Agriculture experts in Pakistan advised growers to plant Bt cotton varieties along with a 10 percent area of non-Bt cotton crops to save them from pest attacks. Agriculture extension department spokesperson said that the government had set a target of cultivating 200,000 acres with cotton this year and for this purpose, the agriculture department was also providing a subsidy of Rs.1000/- per bag of approved and certified cottonseed and the farmers can purchase cotton seed of approved Bt cotton varieties including IUB-13

CRISPER has just got better with the latest gene editing technology called CRISPRoff. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) described the new reversible CRISPR method in the Cell journal.Since its discovery, CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized genetic engineering by enabling researchers to make targeted modifications in the DNA.

The study focused on the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii. It is considered a probiotic as it survives and thrives in the gut while other yeast species either cannot tolerate heat or broken down by stomach acid. Previous research has been successful in genetically engineering baker's yeast, S. cerevisiae, used in a wide variety of biomanufacturing applications. Nathan Crook, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State, and his team were surprised to learn that most of the S. cerevisiae tools worked in S. boulardii.

Zaone Poultry Company in Thyolo and Chimtengo Youth Poultry company in Chiradzulu are two Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) established under the EU funded CLIM² project in Malawi. In 2019, the project introduced to them Kuroiler chickens, a dual-purpose breed originally bred in India that was introduced in Malawi from Tanzania. This hybrid chicken is known to outperform local chicken breeds under free range, semi-intensive and intensive management systems.

Cressman: At the moment, swarms are declining rapidly across the Horn of Africa thanks to the large-scale control operations mounted by governments and supported by FAO over the past 14 months and poor rains.  Swarms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia remain immature and continue to become smaller. Without rainfall, they will not mature and breed. The upcoming rainy season that is expected to be drier than normal should contribute to a further decline in locusts.

Researchers identified a gene that can increase apple's water use efficiency (WUE) when it is overexpressed. This discovery can be a potential solution to the water deficit in China's apple industry, one of the major limiting factors of apple production in some parts of the country.Scientists investigated the relationship between autophagy, the natural mechanism cells use to remove its unnecessary components, and water use efficiency regulation.

Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued license DIR 176 to PTM Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd. authorizing the limited and controlled release (field trial) of white clover genetically modified (GM) for increased condensed tannins. The trial is proposed to take place between April 2021 and December 2026, on up to four sites per year with a maximum area of 1 hectare per year across all sites.

Researchers from the University of California Riverside (UC Riverside) discovered the second gene involved in temperature sensing in plants that could promote food security amidst climate change.The researchers modified a completely temperature-insensitive mutant Arabidopsis to make it reactive to temperature again. Upon examining the genes of the twice-mutated plant, they found a new gene, RCB, with products that work closely with HEMERA, the first gene they discovered to stabilize the heat-sensing function.

Researchers from Tohoku University and partners successfully restored pollen development in sterile rice by disrupting a mitochondrial gene using mitochondrion-targeted transcription activator-like effector nucleases (mitoTALENs). The results are published in BioRxiv. Genomes in plant mitochondria sometimes contain cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)-associated genes, which are used by breeders to develop high-yielding F1 hybrid seed in different crops.

Health Canada has declared that gene-edited crops are safe. Health Canada launched a public consultation for the Proposed new guidance for Novel Food Regulations focused on plant breeding on March 25 and closes on May 24, 2021. The consultation proposes new rules that will deal with plant breeding innovations, including gene-edited crops. However, a group has raised concerns about such plant breeding techniques. Health Canada's position is clear in their response given through a letter signed by Karen E. McIntyre, Director General of the Food Directorate.