News & Events

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are implementing a $100 million initiative to bolster food and nutrition security and restore agricultural livelihoods for more than one million vulnerable people across Afghanistan.Over the next two years, the project will support more than 151 000 households (or 1 057 000 people), including returnees from Pakistan and Iran, host communities and families affected by recent earthquakes and floods.

Breeding for blast resistance remains a high priority in rice (Oryza sativa L.) improvement, yet the genetic complexity of leaf blast (BL) and panicle blast (PB) continues to challenge prediction accuracy in genomic selection (GS). Traditional GS approaches, such as genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), assume equal contribution from all markers, potentially limiting the capture of key resistance loci.

On January 23, 2026, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a statement on the approval of genetically engineered pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSV) for use in food and feed. Health Canada and CFIA confirmed that foods made from these pigs are safe and effective for human consumption and use in livestock feeds.

The world's most authoritative source on biotech crop adoption is evolving. With the 2024 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops set for release this February, we are introducing enhanced Biotech Updates subscription plans to give you exclusive, deep-dive access to the latest data.

Rice grain protein content is crucial for its quality and nutritional value, but the mechanisms of nitrogen transport to the grain remain poorly understood. This study demonstrates that the amino acid transporter OsAAP4 regulates protein accumulation in rice grains. OsAAP4 is expressed during grain filling, increasing at the mid-filling stage. Analysis of aap4 mutants in Zhonghua11 and Nipponbare backgrounds revealed significantly reduced grain yield and polished rice protein content compared to wild-type.

Plants have natural survival mechanisms that sometimes work against them during extreme weather conditions. Within a plant's cells, there are membrane lipids that act as messengers. When a plant experiences stress such as drought, an enzyme called Phospholipase D (PLD) breaks the membrane lipids down to send signals. However, in rice plants, one specific version of this enzyme, known as OsPLDβ1, can actually make the plant more vulnerable to damage.

On the grounds of a primary school situated between the towns of Pwintbyu and Salin in Myanmar’s Magway Region, Maw Maw Hmwe runs a modest food stall where she sells her famous rice noodle salads. Each day, students and teachers stop by for a nourishing meal. This independent noodle shop is just one of the two businesses Maw Maw operates. “I never imagined I could run a business,” she said. “Now I feel confident and independent.”

Through the integration of GWAS and RNA-seq analysis, three candidate genes associated with unsaturated fatty acids were identified in soybean. Heterologous overexpression of these genes in Arabidopsis confirmed their functions in altering seed fatty acid profiles. As a major source of the world’s vegetable oil, the nutritional value and storage stability of soybean oil are largely determined by the relative contents of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). However, the genetic regulations of UFAs in soybean remains incompletely understood. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms governing UFAs in soybean seed,

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a breakthrough "high-speed scanner" designed to test thousands of plant gene switches simultaneously. This innovative platform, known as a massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA), allows scientists to quickly identify the specific DNA sequences that control how and when genes are turned on or off, significantly accelerating our understanding of plant biology.

Agriculture today is increasingly about how food is processed, packaged, branded, and brought to market, not just about production.It is at the level of small-scale food processing that this shift becomes tangible, and where strategic investment can generate outsized returns.The scale of the opportunity is clear. In low-income regions, for example, a substantial share of food is lost between harvest and consumption, representing both a development failure and a missed economic opportunity.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) root system plays a critical role in water and nutrient uptake, influencing overall plant growth and crop yield. In this study, we characterized the Osdrp2b mutant, which exhibits a short-root phenotype and was identified through map-based cloning. The Osdrp2b mutation was traced to the gene encoding a dynamin-related protein, and the mutant displayed reduced cell elongation and impaired cell division in the root tip.

Researchers in Chile have successfully used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique to reduce enzymatic browning in potatoes, a common postharvest problem that diminishes quality, shelf life, and consumer appeal. The research team targeted the StPPO genes in elite tetraploid cultivar ‘Yagana-INIA' to improve the potato's appearance and marketability.