GMOs
EU justice official suggests relaxed rules for gene editing
Crops created by gene editing techniques such as CRISPR “might not need to be regulated by the strict European Union rules that govern genetically modified organisms,” said Nature, citing a formal opinion from an advocate general at the European Court of Justice.
Arkansas council set for Friday vote on dicamba ban
A legislative subcommittee supported the Arkansas State Plant Board’s plan to ban use of the weedkiller dicamba from April 16 to Oct. 31 this year. The bicameral Legislative Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the proposal on Friday, said the Associated Press.
Using CRISPR to create a ‘boys only’ cattle herd
One of the best-known scientists in the GMO world, Alison Van Eenennaam, “aims to create a bull that will father only male offspring” through a bit of gene editing with CRISPR, said MIT Technology Review.
Rural task force report highlights Internet, GMOs, and a better H-2A visa
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a task force report, commissioned by President Trump on the day that Perdue took office, that makes 100 recommendations to improve rural prosperity, including universal access to high-speed internet, a smoother-functioning H-2A guestworker program and a federal initiative "to increase acceptance of biotech products and open and maintain markets for U.S. farmers abroad."
Monsanto expects its dicamba-tolerant seeds on 40 percent of U.S. soy acres this year
The world’s largest seed and ag-chemical company said it expects U.S. farmers will plant 40 million acres of its dicamba-tolerant GMO soybeans this year, double the 2017 total and equal to four of every 10 acres of projected soybean sowings.
Genetic editing comes to aquaculture
Research into infectious salmon anemia could provide the pathway for genetic editing in aquaculture, says Undercurrent News. The chief executive of Benchmark Holdings told the site that genetic editing is a logical next step following a multiyear study to map the genome of salmon.
Debating the differences between gene-edited crops, GMOs, ‘accelerated breeding technology’
Thomas Stoddard used this pitch — “You make a little more money, you have a great experience, and you are part of a revolution” — when he recruited farmers to plant a gene-edited soybean variety that yields a healthier oil, says the MIT Technology Review.
Senators’ suggestion for GMO labels: Put it in writing
Americans have a right to know what’s in their food, said 11 Democratic senators in urging the USDA to mandate clear and easy-to-understand labels on food made with genetically modified organisms.
USDA will try again on update of biotechnology regulations
For the third time in a decade, the USDA is starting anew on modernizing its regulation of biotech plants. As part of the effort, the agency ditched a proposal that would have covered genome-editing techniques if the products created posed a plant pest or noxious weed risk.
Human exposure to glyphosate up 500 percent in GMO era
Since GMO crops came into cultivation two decades ago, human exposure to glyphosate has increased by approximately 500 percent, according to UC-San Diego scientists. They say more research is needed on the impact of the chemical on human health. The research follows the listing of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, by California regulators as a carcinogen.
For soybeans damaged by dicamba, timing is everything
With growers reporting dicamba damage to 3.1 million acres of soybeans, the harvest-time question for farmers is how much their yields will suffer from the weedkiller. University of Tennessee weed specialist Larry Steckel says the earlier that soybeans were hit in their lifecycle, the less likely yields will be reduced.
Syngenta settlement of China corn case may cost $1.5 billion
In 2013, China drove down corn prices by rejecting U.S. cargoes that included a GMO variety sold by Syngenta that had not yet been approved for import by Beijing. The disruption led to lawsuits against the Swiss agribusiness, which may pay close to $1.5 billion to settle the litigation, said Reuters.
Arkansas takes step toward 2018 dicamba controls
The Arkansas State Plant Board could decide as early as next Thursday to severely restrict use of the weedkiller dicamba on soybeans and cotton in 2018, reports Farm Journal. The proposal to cut off use of dicamba after April 15, prompted by hundreds of complaints of crop damage by the herbicide, was approved by the board's pesticide committee during a meeting in Jonesboro and forwarded to the board for a vote at its quarterly meeting on Sept 21.
Americans less accepting of GMO food than GMO meds
Two Purdue researchers say Americans are far more skeptical of genetically engineered crops and livestock than a GMO solution to a health risk, such as the mosquito-spread Zika virus. A survey of 964 people found that 78 percent would support release of GMO mosquitoes to stop Zika while 44 percent would accept GMO livestock, 49 percent would accept GMO crops and 48 percent would accept GMO produce.
Lawsuit calls for USDA to release study on QR codes and GMO food labeling
The anti-GMO group Center for Food Safety filed suit against the USDA to force release of a study on the impact of using digital disclosures such as QR codes to identify foods made with GMO ingredients. "In the United States, there has never been a food labeling requirement met by QR codes," says the center, which prefers a written label on food packages.
Twenty-nine states make it illegal for counties and cities to pass seed laws [UPDATE]
With little notice, more than two dozen state legislatures have passed “seed-preemption laws” designed to block counties and cities from adopting their own rules on the use of seeds, including bans on GMOs. Opponents say that there’s nothing more fundamental than a seed, and that now, in many parts of the country, decisions about what can be grown have been taken out of local control and put solely in the hands of the state. (No paywall)
Will USDA approve a GE tree for forestry use?
The USDA is nearing a decision whether to deregulate a eucalyptus tree that is genetically engineered to tolerate freezing weather for use in tree plantations. It "would become the first genetically engineered tree approved for commercial use in the United States," says the Washington Post.
Lighthizer warning: Buy GMOs or expect a fight
The Trump administration will attack overseas regulations that restrict the export of GMO crops and other products resulting from American technological innovation, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the first meeting of a newly created task force on rural America.
Corn earworm develop Bt resistance via unexpected genetic path
The corn earworm is a widespread crop pest, particularly in the U.S. South, and adept at quickly developing resistance to genetically engineered crops. Over time, researchers looking at lab-selected strains of earworm have identified 20 genes that harbor mutations conferring resistance to pest-killing proteins in so-called Bt crops, which have been genetically engineered to produce bacteria that repel the earworm.