By Dennis Halterman, Craig Richael and David Douches From a scientific perspective, the potato is a pretty cool crop to work with. Cultivated potato and its wild relatives contain a lot of diversity — both above and below the ground. When growing potato collections in the greenhouse we get to see different leaf shapes, flower…
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As regulations on genetic technology are now to be reassessed in both Norway and the EU, researchers are hoping for a more scientific and evidence-based approach to the law. Recently, 37 Nobel laureates and 1,500 researchers signed an open letter to the EU Parliament, where they requested less strict regularions for the use of genetic technology.…
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Later this year gene-edited crops will be planted at about two dozen commercial farms across England for the first time to see how plants previously confined to the laboratory and glasshouse will fare in real-world conditions. No other European nation is conducting such trials because the European Union treats gene-editing the same as it does…
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The European Parliament’s vote in support of new genomic techniques, marks a significant step forward for agricultural innovation and sustainability in Europe, according to a press release from Euroseeds. The plenary vote backed the “adoption of these cutting-edge technologies, recognizing their potential to revolutionize farming practices while ensuring food security and environmental stewardship.” The European Parliament’s affirmative…
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Scientists have just genetically modified cherry tomatoes to make them easier to grow, and the future applications could include making them more viable for indoor farming and even space travel, their creators say. The scientists, working out of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, used a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to make changes to three key genes within the cherry tomatoes’ DNA. Two…
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A new study has found that CRISPR technology can be used to edit genes in some strains of rice, developing resistance. Rice is a key staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 60% of rice produced consumed there. However, the Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) causes a disease that has the propensity to wipe out…
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Bananas turning brown is a natural process that occurs over time as the fruit overripens and produces too much ethylene. The turning of yellow pigments to brown is called enzymatic browning and is aided by high amounts of ethylene. While there have been no known health issues arising from eating bananas that have turned brown,…
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On the rim of Xinjiang’s desert, in a region where the soil is so salty that most vegetation refuses to grow, China is touting rising outputs of salt-tolerant rice as further evidence that its food-security drive has taken root. Beijing expects rising yields of genetically modified crops, especially in remote and rural areas where arable…
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The Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry issued a Biosafety Permit for the Commercial Propagation of Bt cotton (GFM cry1A) developed by the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA). The permit was granted to PhilFIDA after completion of the biosafety evaluation and the requirements for commercial propagation based on the DOST-DA-DENR-DOH-DILG Joint Department Circular (JDC) No. 1, Series of…
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Do you know what genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are? Could you explain it clearly to a twelve-year-old? If your answer to these questions is “no,” you’re not alone. In a survey of Americans, 48 percent said they know “very little” about GMOs, and 16 percent said they know “nothing at all.” Eighty-one percent of Polish students…
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