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CRISPR scientist Echo Pan delivering a new type of gut punch
Scientist Echo Pan is using the tools of CRISPR-Cas to deliver a gut punch that heals, rather than harms. Pan, a Ph.D. candidate and Rockey Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellow at North Carolina State University, hopes that her research will aid the development of highly customized…
Sweet potato farmers profit from climatic protection
An iron digger adapted from a motor vehicle spring thrusts effortlessly deep into the sides of green vines covering an earth mound. With the care of an archaeologist, farmhand Simbarashe Ncube meticulously scoops up the loosened lumps of grey soil to dislodge a copper-colored sweet potato that barely fits into…
Meager funding commitments cast doubt on UN Food Systems Summit goals
More than 200,000 people have died of hunger since the much-heralded United Nations Food Systems Summit concluded nearly two weeks ago. Another 720 and 811 million people — primarily women and children — do not have enough to eat. However, it appears unlikely that this unfortunate trend will be…
Nigerian farmers just can’t get enough of GMO cowpea seeds
Nigeria is witnessing a shortage of genetically modified cowpea seeds as farmer demand for the insect-resistant crop dramatically outstrips supply. Public sector scientists who developed the high-yielding variety have struggled to produce enough certified seeds to meet the huge demand as farmers who planted it in trials last year spread…
Scientific group says gene editing key tool for transforming global food systems
The United Nations Food Systems Summit’s Scientific Group has recognized gene editing as a key tool that can help transform global food systems to end hunger by 2030. The group also acknowledges genetic engineering as another important tool that the world should pay attention to because it can help reduce…
COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system
The World Food Program has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause one of the worst food crises since World War II. It predicts a doubling of the number of people going hungry — more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. While wealthier people stay inside and…
Nigeria makes history with GMO cowpea rollout
History was made today as Nigeria officially released genetically modified (GM) cowpea, which offers protection from the pod borer pest. It’s the first genetically modified (GM) food crop adopted in Africa outside of South Africa. The pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea — popularly known as beans in Nigeria — is resistant…
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 genetically modified (GM) maize and glyphosate in Mexico by 2024. The Mexican government led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has carried out a battle against scientific innovation…
Gene editing can prevent eucalyptus from becoming invasive
Gene editing can prevent eucalyptus — a tree highly valued in Kenya and elsewhere for its hardy timber, wood fuel and medicinal extracts — from invading native ecosystems, a team of international researchers has shown. Dr. Steve Strauss of Oregon State University led a team of scientists in the research,…