Researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) have revealed in a study published in Cell Reports that the circadian clock plays a guiding role in plant cell differentiation. The function of circadian clocks in the process of differentiation has been shown in many multicellular organisms, however, how plant circadian clocks regulate cell differentiation has remained unclear.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that the benchmark for world food commodity prices declined significantly in July. The prices of major cereal and vegetable oil had double-digit percentage declines.The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 140.9 points in July, which is 8.6 percent lower than the previous month's average.

Researchers from the University of Stanford designed a series of synthetic genetic circuits that gave them control over the decisions made by different kinds of plant cells and used these to grow plants with modified root structures to help in nutrient and water absorption. Aside from the root system, the synthetic genes can also potentially modify leaf structures that can adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Trade plays a vital role in our everyday lives. It connects food systems and people and provides consumers with sufficient, diverse and nutritious food. It also generates income and employment for farmers, workers and traders around the world. During the pandemic, international trade continued to link food deficit areas to surplus regions, contributing to food security and nutrition. But the war in Ukraine is threatening multilateral cooperation and risks fragmenting the global food market.

The report, Genome-edited Crops and 21st Century Food System Challenges, explains the new breeding tools as well as the genetic modifications (mutations) that can be introduced by using these tools in comparison to conventional breeding and the spontaneous genetic alterations that occur in crops. It also includes the regulatory developments around the world with a growing number of countries exempting conventional-like plants resulting from those new breeding tools from restrictive biotech regulations.

Scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the CGIAR have concluded that the scientific risks involved in genome editing are similar to those of traditional breeding, and that all new varieties, independent of their development, need to be tested. Genome editing has shown the potential to contribute to global food security, improved nutrition, and other added value for farmers and consumers

The efforts of the Rumigen Project, a collaboration among different European countries, were realized when three goat kids were born in excellent health earlier this year. The kids were the product of CRISPR-Cas9 technology and is part of a study aimed to determine if an allele identical found in the Norwegian goat breed can be reproduced using gene editing. Another objective of the study is to compare the efficiency of introducing a favorable characteristic from a Norwegian goat breed into the Alpine goat breed while preserving the formers' specific traits.

The war in Ukraine has disrupted the sufficient food supply for the global population. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now searching for modern methods to help boost global harvests to ensure global food security. Wheat plays an important role in these studies. TUM, led by Professor Senthold Asseng, is working with international research teams to look at scenarios and models that could lead the way out of the global wheat crisis

Scientists from the University of California Davis are offering a sustainable alternative agricultural practice that can reduce the use of excessive nitrogen fertilizers by modifying cereal plants to produce more chemicals to fix atmospheric nitrogen gas – the same chemicals used by soil bacteria that does the same. The scientists first identified compounds in rice plants that boosted the nitrogen-fixing activity of the bacteria using chemical screening and genomics.

A two-year project at Texas A&M AgriLife Research is combining corn breeding and entomology to tackle some of the major issues of corn production in the U.S. The project will address current challenges such as increased pest resistance, decreased efficacy of Bt technology, vulnerability to caterpillar pests such as fall armyworm (FAW), and preharvest mycotoxin contamination, and is led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist Megha Parajulee and corn breeder Wenwei Xu.