In November 2023, the CGIAR Research Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT) held its first research partner meeting to share research findings, evaluate progress, and set goals for the future. Researchers from SHiFT’s Work Package 3 on Governance and Inclusive Food Systems (WP3) discussed their approach to understanding and navigating the complex challenges surrounding food systems transformation.

ISAAA Inc., in partnership with the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), will hold the second webinar of the series about gene editing. The second webinar, titled Gene Genies: Gene Editing by Filipino Scientists (Applications in Livestock and Aquaculture), is scheduled on February 26, 2024, at 10:00 AM GMT+8. The pre-registration is now open to all high schools in the Philippines. Each school may submit names of five students and one teacher as participants.

VIB has submitted an application for a new field trial of genome-edited maize. The field trial will look into the development and composition of plant cell walls and how they can be changed to optimize applications in the paper and pulp industry, bioenergy, but more so in the use of plants in animal feed. Scientists from the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology have disabled specific genes in maize that are involved in cell wall formation.

Scientists used CRISPR-Cas9 on Red Sage to boost its capability as a medicinal plant. Their research may help patients with heart disease. Red Sage, or Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a herb that is used to treat cardiovascular diseases. The plant has bioactive compounds, such as phenolic acids and diterpenoid tanshinones, which promote good health to people. However, there are genes that regulate these bioactive compounds in the plant.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) has published the Scientific Opinion which reports on the outcome of its risk assessment of two genetically modified (GM) maize, DP23211 from Corteva Agriscience Belgium, and DP915635 from Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Application EFSA-GMO-NL-2019-163 under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 for maize DP23211 is for import, processing, and food and feed uses within the European Union (EU) and does not include cultivation.

Nobel laureate and CRISPR innovator Jennifer Doudna, other Nobel Prize winners, and over a thousand scientists are rallying for the benefits of new genomic techniques (NGs) to the EU and the world. They released an open letter addressed to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in light of the upcoming parliamentary decisions regarding the regulation of NGTs in Europe.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released their review of four plants modified using genetic engineering to determine whether they posed an increased plant pest risk as relative to non-modified comparators.APHIS found that these modified plants were unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated plants and were not subject to regulation under 7 CFR part 340 and could be safely grown and bred in the United States.

Rice field fisheries have long been an essential part of Cambodia’s rural landscape, providing crucial sustenance and income to millions of people. With this, the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) has been leading the charge in conducting transformative experiments aimed at harnessing the potential of rice field ponds to improve the livelihoods of rural communities and contribute to sustainable development.

Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) is responsible for high crop losses in Africa, particularly among small-scale farmers. A research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) has now developed rice lines that are resistant to the disease using genome editing. RYMV is an RNA virus spread by beetles and direct leaf-to-leaf contact. There is no known effective protection against the virus and the only real protection is to develop rice varieties that possess a resistance gene against RYMV.

A study published in Frontiers in Plant Science shows that editing the SlHyPRP1 and SlDEA1 genes of tomato improves its biotic and abiotic stress responses. This study has evaluated the drought, salinity, bacterial leaf spot, and bacterial wilt tolerance response of tomatoes. Tomato has long been an essential crop in different regions and countries worldwide.