Chinese Consumers Prefer Gene-edited Foods to Transgenics
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE success and adoption of novel food products depend on consumer acceptance. A recent study was conducted to identify the role of the fear of novel foods on consumer acceptance and revealed that consumers were more open to accepting gene-edited foods. The study involved 835 geographically dispersed Chinese consumers and focused on the consumer acceptance evaluation of […]
Nitrogen Use Efficient Rice Getting Closer to Farmers’ Fields in Nigeria
Reading Time: < 1 minuteNIGERIAN scientists and partners met in Abuja to commence compiling a dossier for the national performance trial on genetically engineered (GE) rice called nitrogen-efficient, water-efficient, salt-tolerant (NEWEST) rice. The final dossier will be submitted to the National Biosafety Management Agency, which is tasked to regulate GE crops in the country. Rice is one of the major staple crops in […]
Korean Consumers Prefer Gene Edited Products Over GM, Study Finds
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA RECENT STUDY found that Koreans tend to accept gene-edited (GEd) more than genetically modified (GM) foods. Their level of scientific knowledge is a major factor affecting their choice, thereby highlighting the importance of the availability of relevant information to the public. The study investigated the consumer acceptance of GEd technology and its comparison to GM technology with the aim of classifying the targets […]
USDA, FDA ink MOU on Animal Biotechnology Regulations
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department of Health and Human Services signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) finalizing the joint roles of the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regulating products derived from animal biotechnology. The MOU was signed on January 13, 2021, and complements USDA’s issuance of an […]
Anti dengue drug from rubber trees!
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE rubber industry, unlike many other commodity-related industries in Malaysia is booming with soaring demand for latex surgical gloves with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, if you think rubber trees are only valued for their latex or rubber elastomer here’s a surprise to marvel at. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] Scientists from the Malaysian Rubber Board […]
Researcher establishes CRISPR-Cas12b system for plant genome engineering
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMOST people who know CRISPR think of CRISPR-Cas9. However, Yiping Qi and colleagues from the University of Maryland are constantly exploring new CRISPR tools that are more effective, efficient, and sophisticated for different crop applications to help fight diseases, pests, and the effects of a changing climate. Qi and his lab have established a new […]
New way to chart human genome
Reading Time: 3 minutesIN SEARCH of new ways to sequence human genomes and read critical alterations in DNA, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully used the gene cutting tool CRISPR to make cuts in DNA around lengthy tumor genes, which can be used to collect sequence information. A report on the proof-of-principle experiments using genomes […]
Precise genome engineering in rice with Cas9-VirD2 system for HDR
Reading Time: < 1 minutePRECISE genome editing by systems like CRISPR-Cas9 needs high-efficiency homology-directed repair (HDR). Various techniques have been developed to improve HDR but with limited success. Thus, scientists from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia fused Cas9 endonuclease and the Agrobacterium VirD2 relaxase (Cas9-VirD2) to facilitate HDR. The results of their study are […]
Bacteria engineered to protect bees from pests and pathogens
Reading Time: 2 minutesSCIENTISTS from The University of Texas at Austin report in the journal Science that they have developed a new strategy to protect honey bees from a deadly trend known as colony collapse: genetically engineered strains of bacteria. An increasing number of honey bee colonies in the U.S. have seen the dwindling of their adult bees. […]
Living robots built using frog cells
Reading Time: 4 minutesA TEAM of scientists has repurposed living cells scraped from frog embryos and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These millimeter-wide “xenobots” can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient) and heal themselves after being cut. “These are […]