For more than three decades, scientists have speculated whether roots are able to perceive light. A team of researchers from Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (ICE) in Jena, Germany, and Seoul National University, South Korea, showed, for the first time, that plant roots react directly to light which is transmitted from the shoot to the underground parts.

An international research team from Germany, Australia, and the USA has studied the evolution of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). The study focused on the hormone's role in water balance and pore regulation. ABA is key for drought tolerance in plants, for when plants are water-stressed, ABA closes the stomates to prevent wilting. However, the role of ABA in ferns and other lycophytes remains unclear.

The NEPAD Agency African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) in partnership with National Biosafety Focal Points and ISAAA AfriCenter coordinated a workshop for African party states to deliberate on agenda items in the upcoming Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Biosafety Protocol (COP/MOP8). At the meeting held in Accra, Ghana on October 26-27, 2016, participants hailed the AU commission for mandating ABNE to play this coordinative role.

New varieties of high-quality, drought-resistant forage grasses could boost milk production by 40 percent and generate millions of dollars in economic benefits for struggling East African dairy farmers, according to a new analysis by experts at CIAT. “Farmers could benefit more from surging consumer demand for livestock products in East Africa,” said Dr. Steven Prager, a senior scientist at the Center.

Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC) and International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) organized a skills development session for print and electronic media practitioners focused on the theme, "Science and Society - Science Communication and Public Engagement" on October 19, 2016. The seminar was addressed by Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS, (the patron-in-chief of ICCBS, former chairman higher education commission and the federal minister for science and technology),

The "truly universal, comprehensive and inspirational" nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts a premium on "system wide coherence and coordination" across all United Nations agencies, the head of the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said today at a meeting in Rome.

- The impact of severe El Niño-induced drought on crop production in southern Madagascar, where nearly 850 000 people are acutely food insecure, is likely to persist into 2017 and requires an intensified humanitarian response.

Science and technology have played important roles in South Korea’s successful economic development. Beginning in the 1960s, the country’s long collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) helped Korea achieve food security through high-yielding varieties and improved farm management.  Thus, the country secured domestic self-sufficiency in rice and, on a strong agriculture and rural base, propelled its economy into export-oriented growth.

Life started in the sea. The earth's surface is mostly ocean, which has the most ancient and most diverse forms of life. Thus, the marine environment is the treasure throve of biological and chemical diversity among all types of ecosystems. It has a wide variety of living organisms, from bacteria to eukaryotes, as well as unique chemical compounds which are of great importance to medicine,

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) has published the Scientific Opinion on the safety of genetically modified insect resistant and herbicide tolerant cotton GHB119 (Unique Identifier BCS-GHØØ5-8). Application EFSA-GMO-NL-2011-96 was submitted by Bayer CropScience AG, and the scope is for import, processing, and food and feed uses of cotton GHB119 within the European Union (EU), but excludes cultivation in the EU.