Zheijiang University professor Tianzhen Zhang and colleagues generated the most complete genome assemblies for two cotton species Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense using NRGene's customized DeNovoMAGIC-3 software. The results are published in Nature Genetics. Despite cotton's wide usage in various industries, little is known about its origin. With the chromosome-by-chromose representation of the two cotton species, scientists and breeders can unlock more of cotton's potential.

The USDA FAS Global Agricultural Information Network has released its report on China's agricultural biotechnology industry, highlighting the approval of five new biotech traits in imported crops for processing. These are the first five approvals granted in the last one and a half years. The report also states that the Ministry of Agriculture was renamed into the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), with its biotechnology regulation function remaining the same.

Jack Bobo, Vice-President of global policy and government affairs with Intrexon, a biotech firm based in the United States, is a staunch supporter of the genetically modified non-browning Arctic Apple which he believes could change the views of the public about GM food. "I like to say it's the most important GMO in the history of the world. Because it's the only GMO that people will buy because it's a GMO," Bobo stated during the U.S. Department of Agriculture outlook forum held last month.

Experts from Instituto Politécnico Nacional and Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México conducted a study to analyze the transgenic crop production trends from 1996 to 2016 around the world and the relationship between the area allocated to the cultivation of transgenic crops and the profits generated by this activity. They also highlighted the data in Latin American countries. The results are published in Transgenic Research.

We determined that Haiti has less than 1% of its original primary (virgin) forest and will likely lose it all in the next two decades at the current rate (1). We focused on primary forest because of its close connection with species survival (2). The letter by Wampler et al. (3) mostly discusses peripheral issues not bearing on our conclusions, such as the extent and classification of forest in Haiti that is not primary forest and perceptions by policymakers. We disagree on all points, especially their suggestion that alarming conclusions should have a positive spin.

Science writers and journalists play an important role in creating awareness among the general public about science. They are also instrumental in bringing the work of scientists from the lab to the public spotlight. Their work is important in bridging the gap between the language of the common person and scientists resulting in public opinion which ensures the formulation of appropriate government policies conducive to the advancementof science in the country

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin hope to turn woody plants into a replacement for petroleum in producing fuels and other chemicals and are after the sugars in cellulose that makes up much of plant cell walls. Getting those sugars involves stripping away lignin, the polymer that fills the gaps between cellulose and other chemical components in cell walls. Lignin never carried much value, and lignin stripped from wood to make paper is simply burned.

The Brassicaceae family has a stunning diversity of fruit shapes, and in this family, the heart-shaped seed pods of the Capsella genus stand out. Eight million years ago, Capsella embarked on a different evolutionary pathway from its close relatives Arabidopsis and Camelina. This led to different shapes in the fruits which in these plants form pods enclosing the seeds before dispersal. Arabidopsis fruits are cylindrical, Camelina's are spherical, while the Capsella's are heart-shaped.

The vitamin A-enriched rice known as Golden Rice will soon be available in Bangladesh, according to Agriculture Minister Dr. Abdur Razzaque. He said this to news reporters after a meeting with the officials of the International Rice Research Institute. According to the World Health Organization, one in every 5 pre-school children in Bangladesh is vitamin A-deficient, while 23.7 percent of pregnant women have vitamin-A deficiency.

The annual area of ​​agricultural production in Thai Nguyen province is 92,141 ha, of which maize area is 20,144 ha. During the cultivation, borer and weed are factors limiting crop productivity. Measures of farmerto manage stem borers and weeds are still manual, costly and ineffective.