Food Navigator
Nutrition, productivity, climate adaptability: Surge in African crop biotechnology research poised to address malnutrition and food security
Scientists are using genomics to tackle malnutrition in Africa and more. The African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC), founded in 2011, ...
The world’s most popular banana variety is under threat of extinction — and genetic engineering solutions are blocked. Here are alternatives.
Since the 1990s a new strain of the fungus TR1 (or panama disease), which wiped out the Gros Michel banana ...
‘Lab grown coffee can be a reality’: Cell-derived coffee on the horizon as demand for java soars, exceeding global supply
Coffee is the third-most drunk beverage in the world, behind water and tea, and global consumption is on the rise ...
‘Hybrids are coming’: Cell-cultured and plant-based meat blends are in development
From soy-based sausages to pea protein burgers, the plant-based category is booming. According to EU data, Europeans’ consumption of plant-based ...
Most plant-based proteins are made from soy. From microalgae to fermented fungi, these surprising sources are bringing us the faux meat of the future
What will take on the ubiquitous soy and pea? As well as chickpea, other plant proteins have come to the ...
Cow methane ‘burps’ are one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions. Could bovine genetic selection reduce climate change impacts?
Using genetics… scientists have isolated the gene in cattle which causes excess methane production. Through selective breeding, it claims this ...
Edible wood? By tapping into the ‘natural genetic potential of microorganisms’, tree waste can be transformed into food-grade protein
The protein sector is squeezed between the drive to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – required if global warming ...
Viewpoint: Cell-based meat on sale in Europe within 3-5 years? While the rest of the world innovates in food technology, politics and bureaucracy paralyze EU
[In December 2020,] Singapore became the first country to authorise the commercialisation of cultivated meat. Understandably, Europeans want to know ...
‘Compassionate caviar?’ Cell-based fish egg technology could make an exclusive food accessible to everyone — and reduce our carbon footprint
Caviar is renowned as an exclusive luxury typically only enjoyed by champagne-swilling elites in five-star suites or on-board first-class flights ...
Fermentation and sustainability: Synthetic biology poised to bring us dairy-free milk and cheese that taste like the real thing
Fermentation is a type of biotechnology that uses microorganisms to create a chemical change that can produce food additives and ...
‘Cell-based fish is a logical answer’: With improved nutrition and lower CO2 emissions, cultivated fish can sustainably satiate our growing appetite for seafood
[Berlin-based startup Bluu Biosciences] claims that producing cell-based fish without harming the ecosystem and at competitive prices can make a ...
‘Blissfully unaware’: Many food manufacturers don’t realize new GM labeling law applies to them and are unprepared for end-of-year deadline
Compliance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) – which requires firms with annual sales of >$2.5m to label ...
Processed food doesn’t necessarily equal unhealthy food, study finds
Classification systems that categorise foods according to their ‘level of processing’ have been used to predict diet quality and health ...
Honey without bees? A synthetic version that mimics the ‘real thing’ could be available in 2021
MeliBio, the Berkeley-based startup claiming to make real honey without bees, has closed $850,000 in pre-seed funding as it gears ...
GM canola, soybean don’t harm biodiversity, 15-year Japanese government study finds
According to the report by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), [to] date no sign of any ...
US consumers still prefer beef to plant-based meat on nutrition and taste, survey shows
[A] 79-page report - commissioned by the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board and written by Glynn Tonsor and Ted ...
Milk without cows: Thanks to fermentation, future dairy products might originate in a lab
The industrial dairy industry is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the world. In a study ...
CRISPR-edited eggs offer novel way to eliminate slaughter of newborn male chicks
[Most consumers] are blissfully unaware that the egg industry also slaughters billions of animals every year, but not to put ...
Golden Rice could illegally make its way to India as country struggles to stay ‘GMO free’
India has traditionally been a ‘no-GMO’ country, a status recently reinforced when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ...
