agriculture
What can CRISPR do for agriculture? Deep dive into crop gene editing’s sustainable future
CRISPR is often thought of as "molecular scissors" used for precision breeding to cut DNA so that a certain trait ...
1/3 of the world’s soil is degraded. But technology can bring our farmland ‘back to life’
In Iowa they call it “black gold” – a fertile blanket covering the landlocked Midwestern state. Thousands of years of ...
Global farming trends put pollinators at risk, threaten food security, study claims
A multinational team of researchers has identified countries where agriculture’s increasing dependence on pollination, coupled with a lack of crop ...
Viewpoint: ‘We’ll be eating each other in 5 years’? How ‘catastrophic’ environmentalism threatens sustainable farming
In April, the cry of climate catastrophe seized the political agenda. ... It was the only subject driving the zombie ...
Lab-grown protein could make up 35% of meat consumption by 2040 amid growing concerns about animal agriculture
Memphis Meats, based in Emeryville, California, is one of a growing number of startups worldwide that are making cell-based or ...
Naturally occurring phosphorous in soil could cut synthetic fertilizer pollution, major threat to sustainable farming
Cornell University engineers have taken a step in understanding how iron in the soil may unlock naturally occurring phosphorus bound ...
Viewpoint: To boost sustainable farming, new UN Food and Agriculture Organization chief should promote science-based policies
The United Nations body is about to elect a new director‑general. The choice will affect the entire globe for years ...
Almost 10% of French farms now organic, as switch from conventional hits new record
A record number of French farms switched to organic production [2018], helped by the grains sector catching on to the ...
William Vogt vs. Norman Borlaug: How two intellectual giants shaped the modern GMO debate
In the book The Wizard and the Prophet, Charles C. Mann exposes the implicit controversy between two visionaries at the ...
Viewpoint: International science communicator warns crop biotech proponents not to oversell its benefits to wary consumers
We all agree any mention of “genes” and related techniques, tools and applications evoke strong emotions and varied opinions. This ...
Viewpoint: USDA GMO labeling plan is pointless, expensive—and probably unconstitutional
The scientific consensus is that mandatory GMO labeling fails every test — scientific, economic, legal, and common-sense ...
Market for agricultural robots expected to hit $87.9 billion by 2025
A new report by market analysts and consultants Tractica has said that global shipments of robots designed for agricultural use ...
Viewpoint: Lab-grown meat should replace farm animals as food
Why so many people resist cultured meat -- and why they shouldn't ...
Podcast: How science brought us ‘synthetic’ fertilizer, and why it was a game changer for farmers
Bet you never thought fertilizer was magical but that changes today! On this episode of Biotech Facts and Fallacies, plant ...
Lab-grown burgers are coming, but heated political battle will determine future of cell-cultured meat
Companies in the United States and abroad are moving quickly to bring to market hamburgers and other meat, poultry and ...
Alabama bill would require lab-grown protein to carry label declaring it’s not ‘real meat’
Would you eat a hamburger if it was created in a lab as opposed to being real meat from a ...
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing unlikely to cause off-target mutations in plants, study shows
CRISPR-Cas9 enabled genome engineering has great potential for improving agriculture productivity, but the possibility of unintended off-target edits has evoked ...
USDA endorses G-20 commitment to science-based policy, sustainable farming technology
USDA officials signed on to a G-20 statement backing the development of climate-smart technology and promoting science-based decision-making. Top USDA ...
IBM, Yara International announce digital platform to optimize crop production for individual farms
Yara International, a leader in crop nutrition, and IBM announced [April 26] an agreement to build the world’s leading digital ...
Students in Ghana rally support for GMO crops
Some student associations in Ghana have waded into the ongoing debate over whether the country should commercialize genetically modified organisms ...
New data, novel research approaches help tackle declining monarch butterfly mystery
Monarch butterflies are an icon of nature: spectacular in form, known for their unfathomable annual migration, and frequent visitors in ...
Viewpoint: 5 popular Netflix documentaries serve up pseudoscience about agriculture, chemicals and nutrition
Netflix brought in $15.8 billion in revenue in 2018 in part because the streaming service floods subscribers with a deluge ...
How the USDA could help foster a technological ‘revolution’ in agriculture
Anyone paying passing attention to the agricultural sector understands that it is in the middle of an “agtech” revolution. Innovations ...
First lab-grown burger may cost $50 at anticipated 2020 restaurant debut
On April 15, Bruce Friedrich ascended a stage in Vancouver, Canada to give a TED Talk to a packed room ...
Are bugs disappearing? A science-based ‘insect apocalypse’ Q&A
Q. Dear Umbra, Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate. This terrifies me! What actions can I take to mitigate ...
Viewpoint: Do pesticides boost autism risk? New report says ‘possibly’ but correlations are ‘weak’ and ‘misleading’
Recently a study titled “Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study” ...
Pollution from corn farming linked to 4,300 premature deaths annually, study claims
A study published [April 8] in Nature Sustainability shows how deadly [corn] can be. And eating it isn’t the killer; ...
