Starting on January 30, 2015, CIAT’s new entomology laboratory has opened its doors. A scientific research space watched over by the portraits of Anthony Bellotti and César Cardona, entomologists, and highly recognized scientists of the Center, who, decades ago, started this dream, and to whom we pay sincere and heart-felt homage.

17 February 2015, Rome/Conakry - Tens of thousands of people in rural areas of Guinea worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic will receive training on how to prevent the spread of the disease and support in producing food and generating income, through an agreement involving the World Bank, the country's government, and FAO.

Scientists at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology developed a new technology that aims to prevent desertification using biotech crops. According to research leader Dr. Kwak Sang-soo, about 90 percent of desertification is due to poverty. "Overgrazing, damage to forests, and the inappropriate management of water and soil, stemming from the poverty of the local people, are core reasons for desertification.

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Healthy Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced its approval for the first two apple varieties genetically engineered to resist browning. The nonbrowning apple varieties, Arctic® Golden and Arctic® Granny apples, were developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF), a small, grower-led company based in Canada.

India's Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Radha Mohan Singh expressed his support for genetically modified (GM) crops, saying that technologically enhanced seeds could help India achieve its food security target. Mr. Singh believes that GM crops hold great promise in reducing crop productivity losses due to flood and drought.

Dr. Clive James, Founder and Emeritus Chair of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) shared the recent global developments in biotechnology during a seminar on "Global Status of Biotech/GM Crops in 2014" held in Jakarta on February 11, 2015 which was organized by the Indonesian Biotechnology Information Center (IndoBIC), ISAAA, Ministry of Agriculture, and National Outstanding Farmers Association (NOFA).

Published research have consistently proven the safety of GM crops, however, critics still doubt GMOs, citing other studies with possibly compromised results due to bias caused by conflicts of interest (COIs). Dr. Miguel Angel Sanchez, Executive Director of ChileBio, studied published peer-reviewed articles on GM safety to learn the extent of literature related to safety. He also analyzed the papers for COIs.

Miscanthus lutarioriparius, a potential bioenergy crop due to its biomass productivity, is also capable of adapting to different environments. NAC transcription factors are said to play important roles in plant responses to abiotic stresses. Ruibi Hu and Gongke Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences led the study on the MlNAC5 gene from M. lutarioriparius. Overexpression of MlNAC5 in Arabidopsis resulted in dwarfism, leaf senescence and late flowering under normal growth conditions.

The Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) received a license request from International Flower Developments Pty. Ltd to commercially import and distribute three varieties of genetically modified (GM) carnation, namely Moonaqua, Moonberry, and Moonvelvet. These GM carnation varieties have altered flower color and contain herbicide tolerance marker gene, which is used to select the modified plants in the laboratory.

The importance of abscisic acid (ABA) in plants suffering from drought tolerance has long been acknowledged. ABA is a stress hormone produced by plants during drought conditions. ABA inhibits growth and reduces water consumption by closing the stomata. Plants suffering from drought have been sprayed with ABA to further facilitate its survival. However, its use in this manner is inefficient because it is expensive, light sensitive and rapidly degrades once inside the plant cell.