On a bench in a laboratory at Berkeley sits a device designed to make the ultimate green fuel. The stainless steel chamber, festooned with gaskets, nuts and bolts, and glass windows, looks like some kind of steam-punk aquarium. Inside, arrays of nanowire electrodes and bacterial colonies are using the light to turn water and carbon dioxide into methane, the main component in natural gas.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) has submitted their comments on the proposed revisions to biotech crop regulations to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS announced in February that it will conduct a programmatic economic impact study as part of a comprehensive study of its Part 340 regulations of biotech crops.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) allowed Rothamsted Research to conduct field trial of genetically modified (GM) camelina plants in the Rothamsted Farm in 2016 to 2017. The field trials will be conducted to evaluate the amount of omega-3 long chain polysaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) in the camelina seeds.

The National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), through its special initiative-Uganda Biosciences Information Centre (UBIC), has assumed the front-place position of sensitizing its key stakeholders on the relevance of modern crop technologies such as biotechnology, in addressing major crop challenges and increasing agricultural productivity in Uganda

The ISAAA Annual Brief (51) on the 20^th Anniversary (1996 to 2015) of the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015, authored by ISAAA Founder and Emeritus Chair Dr. Clive James was launched in a press conference in Beijing, China last April 13, 2016. The Report was presented by Dr. Paul S. Teng, ISAAA Chair of the Board who reported the 20 year achievements of biotech crops and the highlights of 2015.

Modern technologies that make it easier to recover lost fishing gear are giving a boost to efforts to reduce so-called "ghost fishing" and its harmful impacts on fish stocks and endangered species. Growing concern over this problem, coupled with the increasing availability of these technologies, has led FAO to begin developing international guidelines on the effective tagging of fishing gear as a way to cut down levels of troublesome sea trash.

YouGov and Huffington Post survey shows that GMO perception may be linked to educational attainment and family income. A total of 1,000 American adults were interviewed about scientific issues on April 8-10, 2016. One of the questions asked was "Do you think it is generally safe or unsafe to eat genetically modified foods?"

Only three African countries planted GM crops in 2015, leaving farmers in other countries with missed opportunities to boost yields and mitigate climate change effects, according to the new ISAAA report.

New Life Sciences Egypt hosted the 8th biennial international conference, Bio Vision Alexandria 2016 (BVA 2016), at the Library of Alexandria on April 12-14, 2016. The event was organized by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in partnership with the World Life Sciences Forum. BioVision Alexandria brings together distinguished speakers from different countries to discuss the finest achievements of the human intellect in the realms of science,

Researchers and scientists from 10 Asian countries increased their understanding of the interaction between climate change and rice production in a recently concluded training course at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).