‘Gene edited tilapia is not GMO’
Reading Time: 2 minutesA line of tilapia that has been gene edited will not be classified as a genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Argentina according to a government advisory commission. THE line, known as FLT 01, has been developed by Intrexon and its subsidiary AquaBounty Technologies., the biotechnology company best known for its AquaAdvantage salmon strain. The tilapia […]
Scientists apply gene editing on Chinese kale
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBRASSICA vegetables are economically important vegetables with high nutritional value. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing has been demonstrated in several crops but not in Brassica vegetables. For the first time, researcher Haoru Tang from Sichuan Agricultural University in China and colleagues demonstrate the applicability of CRISPR-Cas9 in editing genes in Chinese kale, a Brassica vegetable that has […]
New tool helps scientists better target the search for alien life
Reading Time: 3 minutesCOULD there be another planet out there with a society at the same stage of technological advancement as ours? To help find out, EPFL scientist Claudio Grimaldi, working in association with the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a statistical model that gives researchers a new tool in the search for the kind of signals […]
New tomato from gene editing
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFOR the first time ever, an international team of scientists from Brazil, the United States, and Germany has created a new crop from a wild plant within a single generation using the modern genome editing process CRISPR-Cas9. The team used Solanum pimpinellifolium as the parent plant species, a wild tomato relative from South America, and […]
A journo’s changed perception on GMOs
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY MUHAMMAD LUQMAN Decades of unscientifically proven facts on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) issued by green pressure groups and global anti-GMO organisations – have generally created a negative world view of one of science’s most advanced technology. How such campaigns and bad press affect the adoption of GMOs in countries like Pakistan and India is […]
US Agriculture paves the ‘New Normal’ for global agribusiness
Reading Time: 7 minutesI had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Southeast Asia US Agricultural Cooperators Conference organised by US Grains Council, US Department of Agriculture, and US Soybean Export Council in Kota Kinabalu recently. Themed “The new normal for global agribusiness”, the conference, aimed at bringing together US agriculture leaders, farmers, USDA officials, subject matter experts and […]
Genome editing takes the podium at APEC Meet
Reading Time: 2 minutesBRISBANE: Eighteen APEC-member economies and five non-member economies met in Brisbane, Australia at the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (APEC HLPDAB). The focus of the annual meet shifted this year to genome editing with the precision breeding technology set to revolutionise industries beyond agriculture, while regulatory cooperation was another key focus. Participants […]
EU will regulate gene-edited organisms as GMOs
Reading Time: 6 minutesBY GREGORY JAFFE THE long wait is over. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has reached the unambiguous conclusion that organisms made by any mutagenesis method are GMOs under the European GMO regulations. In the decision released on July 25, the Court stated that a small subset of mutagenesis techniques “which have been conventionally used […]
Genetic engineering promises cornucopia of future products—but biotechnology critics take lethal aim
Reading Time: 5 minutesBY STEVEN CERIER GENETIC engineering is most often linked to the foods that we eat and crops that we grow. It’s a technology that has generated a great deal of controversy, with opponents claiming it is inherently dangerous to human health and the environment. There is however no scientific evidence to validate those concerns. GE […]
Scientists use ‘gene knock’ to fight disease resistance in food crops
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA NEW gene editing technique has the potential to confer broad spectrum disease resistance to specific staple crops without affecting other physical traits, according to a scientist from Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Dr Junqi Song, a plant pathologist in AgriLife together with his team of researchers, explores how a “knock-in” gene editing approach might achieve […]