Whole-genome duplication (WGD) is considered a key evolutionary event for genetic innovation and has occurred in diverse eukaryotic lineages (1). In PNAS, Li et al. (2) report multiple WGD events in hexapods, which is surprising because WGD is thought to be disruptive in animals with chromosomal sex determination and therefore expected to be rare (1). The argument by Li et al.

A media workshop on Food Safety: Importance of Science Communication took place in Hanoi in November 2018 to foster an open discussion between media reporters and scientists, through the presentations of experts from Vietnam, the United States, and Europe on the importance of applying scientific principles in the food safety assessment process. The goal of the workshop was to merge the gap between scientific topics and mass communication to level up the public awareness of this issue and thereby confirming the role of journalism in distributing information accurately and responsibly.

Researchers have successfully assembled a near-complete genome sequence of the popular plant model system Antirrhinum majus, commonly known as snapdragon. The near-complete assembly is comprised of 510 megabases of genomic sequence and contains nearly 38,000 annotated protein-encoding genes. The research was done by scientists in China and at the John Innes Centre (JIC).

A research team led by Dr. Zhang Heng and Dr. Zhu Jiankang from Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences has sequenced the genomeof broomcorn millet. Broomcorn millet is the most water-efficient cereal and one of the earliest domesticated plants. The genome sequence provides the foundation for studying the exceptional stress tolerance as well as C4 biology in broomcorn millet.

Elizabeth Ainsworth was awarded by the National Academy of Science's Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences. A molecular biologist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Ainsworth was recognized for her scientific work that showed the effects of increased levels of ozone and atmospheric carbon dioxide, drought, and other environmental problems to crops such as maize and soybeans.

Catechins are major components of the flavonoid pathway in tea in which they are synthesized in four distinct ways under the direct catalysis of two enzymes, leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR) and anthocyanidin reductase (ANR). Vietnamese scientists conducted the cloning and sequence analysis of genes encoding ANR and LAR (namely, CsANR2 and CsLAR1) from the Green Trung Du cultivar. The length of CsANR2 gene is 1,014 bp, encoding 337 amino acids.

A research group at Aarhus University in Denmark has explained the structure of a sugar transport protein (STP) that is unique to plants. STP is unique to plants, and is important for the proper development of plant organs such as pollen. Sugar is generated in plants through photosynthesis and transported as sucrose to plant parts through the sieve tissue. In sink tissues such as roots, pollen, and fruits, the plant absorbs sugar either as sucrose or, after cleavage, as glucose and fructose.

Results of the study, "Legal Discourse on Agri-Biotechnology: Implications to Lawyers' Engagement in Biotechnology in the Philippines" were presented to scientists and experts as well as representatives from the academe, national and international agencies/institutions, and partners from the biotech community during the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on January 29, 2018.

A research team from Purdue University led by Natalia Dudareva has described a complete second pathway used by plants to produce phenylalanine, a compound important for all living organisms. Scientists have long accepted that plants use one biological pathway to produce phenylalanine, but this did not explain all observed production of the compound. Dudareva's team recently discovered the final step in the alternative pathway and have identified the remaining steps.

The National Biosafety Management Agency of Nigeria published the application dossier for confined field trial of genetically engineered cassava with increased starch yield. The dossier, submitted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is available for public comment until February 4, 2019. The purpose of the confined field trial is to evaluate the performance of GM cassava on the field and gather data on its starch yield, particularly in its storage roots.