Luis Ventura
Ideology-based decision-making and regulatory processes restrict sustainable agricultural innovation in Mexico
The escalating disagreement between Mexico and its two northern partners, the United States and Canada, over the country’s corn ban ...
5 influential activist NGOs spreading crop biotechnology misinformation in Latin America
The United States and Europe are home to some of the most influential anti-biotechnology advocacy groups in the world. They ...
Viewpoint: Once a biotechnology innovator, Mexico puts its farm economy in a vise, jeopardizes grain trade with the US with GMO and herbicide bans
In power since sweeping to victory in 2018, Mexican center-left president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has relentlessly targeted conventional ...
Do agri-businesses ‘control’ agriculture? The emerging gene-editing revolution in Latin America is challenging that belief
Small actions can create such huge differences. We see that ‘butterfly effect’ playing out in Latin America. where the development ...
Four ways that GMOs can save lives
The Green Revolution, which ushered in a wave of high-yielding crop varieties, is credited with saving at least 1 billion lives. It ...
Mexico’s plan to ban glyphosate by 2024 is already backfiring against farmers, consumers and the environment
The Mexican government is still on track to ban completely by 2024 the use of glyphosate which is paired with ...
Latin America’s embrace of gene editing positions Americas to become global leader in agricultural innovation
Over the 25 years since the introduction of GM crops in Latin America, the continent has been a battleground between ...
Mexico’s corn production needs to increase significantly — is this possible with agroecology, and without GMOs?
Through its Decree banning imports of GM corn and restricting trade with the United States and other countries, the administration ...
GMO bean benefits Brazil’s consumers and smallholder farmers
In a win for smallholder farmers and public sector research, Brazil grocery stores are now selling a genetically modified (GM) ...
Mexico’s farm sector is already lagging as GM crop ban looms
Banning genetically modified crops and glyphosate will harm 40 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP), warned economist Fernando Cruz ...
Can native and conventional crops coexist with GM and gene-edited varieties? The case of Honduras
Over the last several years, it’s been more than evident there is an urgent need to increase food production at ...
GMO social media battleground: Scientists and farmers using activist tactics to push back on disinformation deluge
Social media has fundamentally changed how we communicate with each other. Much has been written about the negative consequences of ...
Gene-edited crops made in Latin America, for Latin American needs
In recent years, precision biotechnologies have appeared on the Latin American horizon, introducing new ways to modify genomes affordably easily ...
Activists and ‘celebrity figures’ are turning public opinion against crop biotechnology in Mexico
On New Year’s Eve 2020, the Mexican government announced its plan to ban GMO corn and phase out GMO corn ...
Viewpoint: Seeds of science denialism in Latin America — The most influential anti-crop biotech groups trace their disinformation network to North America and Europe
Earlier in this series on anti-GMO activism in Latin America, we talked about some of the most influential and active ...
Farmers warn Mexico’s GM corn ban will raise food prices
Mexico’s farmer associations are teaming up and pushing back through legal battles in opposition to a presidential decree to ban ...
Latin American researchers use gene editing to breed hardier crops
Latin American researchers are using gene editing to breed hardier varieties of staple crops and fruits, according to an Alliance ...
Viewpoint: Eco-hypocrisy—Mexico bans GM corn and glyphosate to promote sustainability while subsidizing fossil fuels
Imagine for a moment that the US government banned smart phones and tablets and forced everyone to use home telephones ...
Viewpoint: Promoting science with ideology — Pro-GMO vegans use animal rights advocacy to boost vaccine, biotech acceptance
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that we are part of a living, evolving ecosystem and often at its mercy ...
Viewpoint: Promoting CRISPR crops at the expense of GMOs to appease activists undermines both technologies
In the span of a few short years, gene editing has allowed scientists to begin rapidly and cheaply improving food ...
Mexican farmers and scientists speak out against government’s anti-biotech agenda
The Mexican government’s nonstop attacks on genetically modified (GM) crops — resulting most recently in a ban on GM maize ...
As the CRISPR revolution advances, here’s how gene editing will actually help farmers and consumers
2020 has been an eventful year for gene editing. The recent Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier ...
Latin American researchers use gene editing to develop new crops that benefit farmers and consumers
Latin American farmers are partnering with scientists to create new crop varieties using gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR-CAS 9 in ...
Push to reform EU biotech crop rules gains strength as some environmentalists, public officials endorse gene editing
After two decades as "the center" of GMO skepticism, it seems the EU may be ready to acknowledge the benefits ...
Viewpoint: Swayed by anti-GMO groups, biotech pioneer Mexico lurches toward GM crop ban
“There is currently enough food in the world to feed 10 billion people,” writes the anti-GMO environmental group Green America ...
Viewpoint: International anti-GMO groups wage PR war to get gene-edited crops out of Latin America
Imagine for a moment that you're a farmer. Genetically modified crops that could help you protect your yields from voracious ...
Viewpoint: Mexican government undermining science and agriculture
Over the last two years, the Mexican government led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador (who goes by his initials, AMLO) ...
Viewpoint: Mexico’s activist government pushes glyphosate ban that threatens food security and farmer welfare
Biotech giant Bayer is currently in the fight of its life against more than 100,000 lawsuits alleging its flagship weedkiller ...
