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.

Pew Research Center conducted a survey on the views of scientists associated with American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the general public on certain science-related issues. Results showed that there is a wide gap between the beliefs of the public and scientists on biomedical sciences.

Last Sunday, government ministers from six Latin America countries joined a half dozen private investors at the Global Landscape Forum (held alongside the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru) to launch Initiative 20×20. Led by the World Resources Institute and supported by CIAT, the initiative aims to get the restoration of 20 million hectares of degraded land on track by 2020.