A normal Saturday morning for Mireya Hernández starts at 3 a.m. when she departs her remote rural town for an outdoor market in Cali, a city of 2.2 million people in Colombia’s southwest, to sell organic food from her family’s tiny farm. Everything from their fresh produce to the preserves is highly recommended, her clients say, but Hernández’s top suggestion is, “Show up early.”

The Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Nigeria, Africa, demands an end to the persistent spread of false and misleading information on genetically modified (GM) crops from the opposition groups, which includes organic farming advocates, philosophical or religious-based groups, and people driven by political and economic motives.

Nanjing Agricultural University scientists explored using gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to minimize arsenic build-up in rice grains. Environmental Science and Technology journal reports their findings. Rice, the top staple for many countries, is exposed to inorganic arsenic in the soil. Reducing the build-up of arsenic in rice grains is vital in delivering safer rice grains.

ISAAA Inc., in partnership with the University of the Philippines-Diliman Institute of Biology, will hold the hybrid event titled Pinoy Biotek Seminar: PCR Based Detection Kit for Salmonella on Meat on March 12, 2024, at 9:00 AM (GMT+8). The registration is now open. The event is part of a series of seminars that aim to increase awareness and appreciation of Pinoy biotechnologies and products by the general public, especially in the Philippines.

On February 7, 2024, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted a position for negotiations with member states on the Commission proposal on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), with 307 votes to 263 and 41 abstentions. The positive vote aims for a more sustainable and resilient food system by developing improved plant varieties that are climate resilient, pest resistant, and give higher yields or that require fewer fertilizers and pesticides. In the European Union, all plants obtained through NGTs are subject to the same rules as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

A global event at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today highlighted the role of pulses in maintaining soil health and providing vital nutrition to communities worldwide, under the theme 'Pulses: Nourishing Soils and People'. The event was held ahead of World Pulses Day 2024 which is observed every year on 10 February. Pulses, such as beans, chickpeas, and peas, are a subgroup of crops belonging to the legume family harvested for their edible seeds, and they are regarded as nutritious foods for both human and environmental health.

Pakistan’s devastating losses from recent disastrous floods and droughts can be measured nationally in percentages of GDP, but in more human terms in displacement, insecurity and loss of livelihoods at a local level. Hundreds of thousands of people have suffered in Punjab and Sindh Provinces recently and ongoing research by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) under the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration is examining the role played by ‘digital ecosystems’ during these events.

Good root systems are vital in plant growth. In rice, a gene called OsDRO1 helps control root development. Scientists from Yunnan Agricultural University and partners wanted to know if a similar gene in potatoes, called StDRO2, also plays a similar role in root system architecture. The results of their study are released in the Horticultural Plant Journal. Through CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, the research team developed potatoes with a mutated StDRO2 gene.

The Australian Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is inviting comments on an application from The University of Adelaide to conduct a field trial of wheat and barley genetically modified for yield enhancement. The field trial is proposed to run between May 2024 and January 2029 on one site with a maximum area of 2 hectares per year. The field trial site is located in Light Regional Council in South Australia. The GM wheat and barley grown in this field trial would not be used for human food or animal feed.

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology researchers and their partners used CRISPR-Cas12a to develop a groundbreaking biosensor technology for efficiently detecting genetically modified (GM) crops. This breakthrough is reported in Analytica Chimica Acta. Advances in agriculture have been recorded since the release of genetically engineered crops. The regulation of such crops is dependent on detection techniques.