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.
‘Agriculture catches blame for climate change’: Here’s 3 ways innovation can transform farming challenges into solutions
As climate change intensifies, the conversation around two of the most significant contributors — energy and transportation — has shifted ...
Will indoor farming revolutionize sustainable agriculture, or is it another case of greenwashing?
With the help of LED lighting plants are grown in indoor spaces, using closed nutrient and water cycles. As of ...
‘I asked for a greenhouse made of bulletproof glass’: Golden Rice developer feared activist retaliation for creating genetically modified vitamin A-boosted variety
In July 2000, Ingo Potrykus thought he was both at the peak and at the end of his career. He ...
CRISPR co-creator Jennifer Doudna: ‘I think many of us will experience CRISPR in the agricultural world before we experience it clinically’
It’s been a monumental year for Crispr, the molecular tool scientists use to edit genetic material. ...
Companies bet millions on the plant-based meat substitute revolution. Why hasn’t that panned out?
Futurists and pundits often make compelling cases for how the agricultural world will unfold. Here are a half dozen instances ...
Viewpoint: Hunger crisis — The number of countries unable to feed their populations has soared 400% since 2000. Here’s why crop biotechnology is a key solution
In the face of increasing population, adversely changing climate, shrinking agricultural lands, inputs such as energy, fertilizer and pestisite that ...
Food and your brain: ‘Ultra-processed’ foods high in salt, sugar and fat are cheap and accessible — but increase risks of anxiety and depression
Although many ultra-processed foods—soda, candy, energy bars, fruit-flavored yogurt, frozen pizza, and frozen meals—can satisfy cravings for sweet, fatty, salty ...
New study shows daffodils can reduce methane
Harnessing the power of daffodils to combat climate change is now a plausible idea if ongoing scientific experiments and field trials are ...
‘Gastronomic dreams of astronomical proportions’: Collaboration between government and companies key to producing cell-based meat at scale
Creating a technological (and delicious) wonder is one thing; scaling it to feed billions of people is another ...
President Macron’s attempt to appease French anti-glyphosate environmental lobby goes awry, alienating both his activist base and farmers
Good news for French agriculture. Finally, the European Commission decided to follow what a majority of Member States wanted, in this ...
Viewpoint: Why Italy’s cell-based meat ban is short sighted and alienates consumers
Italian lawmakers banned cell-culture meat and blocked plant-based proteins from being labeled with meat terminology ...
Foods can fight inflammation. Here’s what to eat to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and more
In the last few decades, researchers including [surgical oncologist Jennifer] Wargo have accumulated evidence to support some key ingredients in ...
Viewpoint: Nigeria may be running out of farmable land. Is there a biotech-based solution?
It is probable that Nigeria would experience a scarcity of cultivable land and a notable reduction in the nitrogen levels ...
Glyphosate cancer warning rejected: US appeals court rebuffs California’s attempt to require label that conflicts with global consensus that the herbicide is safe as used
A U.S. appeals court recently ruled that California lacks the authority to enforce a regulation mandating cancer warnings on glyphosate, ...
Should we be concerned that gene-editing seeds will cascade into unpredictable changes?
For tens of thousands of years, evolution shaped tomatoes through natural mutations. Then, humans came along. For centuries, we've bred ...
Viewpoint: GM crops already solving food insecurity — 37% less pesticides, 22% higher yields, and 68% greater earnings for farmers
Food insecurity and undernourishment are currently among the most serious anxieties for human health. As the world’s population goes on ...
How algae, mushrooms and grass can supplement ‘de-carbonization’ initiatives
The prominence of the forestry industry in Sweden’s bioeconomy has whipped up controversy. Many scientists, activists, and NGOs are critical of ...
Eight-country European study finds numerous pesticides reduce fertility in bumblebees
A new study has confirmed that pesticides, commonly used in farmland, significantly harm bumblebees – Ireland’s most important wild pollinators ...
The ‘holy grail’ of beer yeasts: How genetically-modified IPAs could stay fresh forever
Yeast is central to brewing, as it turns the sugars provided by barley malt and other grains into alcohol, while ...
Facing billions more in potential settlements, Bayer holds to its legal strategy
Bayer is sticking to its legal strategy of trying individual Roundup cases in court, even as a series of recent ...
300% yield boost: Analyzing Nigeria’s first GM potato project, one year later
The Genetically Modified (GM) Potato Project ongoing in Nigeria has concluded its first-year multi-locational confined trial in three locations, with ...
How CRISPR trees could help us create optimized paper of the future
Wood consists of about 25 percent lignin, but the paper and fiber industries remove it because it lowers the quality ...
Relief to resilience: Bangladesh’s remarkable journey in biotechnology
In agricultural biotechnology, Bangladesh stands as a symbol of progress and innovation. Over the years, this South Asian nation has ...
Meat lobby restricting innovation? Florida legislature to take up cell based meat ban in the wake of Italy’s vote to restrict cultured meats
The Italian government has voted to ban cultured meat being produced or sold in the country, which could complicate the ...
Reckoning for European Green Deal ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy: EU lawmakers side with farmers and consumers, bury plan to cut chemical pesticide use by 50%
In a stunning upset, the European Parliament voted down the "Sustainable Use of Pesticides" bill, which marked the cornerstone of ...
A start-up hopes to create carbon-storing ‘super-trees’. Hype or a possible breakthrough to address climate change?
At Living Carbon, [Patrick] Mellor is trying to design trees that grow faster and grab more carbon than their natural ...
CRISPR-created strawberries that stay firmer and fresher longer could revolutionize fruit industry
The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, Duch.) is one of the Rosaceae family renowned for its flavor and health benefits, ...
