The John Innes Centre (JIC) has joined a group of 33 signatories in a call for the Government to address the implications of a European Union judicial ruling that classifies gene-edited crops as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The group, composed of leading research institutions, universities, plant breeders, crop agronomy companies, biotech multinationals, farmers...

A video shows how seconds after a hungry caterpillar severs a leaf from the rest of the plant, a blaze of fluorescent light washes over the other leaves, signaling that they should prepare for future attacks by the caterpillar or its kin. The fluorescent light tracks calcium as it goes through the plant's tissues, warning of a threat through electrical and chemical signals.

Cotton farming in Burkina Faso is in a fast slump two years after the suspension of Bt cotton. This was reported by Burkinabé farmers during the launch of the ISAAA report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2017 in Ouagadougou on September 11, 2018. Cotton has been the most important cash crop for Burkinabé farmers, with the country having been Africa's number one cotton producer for 7 consecutive years between 2008 and 2015.

Kenyan scientists have expressed their concern that negative perceptions tied to genetically modifiedorganism (GMOs) could be detrimental in commercializing GM crops in the country. Speaking during a cassava stakeholder study tour to GM cassava research confined field trial (CFT) site in the country's coastal region, the scientists dismissed any fears associated with biotech crops saying GMOs are subjected to very rigorous safety assessments before they are approved.

September 16, New York, USA -- Rice Corp (currently known as SunRice), in partnership with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), was awarded the 2018 Hult Prize by former President Bill Clinton on Saturday, September 15 in New York City. The student entrepreneur team from University College London beat out more than 100,000 college and university students from 121 countries to win the $1 million prize.

Scientist Steven Mennerick says that the most commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs were approved for use more than three decades ago, and new ways to develop new medications are necessary. Thus, he and his colleagues from the Washington University School of Medicine utilized CRISPR-Cas9 to determine the function of a neuroreceptor delta gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) to pave the way to new drug development.

Brown fiber cotton plays a key role in the textile industry, as it is environmentally friendly and does not require dyeing. However, its poor yield and quality threaten its marketability. Thus, researcher Zhongxu Lin from National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement in Huazhong Agricultural University and colleagues studied the genetic basis of fiber color and lint-related traits in brown fiber cotton through linkage and association mapping.

The John Innes Centre (JIC) in the United Kingdom has formed a new alliance with the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics in Spain, and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. The alliance will promote the vision of a pan-continental European Research Area. The partnership will initially focus on enabling graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to work together, share experiences and move between the three centers.

More than 150 executive and legislative officials from the Philippine House of Representatives, as well as selected members of the judiciary attended the Forum on the Global State of Biotechnology, a biotech outreach program conducted by the SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center in collaboration with the United States Embassy Manila, the House of Representatives, Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA),

Argentina is set to commercialize the first drought and salttolerant soybean in 2019. This is an important step towards combating the increased risk of drought globally because of global warming.