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.
Modern breeding produces genetically superior chicken
Sixty years ago, it could take up to 16 weeks to grow a three-pound chicken fit for eating. The breasts ...
Activist groups demand Costco not sell GM salmon if approved
Food safety advocates are urging that Costco not sell genetically modified salmon if it is approved. Friends of the Earth, which ...
Eaten alive: Crops can ‘feel’ insects eating them, providing clues to insect resistance
A new study arrived at the fairly gruesome conclusion that plants can feel insects eat them alive. And a specific type of plant, ...
Robots find genetic mutations in crops, accelerating breeding solutions
If you want to find what’s probably the best example of what robots are doing in crop development, come to ...
AAAS presidents: ‘Anti-GMO harassment of best scientific thinkers must stop now’
In the latest organised attack on science, 14 senior U.S. scientists are being targeted by anti-GM lobby group U.S. Right ...
Genetically altered rice variety yields for years without replanting
Ten thousand years ago, China’s ancient inhabitants harvested the grains of wild rice, a perennial grass growing up to 15 ...
Can Arctic apples be ‘poster child’ for GMOs?
Count me among the bystanders shouting encouragement to the gladiator to go in for the kill. The GMO arena seems ...
Would farmers grow GM wheat if approved?
Any future deregulation and commercialization of bioengineered/genetically modified wheat in the United States would pose questions. Might yield and disease-resistant ...
New genetically engineered peanuts resistant to pests, diseases
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a major species of the family, Leguminosae, and economically important not only for vegetable oil but ...
Crusaders slam GM foods, glyphosate, conventional agriculture
A “GMO Plenary” held last month in Missouri featured a panel of anti-GMO activists who discussed multiple health and environmental risks ...
Atrazine critic-scientist Tyrone Hayes’ own data shows frogs thriving in ag regions
An herbicide popular with farmers but targeted by environmentalists because it is supposedly responsible for chemically castrating frogs has been ...
Monsanto said to offer ‘sustainable solutions’ to arrest decades long monarch butterfly decline
Monarch butterflies are in trouble. These popular insects, which have captured the public imagination with their several-thousand mile migrations, have ...
Genetics give conventional fruits and vegetables heirloom taste
When you order a sandwich at Subway you can watch the guy lay out pink, anemic tomatoes on your sandwich ...
Anti-GMO activist ‘ecologists’ destroy GM eucalyptus seedlings in Brazil
Recently 300 peasants organized by La Via Campesina occupied the meeting of the Brazil National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio) in ...
Oregon legislature divided on GMO “contamination” bills
Backers of two bills that would allow the state to regulate where genetically modified crops could be grown in Oregon ...
Concerned consumers can easily avoid non-labeled foods with GMOs
The failure of Measure 92 in Oregon's last election, which would have required genetically modified food to be labeled, has ...
Searching for biotech alternatives to unsustainability of palm oil
Palm oil is a wonderfully versatile and cheap raw material. On its own or via chemical derivatives, the oil makes ...
EPA limits planting of GM corn to curb pest resistance
U.S. regulators for the first time are proposing limits on the planting of some genetically engineered corn to combat a ...
GM soybean oil healthier than organic versions
Soybean oil accounts for more than 90 percent of all the seed oil production in the United States and genetically ...
Are Sygenta Viptera lawsuits appropriate reaction to GMO trade problems? US farmers split
Ask just about any farmer leader if they support science and innovation in agriculture and the answer will usually be ...
Developing countries plant more GM crops than industrial countries
The United States remains the leading grower of biotech crops in the world but developing countries are fast catching up ...
Forty years of food technology brought famine-riddled countries back from brink
In the mid-1970s, the outlook for food supplies around the world was grim. There were talks of "food triage" — food-rich ...
Genome editing more efficiently targets desirable traits in crops
A novel strategy to enhance genome editing promises to increase the efficiency of making genetic improvements in a wide range ...
New ‘Non-GMO’ label rolls out to promote organic production
California Certified Organic Farmers has released the "Non GMO & More" seal, which its members can use to verify that ...
China scientists facing ‘soft violence’ over GMO crops
China is about to get serious on the use of genetic modification (GM). After years of uncertainty, funding cuts and ...
Filipino farmers appeal ban on Bt eggplant
Farmers have urged the Filipino Supreme Court (SC) to junk the writ of kalikasan against Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant, saying that ...
Could spinach gene save orange industry?
Orange juice has been an American breakfast staple for decades, adding a much-needed pop of color (and vitamin C) to ...
