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“Training will build capacity of African scientists and give us modern biotech tools”
Our graduation marks the end of a six-week intensive training of 11 scientists in gene editing technology using CRISPR through the Africa Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course Class. The training aims to build the capacity of African scientists and provide them with modern biotechnology tools in gene editing including…
The First 100: Celebrating African scientists applying gene editing technologies to transform national food systems
On October 11, 2024, we celebrated a dynamic group of African pioneers, African scientists, the first 21 of the future 100 African Scientists to be trained on the Genome Editing CRISPR Course, which is being adopted as part of the toolkit for plant breeders to improve yields and resilience…
AI plus gene editing promises to shift biotech into high gear
During her chemistry Nobel Prize lecture in 2018, Frances Arnold said, “Today we can for all practical purposes read, write and edit any sequence of DNA, but we cannot compose it.” That isn’t true anymore. Since then, science and technology have progressed so much that artificial intelligence has learned…
Genetically modified mosquitoes could strengthen war on malaria
It’s been 127 years since British medical doctor Sir Ronald Ross discovered that mosquitoes in the Anopheles family are primarily responsible for transmitting malaria parasites between vertebrate hosts. Since his discovery, mosquitoes have been found to carry and transmit many other diseases that pose a major threat…
Five reasons why the anti-biotech movement is in retreat
The pro-science community has recently chalked up several important wins in Europe. First, on January 24, the powerful environment committee of the European Parliament backed the reform of the cumbersome regulatory system to allow ‘new genomic techniques’ (NGTs) to be used in crop breeding. (NGTs include gene editing tools…
Alliance for Science partners with AfPBA to train scientists on gene editing communication
The Alliance for Science collaborated with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), the Africa Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCCC), and the World Agroforestry Center to hold a training session on science communication to help amplify the voices of researchers and PhD students working in the…
“Give genes a chance!” Over 1,000 scientists in 14 countries hold historic demonstrations in support of gene editing
Over 1,000 scientists in 14 European nations have held unprecedented demonstrations nationwide urging MEPs to back New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) ahead of a crunch vote in the EU parliament tomorrow (February 7, 2024). Gene editing technology, argue demonstrators from 29 European universities, will create crops that use fewer pesticides, are…
Nobel laureates plead with European parliamentarians to ‘reject the darkness of anti-science fearmongering’ over gene editing
As the European Parliament prepares for a key vote on gene editing regulations next week, an open letter signed by 35 Nobel laureates and more than 1,000 European scientists has been sent to parliamentarians asking them to ‘reject the darkness of anti-science fearmongering’. On 24 January the European Parliament’s…
Hope for sickle cell disease patients as FDA approves innovative gene therapies
On December 8, 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration approved two innovative gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD), a devastating illness that affects thousands of Americans and many others in the global south. For decades, a bone marrow transplant was the only viable option for patients with…