The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI) aims to advance gene editing research and adoption and develop science-based policies in the region. As part of the initiative, ASEAN COSTI and partners gathered over 70 online and onsite participants from eight ASEAN countries for a gene editing workshop titled Gene Editing Regulations and Prospects in ASEAN.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is encouraging private-sector investments and private-public partnerships to make agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, Director-General QU Dongyu today told the Partnerships and Investment Forum in Tashkent. The forum brought together representatives from the public and private sectors. Uzbekistan’s Minister for Agriculture, Ibrokhim Abdurakhmanov, also delivered opening remarks as the meeting’s host.

A research team from Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences has published a complete telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assembly of lettuce. In a paper published in Plant Communications, the team revealed for the first time the 2.59Gb T2T complete and gap-free genome sequence of lettuce. The research also reveals the highly complex structural characteristics of the lettuce genome and the repetitive sequence characteristics of the centromere.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the report titled The State of the World's Forests 2024 which highlights the role that innovation play in attaining a sustainable future for the forestry sector. The report was launched during the 27th session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO), held at FAO's headquarters in Rome in July 2024.

On August 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released the regulatory status review for HB4 wheat developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions to increase drought tolerance and resistance to glufosinate. APHIS' decision is a step forward to releasing HB4 wheat for commercialization.

Researchers at the University of California Riverside genetically altered tomato plants to grow in ideal size for planting in space. With this study, astronauts might be able to plant tomatoes and eat freshly picked fruits at the International Space Station. "It's expensive to send food up to astronauts, so ideally, we want them to grow some of their own food," said Robert Jinkerson, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside.

Myongji University scientist Yeon-Ki Kim reported the successful knockout of a rice gene that leads to delayed flowering under natural long-day conditions. The findings of the study, published in Bioscience, Biotechnology & Biochemistry, could help breeders develop rice cultivars with improved yield and resilience to drought. Plants have complex mechanisms to adjust their flowering time, depending on the environmental conditions and other internal signals.

The first gene-edited wheat and barley crop trials in Europe will be held on conventional farms, and will soon be underway in up to 25 farms in the United Kingdom. The trials, also called PROBITY (Platform to Rate Organisms Bred for Improved Traits and Yield) are being organized by the British on-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN) along with partner organizations including  Rothamsted Research, the John Innes Centre, the University of Nottingham, and Aberystwyth University.

Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University have successfully assembled the first chromosome-level, haplotype-resolved genome of the Chinese cherry cultivar "Zhuji Duanbing." The findings of the study provide important insights into the genetic determinants of fruit firmness, offering a valuable resource for breeding programs of Chinese cherry.

Precedence Research report projected an 8.8% CAGR of the agricultural biotechnology market from 2024 to 2034. The market is estimated to reach a revenue of US$293.35 billion by 2034. Agricultural biotechnology has many advantages, such as boosting the resistance of plants, enhanced crop output, and better food quality. It also has benefited farmers, producers, and consumers. Due to these reasons, the agricultural biotechnology market has steadily grown over the years.