ISAAA Inc. and partner organizations have successfully conducted the 6th Asian Short Course on Agribiotechnology, Biosafety Regulation, and Communication (ASCA6) at Hotel Santika, Bogor, Indonesia on September 11-15, 2023. ASCA is a capacity-building initiative by ISAAA Inc. and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) that was started in 2018 to create a platform for Asian scientists and regulators to be competent in the regulations and policies related to agricultural biotechnology (agbiotech).

Researchers from North Carolina State University have successfully engineered a marine microorganism that can break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a highly recyclable plastic that is a major contributor to plastic pollution in the ocean. The researchers worked with two species of bacterium, Vibrio natriegens and Ideonella sakaiensis in conducting the experiment. A sequence of DNA from I. sakaiensis that is responsible for the production of enzymes that can break down PET was taken and incorporated into a plasmid, genetic sequences that can replicate in a cell.

The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT (the Alliance) in collaboration with the Wageningen Center for Development Innovation (WCDI) from Wageningen University and Research (WUR) met with local partners in Viet Nam from July 11 to July 13, 2023, to design a new training of trainers (ToT) program. In the meeting, participants identified how the program can build a common understanding of what sustainable food systems for sustainable healthy diets means in the Viet Nam context.

On the sidelines of the G77+China Summit in Havana, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel. President Días-Canel noted that two themes prevailed in the interventions during the Summit: the impacts of climate change and the need to reform the current international financial order. He also stressed that promoting global food security is a central element for a fairer international scenario, highlighting the crucial role played by FAO in this regard.

The Shashe catchment of the Limpopo Basin in Botswana and Zimbabwe is a dry place: the Shashe River flows for just a few days a year, and 10 recently built dams are usually the only visible signs of water. But in the complex world of water storage, not everything is visible. “Usually, people believe that dams store the largest amount of water,” explained IWMI researcher Dr Girma Ebrahim during this year’s World Water Week.

Halfway into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a lot of the progress made towards its food and agriculture-related targets has stagnated or reversed, compounding the challenges in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and nutrition, and combating climate change, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Researchers from the University of Arkansas developed a genetically modified rice that can withstand high temperatures and has reduced grain chalkiness. The expression of vacuolar H+ translocating pyrophosphatase (V-PPase), a culprit for increasing grain chalkiness, was reduced through the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool.

The informal meeting of the European Union (EU) agriculture ministers in Cordoba on September 3-5, 2023 focused on the use of new technologies to advance food security, combat climate change, and achieve agricultural sector profitability in the region. The meeting was held in the Palacio de Congresos of the Andalusian city and chaired by Spain's acting Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas, and was attended by the European Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski.

A Canadian startup Alora used CRISPR technology to produce salt-tolerant rice that will allow the crop to grow in the ocean. It is now on trial, and it may help reduce water consumption and methane emissions in agriculture. Rice is an important crop that serves as a staple food for over half of the world's population. However, it is highly sensitive to the salinity of the soil, which can be affected by several factors, such as seawater intrusion and overuse of fertilizers.

In a significant development for the nation's agricultural and food security sector, President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi has appointed Dr. Kauser Abdulla Malik as the Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research in the Caretaker Cabinet. Honorable President Dr. Alvi made the appointment on the advice of the caretaker prime minister under Article 224 (1a) of the Constitution.