calyxt, the cultivar is not a “regulated article” under federal law because it doesn’t ...
UN FAO report endorses biotech crops as important climate change tools
The report ... renews the [Food and Agricultural Organization]''s focus on “climate-smart agriculture,” which combines both adaptation and mitigation in improved ...
Gene sequencing accelerates development of climate change fighting, disease-resistant cabernet grapes
A new sequencing technology, combined with a new computer algorithm that can yield detailed information about complex genomes of various ...
More than 95% of Australian cotton farmers planting new insect resistant Bt GMO variety
Monsanto Australia managing director Tony May said the rate of adoption of Bollgard 3 was the fastest for a new GM cotton ...
Monsanto’s legacy: What went wrong for one of the world’s most innovative companies?
By introducing transparent pay for seeds and traits, Monsanto modernized the seed business and provided an incentive to the public ...
Canadian court upholds approval of AquaAdvantage GMO salmon
The Federal Court of Appeal in Canada has upheld the approval of genetically modified salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies Inc, after ...
Can genetic engineers use genes from wild bananas to save our favorite fruit?
[Editor's note: The banana, the world's most popular fruit, is sterile. They are propagated by taking either cuttings or suckers and ...
NY State PTA proposal to ban GMOs from lunches sends wrong message to low-income parents
The New York State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has proposed a measure that will require all New York state schools to serve ...
Sneak attack: Parasitic weeds may steal genes from plants to arm themselves
Sneaky parasitic weeds may be able to steal genes from the plants they are attacking and then use those genes ...
Conflating GMOs with Monsanto stifles development of new, innovative biotech crops from smaller companies
Conflating “GMOs” with Monsanto creates a crude narrative and regulatory quagmire that stifles innovation, discouraging smaller entities from developing and ...
WHO’s cancer agency claims “transparency”, moves to block glyphosate Freedom of Information requests
The World Health Organization's cancer agency [IARC]--which is facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens--advised academic experts ... who worked ...
‘Organic’ label on non-food products is meaningless
...The Organic Trade Association has asked the government to start regulating non-food products that boast organic marketing claims with the same rigor ...
