Université de Strasbourg researchers reported in The Plant Journal that suppressing jasmonate signaling reduction in Arabidopsis JASMONIC ACID OXIDASE mutants led to broad-spectrum stress tolerance. Jasmonate signaling for adaptive and developmental responses is controlled by the boost of the hormone called jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile), which is triggered by internal or external cues

Since their discovery, CRISPR enzymes have been used to edit the genomes of one type of cell at a time. Now, the group that invented the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology nearly 10 years ago has found a way to add or modify genes within a community of many different species simultaneously, opening the door to what could be called "community editing."

New research conducted at The University of Texas at Austin has added to the number of naturally occurring versions of CRISPR-Cas system, giving researchers a wealth of potential new tools for large-scale gene editing. Scientists have identified clusters of genes that use CRISPR to insert themselves into different places in an organism's genome, called CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs).

Public interest in and support for nutrition and healthy diets are growing stronger, offering a ray of hope for a challenge affecting billions of people, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said today, stressing that FAO will strengthen its efforts to promote better nutrition for all. “Advocacy efforts on the importance of nutrition, heathy diets and agrifood systems for human and planetary health are showing results,” he said, citing the mid-term review of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

The American Committee of Medical Entomology (ACME) of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has responded to the lack of standard guidance on the risk assessment and containment decisions on gene drive-modified arthropods through the publication of an addendum to the Arthropod Containment Guidelines. The addendum provides more specific recommendations on containment practices for arthropods modified with engineered transgenes capable of gene drive.

Experts from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported the enhancement of lysine content in camelina (Camelina sativa) through the expression of a feedback inhibition-insensitive form of dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) from a bacterium. The results are published in Transgenic Research. Camelina is becoming a popular alternative oilseed crop because of its short growing cycle, low input needs, adaptability to less favorable growing environments

A scientific communication training program for early- to mid-career researchers in STEM that aims to bridge gaps as well as guide training fellows in conducting successful science communication outreach programs organized by APEC-SLP Science Communication Team is scheduled for December 2021 to January 2022. Early- and mid-career researchers in STEM often encounter challenges to effectively, clearly, and concisely communicating science to both their fellow scientists and to the general public.

A group of 70 lawmakers in the US led by Adrian Smith and Jim Costa is calling for the Biden Administration to seek assurance from the Mexican government that the country will abide by the biotech provisions indicated in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Biotech application approvals have been halted in Mexico since 2018 and Mexican President López Obrador has announced the intent to phase out certain biotech products including biotech corn for human consumption by 2024.

Researchers from China Agricultural University and partners reported that new genes and traits can be developed in rice through designed large-scale genomic inversion or duplication using CRISPR-Cas9. The results are published in Nature Plants. Structural variations, such as inversion and duplication, contribute to vital agronomic characteristics in crops as well as driving genetic diversification

Scientists at The Sainsbury Laboratory and the Norwich Research Park have discovered that the barley and wheat gene conferring resistance to stripe rust also does the same to completely different pathogens.The fungal pathogen stripe rust Puccinia striiformis causes major global losses in cereal crop yields, particularly wheat. The species has independent lineages that infect diverse cereal species, such as wheat stripe rust and barley stripe rust which infect wheat and barley, respectively.