The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced the low-risk determination for the marketing of products derived from genome-edited beef cattle. The decision is the first low risk determination for marketing of products from an intentional genomic alteration (IGA) in an animal for food use. IGA refers to changes introduced into the DNA of animals using biotechnological techniques, including genome editing.

Oxitec Ltd. has announced the successful conclusion of the first farm-scale pilot deployments of its Friendly™ fall armyworm on commercial Bt cornfields in Brazil. The Brazilian government's regulatory authorities approved the Friendly™ fall armyworm technology in 2021. The pilot deployments were conducted on thousands of acres of commercial farmland in São Paulo State, a key corn-growing region in Brazil, during the first annual corn crop season of 2021-2022.

Understanding the molecular forces driving the unfolded polypeptide chain to self-assemble into a functional native structure remains an open question. However, identifying the states visited during protein folding (e.g., the transition state between the unfolded and native states) is tricky due to their transient nature. Here, we introduce calorimetric force spectroscopy in a temperature jump optical trap to determine the enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity of the transition state of protein barnase

A maize transporter responsible for the regulation of iron and zinc in balance in maize was identified by a team of Chinese scientists. The discovery provides opportunities for genetic resources and a theoretical basis for developing iron-fortified corn varieties. Scientists from the Biotechnology Research Institute and Qingdao Agricultural University were responsible for identifying the novel iron-regulated transporter ZmIRT2

Researchers from Kansas State University (K-State) have published the results of their work that characterized numerous wheat genes duplicated thousands of years ago to understand how they control the crop's yield and other desirable traits.Led by Eduard Akhunov, wheat geneticist and director of K-State's Wheat Genetic Resources Center, said his team's research may lead to greater opportunities for breeders to perform “targeted breeding” that can increase grain size and number – ultimately increasing yields.

The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reveals that despite efforts to reduce the risks, human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the IPCC report.

 “A recently published study highlighted Integrated Farming System (IFS) as most profitable and resilient amongst the four major farming systems viz. Black gram-based (BFS), Paddy-based (PFS), Dryland Farming System (DFS) and Integrated Farming Systems (IFS). Whole-farm Integrated Assessment Tool, a rule-based dynamic simulation model, was used to study the performance of these major farming systems in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

The heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization, and World Trade Organization held high-level consultations with UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Lead Coordinator for the COVID-19 Vaccine Country Readiness and Delivery and the CEOs of leading vaccine manufacturers on 1 March 2022 aimed at ensuring the rapid delivery of vaccines to where they are needed the most and putting those vaccines into arms.

This International Women’s Day, we sat down with Steven Jonckheere, IFAD’s Senior Technical Specialist on Gender and Social Inclusion, for a conversation on why women’s land rights matter – and what IFAD is doing about it. Women make up nearly half the world’s agricultural labour force, yet they own less than 15 per cent of agricultural land. This has huge consequences for their income stability, food security, their other rights within their communities – and even their ability to adapt to climate change.

Despite well-intentioned policies and economic growth over the last decade, major inequalities persist within many low- and middle-income countries. Approximately 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, and poor and disadvantaged people face heightened risks from food and nutrition insecurity and inadequate access to clean water and sanitation. Rising poverty, rapid urbanization, and political conflicts continue to exacerbate systemic inequities in access to food, water,