Scientists rewrite corn domestication story
Reading Time: 4 minutesDrawing on genetic and archaeological evidence, researchers have found that a predecessor of today’s corn plants still bearing many features of its wild ancestor was likely brought to South America from Mexico more than 6,500 years ago. SMITHSONIAN scientists and collaborators are revising the history of one of the world’s most important crops. Drawing on […]
Scientists warns global strike of fall armyworm
Reading Time: 3 minutesKnown to be feeding on many economically important crops, including maize, sugarcane, beet, tomato, potato and cotton, the larvae of the native to the Americas fall armyworm moth already seem to present a huge threat to the world’s yield. SCIENTISTS at Exeter University, United Kingdom looked into the factors and likelihood for the fall armyworm […]
Why cows are getting a bad rap in lab-grown meat debate
Reading Time: 5 minutesBY ALISON VAN EENENNAAM A BATTLE ROYAL is brewing over what to call animal cells grown in cell culture for food. Should it be in-vitro meat, cellular meat, cultured meat or fermented meat? What about animal-free meat, slaughter-free meat, artificial meat, synthetic meat, zombie meat, lab-grown meat, non-meat or artificial muscle proteins? Then there is […]
Human actions impact wild salmon’s ability to evolve
Reading Time: 3 minutesONCE spring-run chinook salmon disappear, they are not likely to re-emerge, indicates genetic analysis of the revered wild fish in a study led by the University of California, Davis. Prompt conservation action could preserve spring-run chinook, as well as their evolutionary potential. The study, published online recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy […]
FAO supports farming in refugee camps
Reading Time: 3 minutes“MY LIFE IS SO DIFFERENT NOW,” says 23-year-old Scofia Sadik Mandera, with a big smile on her face. “We have vegetables to eat, we have a balanced diet. I have more energy.” Over the past year, Scofia has grown her own kitchen garden – one of more than 7, 000 in the Kalobeyei refugee camp in northern Kenya. Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement, as the camp is formally […]
Indonesia’s Bt sugarcane sees the light of day
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Petri Dish editor-in-chief Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan hosted an email Q&A with Prof Bambang Sugiharto (BS) and Dr Agus Pakpahan (AP) who were both involved in the development of the country’s first biotech crop. Bambang is from the Center for Development of Advanced Science and Technology (CDAST) and Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and […]
Changing temperatures help corn production in US
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE past 70 years have been good for corn production in the midwestern United States, with yields increasing fivefold since the 1940s. Much of this improvement has been credited to advances in farming technology but researchers at Harvard University are asking if changes in climate and local temperature may be playing a bigger role than […]
MPOB: Oil palm a more viable cash crop
Reading Time: 2 minutesKUALA LUMPUR: Being the most widely used and traded cash crop in the world and yet the most controversial, palm oil is here to stay. Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Director General Datuk Ahmad Kushairi Din said this at the recently concluded 14th International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology (ISBAB 2018) in Kuala Lumpur […]
Genes that can ‘beef up’ cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutesBEEF cattle improvement programmes have focused for decades on promoting the rapid growth of calves. Now, the goal is to improve other traits, such as meat tenderness or ribeye muscle area. Researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil who are studying the genome of the Gir breed of Zebu cattle have identified 35 […]
Indonesia’s first GM crop to hit the market
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE government of Indonesia has approved the first locally developed genetically modified crop which will soon be commercialised in the country. The biotech sugarcane event NXI-4T which contains the betaine gene was developed by the state-owned sugar company, PT Perkebunan Nusantara XI (PTPN XI). The gene expressed osmoprotectant compound which was introduced using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated […]