The backlash over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) gave speculations on public acceptance of gene-edited foods despite their difference. A study conducted at Iowa State University (ISU) is the first to gauge public acceptance of gene-edited foods using a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. residents. The researchers asked participants if they would eat or actively avoid gene-edited foods to understand the factors that shape their decisions.

A patient in New Zealand is the first to undergo DNA editing to lower their blood cholesterol as part of a clinical trial by the U.S. biotechnology company Verve Therapeutics. A version of the gene editing tool CRISPR was injected to modify a single letter of DNA in the patient's liver cells. Verve Therapeutics said that the tiny edit should be enough to permanently lower a person's levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, the fatty molecule that causes arteries to clog and harden with time.

Scientists from Zhejiang University used nanotechnology to manage bacterial leaf blight disease in rice. The results are published in the journal Nanotoday. Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) is one of the most devastating diseases affecting rice production in China. Climate change and changes in the cultivation system contributed to the resurgence of BLB in major rice areas in the country. This led Professor Li Bin to search for nanomaterials that can help ease the BLB problem in China.

Many valuable cereal crops come from the same grass family, Poaceae, including barley, wheat, rice, and maize. Scientists have been working to better understand the molecular mechanisms behind this lineage's survival to ensure that these plants continue to flourish and feed the world in years to come. Grasses have evolved into the thriving varieties they are today while diseases that infect them evolved alongside them. The Pucciniales, an order of fungal pathogens that cause rust diseases includes stripe rust, Puccinia striiformis, which is present in all major wheat-growing areas of the world.

ISAAA Inc., BioTrust Global, the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center, Murdoch University, and the National Seed Association Malaysia will hold the workshop Policy Considerations for Gene Editing: The Asian and Australian Perspective from August 23 to 25, 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The registration is now open for interested participants.

Nigeria has become the latest addition to the list of countries importing drought tolerant HB4 wheat variety from Argentina. The GM wheat has been approved for food and feed use in Brazil, Colombia, Australia, and New Zealand. The import permit granted by the National Biosafety Management Agency of Nigeria is valid until July 2025. Nigeria's announcement was made a few weeks after the US Food and Drug Administration released the results of their assessment of the GM wheat and concluded that there are no questions about the safety of the crop.

The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report shows that rather than moving towards the 2030 goal of zero hunger, ever more people are hungry. Jointly published by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO, the numbers in the report paint a grim picture. In 2021, as many as 828 million were affected by hunger—an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICRISAT and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced a new partnership that synergizes their strengths. ICRISAT’s improved crop varieties and value chain development technology will be leveraged alongside AGRA’s extensive seed systems networks to bridge gaps in market access to early maturing, high yielding and nutritious varieties of drought tolerant crops in Africa.

From the worst drought in four decades threatening famine across the Horn of Africa to extreme heat in South Asia, the war in Ukraine and the unequal pace of pandemic recovery, global food systems are under extraordinary pressure. The combined result is expected to leave more than 320 million people severely food insecure this year, compared to 135 million two years ago. Until recently, efforts to bolster such an overstretched global food system have focused on a single aspect, such as developing hardier crop varieties, reforming subsidies or reducing food waste, but any system is only as strong as its weakest link.

The world indeed has far to go to deliver safe and healthy food, livelihoods and environments for all, a complex undertaking made yet more difficult by climate change, the conflict in Ukraine and the COVID-19 recovery. The combined impact has left healthy diets out of reach for three billion people, according to the latest report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).