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.
Sunlight triggers jumping gene DNA rearrangement in corn
Genetic parasites consisting of small sets of mobile genes are common in plant chromosomes, and those in corn have been ...
East African scientists defend work on GM
Scientists in East Africa have launched a campaign to defend their work on genetic modification. The scientists say it is ...
Unclear regulations for GMO food labeling make laws harder to enforce
The central government has made it mandatory to label all genetically modified foods sold in a packaged form, but the ...
Malicious harm to an devastated industry
A friend sends me a picture from the internet. It is shown here below. It originates from a Facebook effort ...
Swiss scientists spent 78% of research funds on security
The Swiss government will create a permanently protected area on federal land for experiments with genetically modified (GM) crops. The ...
Chile fights GMO in national protest against ‘Monsanto law’
Thousands of Chileans have rallied against a bill dubbed the “Monsanto law” that would let multinationals patent GMO seeds. Activists ...
Genetic engineering to facilitate food security
Dr Yaa Difie Osei, a Biochemist and Molecular Biologist, has noted that the country is positioning itself to tap deep ...
Genetically modified crops pass benefits to weeds
A genetic-modification technique used widely to make crops herbicide resistant has been shown to confer advantages on a wild form ...
Malicious harm to a devastated orange industry
"Are you ready for a tall glass of GMOs? If they move forward with GMO oranges, you need to know ...
Australia: New genetically modified wheat trial for Victoria
The Victorian Agriculture Department wants to conduct the state's largest genetically modified wheat trial at Horsham, in the state's west ...
Objection to GM crops without assessment, Indian agriculture ministry says
Dismissing concerns expressed by activists and civil society against use of genetically modified (GM) crops in the country, the Indian ...
Spanish GM maize area increases by 20%
The area of land growing genetically modified maize in Spain has increased by almost 20% to record levels. Spanish ministry of ...
GM and the biodiversity balderdash in India
Strong parallels can be drawn between the recent anti-biotech and anti-nuclear movements. To begin with, both have nothing to do ...
Biotechnology’s prospects in the Black Sea region
Around the world, we hear stories of agricultural progress, as more countries join the Gene Revolution. In 2012, Cuba and ...
Is there really GMO pot?
An interesting issue came up through my volunteer work for the new website, "GMOAnswers.com." Apparently some pot users are concerned that ...
A blanket ban on all GMOs would be misguided
For years, I taught a course on genetically modified organisms. First, we covered the biology behind GMOs so that students ...
Fake websites, fake emails – new tactics in the fight against science
Beware. The underhanded elements of the anti-GM world are now impersonating scientists and companies in the electronic media. A few ...
Genetic engineering produces a genuine (regulation) monstrosity
Activists have warned for decades that genetic engineering would create some sort of monstrosity like Dr. Frankenstein’s creature. It turns out ...
Oil palm gene may be step to sustainable plantations
Scientists have identified the gene responsible for determining the yield of oil palm fruits. The discovery is being hailed as ...
How would you stop a vineyard apocalypse?
Imagine a bacterial scourge that was silently spreading from vineyard to vineyard, striking down grapevines in their prime, bankrupting wineries ...
Petition: Global scientific community condemns the recent destruction of field trials of Golden Rice in the Philippines
Research on Golden Rice at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is part of their humanitarian work to reduce vitamin ...
Seralini set for September UK tour to speak about his research
The most detailed scientific study ever conducted on the health effects of a genetically modified (GM) food was published last ...
New Hampshire House subcommittee begins work on GMO labeling bill
Two months after his state passed legislation requiring labels on genetically engineered foods, Maine Rep. Lance Harvell, the bill’s chief ...
Reconstructing facts in Bt cotton: Why skepticism fails
The case that the “triumph narrative” of Bt cotton in India comes mainly from economists, the biotech industry and their academic ...
What happened to the middle in the GMO debate?
The debate surrounding genetically modified organisms, often called GMOs, is an absolute mess. A huge part of the argument stems ...
Monsanto’s SmartStax maize ‘to be approved for growth in October’ in EU
A controversial, genetically modified super-maize from Monsanto is set to be approved for cultivation across the European Union by late ...
On voters’ plates: genetically engineered crops
Get ready for a food fight. When Washington voters decide Initiative 522 this fall, they will do more than determine whether to ...
