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Organic farming with gene editing: An oxymoron or a tool for sustainable agriculture?
A University of California, Berkeley professor stands at the front of the room, delivering her invited talk about the potential of genetic engineering. Her audience, full of organic farming advocates, listens uneasily. She notices a man get up from his seat and move toward the front of the room. Confused,…
The Netherlands: EU ruling on new breeding techniques could harm seed exports
The Netherlands is apprehensive about the recent European court ruling on new plant breeding techniques, warning it could risk the country’s position as the world’s largest seed exporter. The European court ruled last July that agricultural products developed through precise new gene editing techniques like CRISPR should be regulated…
Science and innovation at risk in upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference
Some 196 countries may decide to limit access to the benefits of pioneering new biotechnological applications at an upcoming international conference on biodiversity. Though the prospect runs counter to the idea that science and innovation are essential to conserving the world’s biodiversity, it is expected to dominate discussions at the…
Gene-edited cassava could help millions of farmers
Based on the breathless coverage of CRISPR genome editing technology thus far—the famed patent dispute, the overhyped promises of designer babies, the fears of urban biohackers gone mad—you’d be forgiven for thinking that CRISPR is a first-world solution for first-world problems. Indeed, the first CRISPR product to make it out of the…
Brexit could spell exit from stringent anti-GMO rules
Like most United Kingdom citizens, English farmer Andrew Osmond lives with a certain sense of uncertainty brought on by Brexit. The decision of UK voters to withdraw from the European Union will affect residents in myriad ways, but for farmers like Osmond the process may provide an unexpected opportunity. While…
The GMO debate
The issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as they relate to the food supply is an ongoing, nuanced and highly contentious issue. Individuals from the scientific and medical fields fall on both sides of the argument, some claiming that genetically modified crops are helping to solve issues concerning hunger, environmental…
Forecasting the USDA’s final GMO labeling rule
Two years ago, President Obama signed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law (NBFDL) into law, requiring food manufacturers to disclose the presence of bioengineered foods and ingredients. That law required the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finalize regulations for the law’s implementation by its two-year anniversary; that deadline passed…
US ag secretary rejects Europe’s gene editing ruling
US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue criticized the recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on gene editing, saying it’s based in “regressive and outdated regulations” and stymies innovation. Perdue urged the European Union to seek more input from scientists, farmers and its trading partners “in determining the appropriate implementation of…
Scientific community defeated by green groups in European court ruling on gene edited crops
European plant scientists have responded with anger to yesterday’s European Court of Justice ruling that puts new gene edited crops in the same category as GMOs. The ruling is dependent on a legalistic interpretation of a 17-year-old European Union directive which excluded random radiation or chemical mutagenesis from…