Africa
New biotech crop-breeding technologies struggle for traction across much of Africa
"Multinational companies from the developed world don’t want any scientific progress going on in Africa," says Ugandan researcher ...
High-quality hybrid seeds could help feed Africa’s growing population
Africa’s demand for food will more than double by 2050, driven by population growth and rapid urbanization. A growing population ...
GMO bacteria could help resolve Africa’s plastic pollution ‘menace’
African scientists are calling for investments in the application of biotechnology to deal with the world’s plastic pollution problem. They ...
A farmer’s ‘naughty list’: Activists, celebrities and lawyers who spread the most misinformation in 2018
That’s right: it’s almost time for the jolly old fat man to visit homes around the world to deliver presents ...
Missing data? African study shows why we need to expand the human reference genome
The human genome sequence, first published in 2001, has some important information missing. The latest version of it, called GRCh38, ...
GMO crops may be necessary to counter impacts of climate change, study shows
New research suggests that the type of yield gains made possible by genetic engineering (GE) will be needed to offset ...
Ugandan researchers look to biotechnology to bolster food production in the face of climate change
As the impact of climate change continues to grow worldwide, farmers are likely to face new challenges in the form ...
Newly passed biosafety bill in Uganda aims to ensure ‘safe development’ of GMO crops
Parliament has passed the Genetic Engineering Regulatory Bill, 2018, formerly known as the National Biotechnology and Bio-safety Bill. The bill ...
Kenya will push for 10-year moratorium on foods produced with synthetic biology
Kenya will press for a moratorium on introduction of laboratory generated foodstuffs produced through synthetic biology when the Conference of ...
Tanzania’s ban on GMO crop trials will set biotech research back a decade, scientists say
An air of resignation characterized reactions …. to the government's surprise ban on all genetically modified organism (GMO) trials in ...
African nations push back against proposed UN ban on gene drives
Africa has kicked against a proposed moratorium on the environmental release of organisms containing gene drives now under debate at ...
8 pressing questions about GMOs, human health and the environment
[W]hen the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) sent ... its latest report, stating that, “Biotech crops ...
Viewpoint: An argument against using genetically modified mosquitos to fight malaria in Africa
Some scientists have proposed genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes as a solution to controlling malaria, a scourge that has been around ...
University students embrace biotech research as Africa gradually embraces crop biotechnology
Though most African nations have been slow to commercialize genetically modified crops, students across the continent remain committed to earning ...
Viewpoint: Obstructionist governments have kept the ‘green revolution’ out of Africa
A green revolution—the increase in agricultural yields seen in most parts of the poor world apart from Africa since the ...
Viewpoint: Environmental gene editing shows promise, but requires ‘careful oversight’
In Burkina Faso, the government is considering the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to eradicate malaria. In Nantucket, Mass., officials ...
Rarely studied African genes fill in ‘blank canvas’ of early human history
Humankind’s early history in Africa is coming into sharper focus with a new study of 180 genomes from a dozen ...
GM corn boosts yields as much as 58 percent in Tanzanian field trials
Tanzania's second year of confined field trials of genetic modified maize is bearing fruit, as the crop has significantly shown ...
6 things agroecology can do for farming and the environment
Agroecology has returned to the global spotlight, as one approach to bring farmers closer to meeting challenges [like rising food ...
Scientists can save one of Uganda’s staple crops with genetic engineering—if lawmakers will let them
Ugandan scientists are accelerating their outreach to lawmakers to make them aware of improved crops like disease-resistant cassava .... Cassava, ...
Burkina Faso aims to fight malaria with GMO mosquitoes, but activists warn of ‘species contamination’
Nonprofit group Project Target Malaria plans to conduct an experimental release of genetically engineered mosquitoes to stop the spread of ...
Whole genome sequencing on the farm: Mobile technology aids fight against disease, pests in Africa
In a world first, international scientists .... have used whole genome sequencing to help diagnose a plant pathogen destroying crops ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO groups offer no solutions to Africa’s food security problems
A joke that is going around refers to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as “nothing going on.” My experience over a 15-year ...
Hybrid corn could eradicate harvest-destroying disease in Africa
A centralized maize lethal necrosis disease screening facility established in [Kenya] five years ago has released 15 disease-resistant hybrid maize ...
Anti-GMO activists can’t be allowed to ‘have their way,’ African farmer warns
When I was a little boy, what I feared most were the masqueraders .... human beings wearing masks or ...
Educating farmers key to biotech crop success in developing world
African countries and the Philippines have made significant progress in developing genetically modified (GMO) crops, adding impetus to the drive to ...
Feeding Africa’s hungry countries may require ‘a dozen Green Revolutions’
Despite agriculture’s progress in feeding more people on less land than at any time in history, there are still more ...
