The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has made available for public comment a petition from Bayer CropScience, seeking deregulation of cotton genetically engineered (GE) for resistance to the herbicides glyphosate and isoxaflutole. Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide commonly used to control any weed, and isoxaflutole controls broadleaf weeds and grasses.

Stakeholders in the cotton sub-sector in Kenya are eagerly awaiting the introduction of Bt cotton in the country. This was raised at a recent workshop to prepare officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for the adoption of the GM crop. The workshop, also attended by representatives from Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, was held in Embu, north-east of Nairobi on October 16-17, 2017 and aimed at developing skills and capacity for effective management of the GM crop.

As wheat farmers in Bangladesh struggle to recover from a 2016 outbreak of a mysterious disease called “wheat blast,” the country’s National Seed Board (NSB) released a new, high-yielding, blast-resistant wheat variety, according to a communication from the Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Bangladesh.

Plants accommodate a specific microbiota on and in their roots that, similar to the microbial communities in human or animal guts, supports the host in nutrient acquisition (1). Beneficial associations with fungi are widespread in the plant kingdom and probably best known are so-called mycorrhizal symbioses (Fig. 1), which are formed between soil fungi and ∼90% of land plants (2).

FAO has launched an emergency animal health campaign across Iraq's Mosul area, which was recently retaken from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The campaign aims to protect and enhance the assets of 210 000 people who rely on rearing livestock for food and income in the Ninewa Governorate - of which Mosul is the capital

Scientists from Turkey conducted a study to investigate the importance of targeted expression of a hybrid insecticidal gene (SN19) in potato plants. The result is published in Plant Biotechnology Reports.

The researchers constructed two plant expression vectors through cloning hybrid SN19 gene under the control of a promoter isolated from Asparagus and CaMV 35S promoter

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the European Food Safety Authority (GMO Panel) has published the scientific risk assessment for application EFSA-GMO-RX-005 under Regulation (EC) No 1829/20031 from Syngenta Crop Protection NV/SA

Seventy nine (79) members of the U.S. House of Representatives addressed some issues in the regulation of GM crops through a letter submitted to the heads of Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency. One of the concerns they brought up is the proposed changes in the regulation of gene editing techniques.

The National Agriculture Seed Council (NASC) is getting ready for the commercialization of Bt cowpea and Bt cotton which is projected to happen in 2018. Part of the preparations of the Nigerian government is the conduct of a workshop for seed companies to educate them of their role in the distribution of GM seeds when released in the market.

We are at a moment of huge opportunity in the world’s food system. We can continue on our current trajectory of consuming too little, too much, or the wrong type of food at an unsustainable cost to the environment, health care and political stability. Or we can change course. Fixing the food system will help solve humanity’s greatest challenges – creating jobs, reducing emissions, and improving health.