Biotech News

Tomatoes gene-edited to produce vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, could be a simple and sustainable innovation to address a global health problem. Researchers used gene editing to turn off a specific molecule in the plant’s genome which increased provitamin D3 in both the fruit and leaves of tomato plants. It was then converted to vitamin…

Argentina’s new genetically engineered, drought-tolerant wheat could have large environmental benefits. In October 2020, Argentina approved the world’s first genetically engineered wheat for cultivation and consumption. Production expanded dramatically in 2021, and will continue to expand in 2022, after Argentina received regulatory approval in late 2021 for exports to Brazil, a major consumer of Argentina’s…

This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. It is posted under Fair Use guidelines. Research into the gene editing of plants in the UK will become much easier with new rules brought forward by the government that will encourage field…

A cargo of soy. China aims to reduce its dependence on soy imports. Credit: Igor Strukov via Adobe Stock This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. It is posted under Fair Use guidelines. China’s status as the world’s largest importer…

It’s safe. It would help farmers deal with drought, support biodiversity, protect the environment and decrease a farms carbon footprint. It would help consumers cope with inflation and pay their food bills. So why aren’t we growing genetically modified wheat? We’re asking this question again because of the news from South America late last year…

These are the advances missed by countries that reject GM technology This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. It is posted under Fair Use guidelines. Two new papers aim to quantify the social welfare and economic costs that countries inflict…

If successful, these will be the first gene-edited strawberries to be sold commercially. More than a third of all fresh strawberries that consumers buy end up getting tossed out because they’re bruised, moldy or mushy. Now, two companies have teamed up to solve this problem. The J.R. Simplot Company and Plant Sciences Inc. plan to…

Expert advisory council says liberalising research and cultivation of gene edited crops could create export barriers to the EU. But the risk is worth it, given the EU seems likely to soften its rules too. The UK is gearing up to diverge from the EU and make it easier to research and commercially cultivate genetically…

C I P International Potato Center July 27, 2021 Farmer Bone-Konsira Tumwesigye holds some potatoes in her hands. To get a good harvest, she must spray her field with fungicides on a weekly basis, a labor intensive, time consuming and expensive undertaking. Credit: CIP Successful innovation for agriculture will depend on thorough and careful understanding of the…

Every year, America’s farmers do something incredible: they nurture a small seed or sprout until harvest in order to provide all of us with an affordable supply of food. For sugarbeet growers, a sugarbeet seed is not only the starting point for the production of sugar, but is also an important part of sugar’s sustainability…