Using CRISPR-Cas9, researchers at the Army's Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and the University of California Santa Barbara were able to target a specific gene tied to fertility in male mosquitoes. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, discerned how a mutation can suppress the fertility of female mosquitoes.

According to the authors, gene editing, as well as other biotechnologies, have the potential to address urgent concerns on food security, environment, human health. The coalition, which includes the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Environmental Defense Fund, Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund U.S., provided the principles as a high-level framework for responsible innovation and governance of gene-editing technologies.

The world needs to produce an estimated 60 percent more food by 2050 to ensure global food security, and it must do so while conserving and enhancing the natural resource base. Water is a major input in the provision of food – from production in the field through all the steps in the value chain. Water is also required to meet personal and household needs, for energy and industrial production, and to maintain important water-dependent ecosystems and ecosystem services.

"While we have viable solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for many sectors, agriculture stands out as a glaring exception, and it accounts for nearly a quarter of all global emissions. Plants and microbes can be part of the solution, versus part of the problem, and genome engineering can help make this scale to meet the size of the challenge," IGI Executive Director Brad Ringeisen said in their press release.

Plant scientists are continuously in a race against time to develop crops with higher yields in order to feed the projected 9 billion people on the planet by 2050. A study led by Dr. Maureen Hanson from Cornell University describes their work in putting elements from cyanobacteria into crop plants for more efficient photosynthesis.Rubisco's reaction to both carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air is a hurdle in improving photosynthesis.

In a Scientific Opinion, the Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the European Food Safety Authority (GMO Panel) has released its assessment of genetically modified (GM) cotton GHB811 for food and feed uses, according to the scope of the application EFSA-GMO-ES-2018-154 under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. The scope of application EFSA-GMO-ES-2018-154 is for food and feed uses, import, and processing of the genetically modified (GM) herbicide tolerant cotton GHB811 in the European Union (EU)

The Kompetetive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) is a fast and user-friendly genotyping technology that uses fluorescent assay to identify differences in DNA sequences. This technology is among the new research developments that can increase the potential of East Africa to produce new wheat varieties that are more suitable to its environmental conditions and likewise improve wheat production and reduce the region's dependence on imports.

The third webinar of the Biotech Outreach Program for the Philippines 2021 hosted by ISAAA was joined by 52 participants, mostly Filipino biotechnology regulators, to learn about the latest global and national developments and regulations in genome editing research. The event was held on August 16, 2021, via Zoom, in partnership with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) Manila.

As temperatures rise globally, agriculture is severely affected as crops cannot withstand the heat. Now, a group of researchers from Kendal Hirschi Lab at Baylor College of Medicine and Kansas State University had a patent approved for a gene to make plants more tolerant to higher temperatures.According to Drs. Kendal Hirschi and Ninghui Cheng, the patent has important environmental impacts. 

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, highlighted the need for innovation and digital technologies for agri-food systems transformation during a visit today to the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in north-eastern Italy.