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.
Scientists uncover mechanism by which plants inherit epigenetic modifications
During embryonic development in humans and other mammals, sperm and egg cells are essentially wiped clean of chemical modifications to ...
New GM African cassava resists devastating viruses
Plant scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a new African cassava preferred by consumers and farmers that is resistant to ...
Scientists smell a rat in fraudulent genetic engineering study
Last week French microbiologist Gilles-Eric Séralini and several colleagues released the results of a long-term study in which rats were ...
UK: Modern genetics applied to 19th century potatoes
Researchers led by Professor Bruce Fitt, now at the University of Hertfordshire, have used modern DNA techniques on late nineteenth-century ...
New Zealand may reverse its stance on GMOs
The debate of whether New Zealand should grow genetically modified crops could be shifting away from the anti-GM stance the ...
GMOs and junk science: Pro-GM supporter questions latest study condemning GMOs
In some ways it’s remarkable that Rachel Carson is still controversial, as we’ve been reminded by this month’s 50th anniversary ...
American Medical Association reiterates support for GM technology
The American Medical Association (AMA) released a statement reiterating its position on genetically modified crops. It continues to recognize the ...
Genetically engineered rice: Protection from arsenic?
In an article this week, Consumer Reports is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to set standards for how ...
GM crops may not resolve food crisis, scientists say
Genetically modified (GM) crops have so far been promoted as the 'breakthrough' technology that will help resolve food insecurity in ...
Transgenic tomato withstands bacterial spot, yields more fruit
When a gene from bell and hot peppers is inserted into tomatoes, it not only imparts resistance to bacterial spot—a ...
Whole Foods endorses genetically modified food labeling measure
Whole Foods Market, the upscale seller of organic products and other "natural" foods, has endorsed a California initiative that would ...
Does GM corn cause cancer? A flawed study fails to convince
Last week a scientific paper appeared that reported that eating genetically modified (GM) corn causes cancer in rats. Specifically, the ...
India: Parliamentary panel seeks stopping of trials of GM seeds
A Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, which examined in detail the prospects and effects of cultivating genetically modified food crops, sought ...
Noted European scientist defends embattled maize GM study
Scientists have hit back against the criticism levelled at the research linking the world’s best-selling weedkiller and a strain of ...
Under controlled: Why the new GMO panic is more sensational than sense
A new toxicology study states that rats eating genetically modified food and the weedkiller Roundup develop huge tumors and die ...
Internationally known scientist stands up for GM crops
Dr Peacock says one of his big disappointments is the way GM food crops have been represented as harmful to ...
GM corn could soon be used to make drugs
Genetically modified corn could soon be used to mass-produce the enzymes used in rare-disease therapies, according to new research ...
Growing better poplars for biofuels
It took mankind millennia of painstaking trial and error to breed hardier, healthier food crops. "We can't wait that long ...
Kenya emerges as hub for bio-tech in east African region
Kenya has emerged as a leader in the development and use of biotechnology in the east and central African region ...
As corn withers, biotech companies focus on drought-tolerant crops
The worst U.S. drought in half a century is withering the nation’s corn crop, but it’s a fertile opportunity for ...
Spain: Genetic study will help produce better quality melons
Producing better quality melons with guaranteed results before planting; this will be possible thanks to the "Melonomics" project, involving several ...
Siberian discovery could bring scientists closer to cloning Woolly Mammoth
The key to cloning a woolly mammoth may be locked into the Siberian permafrost. At least, that’s what scientists in ...
Tanzania embracing genetic engineering
Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives has started using genetic engineering to ‘modify’ seeds and control diseases that inhibit ...
Foes of modified corn find support in a disputed study that links GM corn to greater health risks
Rats fed either genetically engineered corn or the herbicide Roundup had an increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage ...
Zimbabwe urged to lift ban on growing genetically modified food
From poultry products to fish, potatoes to apples, Johnson Moyo, a primary school teacher in Bulawayo, has come to enjoy ...
The case of the GMO papaya: How does it relate to the Prop 37 fight?
Until Californians go to the ballot box on Nov. 6, rhetoric from both supporters and opponents of the state’s Proposition ...
Organic brands caught In fight over California’s Prop 37 GMO debate
In a particular bind in this fight are the many mainstream food conglomerates that now own organic brands, which by ...
