News & Events

Conducting large-scale multi-environment trials (METs) is practically challenging to breeding programs in Sub-Saharan Africa due to limitations of land, seed, and associated costs of phenotyping. As a result, early-generation hybrid maize trials are usually planted in single-row plots. In trials with single-row plots, genotypes compete with their neighbors for resources, and this biases the prediction of the genotype value.

Japanese biotechnology firm Sanatech Life Science Co., Ltd. has secured regulatory clearance in Canada for its gene-edited Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato. Following a thorough review by Health Canada's Novel Foods Section, the federal agency determined that the product meets all requirements under its plant breeding guidelines and does not meet the definition of a novel food.

Agricultural biotechnology holds immense potential to foster sustainable agriculture, but transforming lab breakthroughs into real-world solutions requires a seamless blend of robust R&D, science-based regulations, and effective communication. To ensure society reaps these benefits while minimizing risks, scientists, regulators, and policymakers must collaborate closely so that scientific advancements and regulatory practices evolve hand in hand.

Cashew nut oil adds value to the production chain of this Brazilian oilseed. It is a good source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive compounds, such as phenolics. This study investigated the effects of cashew nut oil on the metabolism of animals subjected to a high-fat diet. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet (12 weeks), then switched to diets containing cashew nut oil, soybean oil, or lard (12 weeks). Diets were characterized for their fatty acid profile

Cotton is an incredibly important crop for farmers in India's Central Zone, a region that relies heavily on rain. However, these farmers face tough challenges, including low crop yields, unpredictable rainfall, droughts, pests, and plant diseases. While older Bt cotton varieties helped control bollworm pests, farmers still need new cotton varieties that yield high and can withstand biotic and abiotic stresses.

A study by scientists at the University of Calgary (UCalgary) has revealed that major agricultural crops, including canola, tomatoes, and rice, actively shut down their ability to absorb iron during drought. Published in the journal Cell, the research shows that drought stress triggers a fundamental genetic wiring change in plant roots. Instead of sending out a "cry for help" to soil microbes, drought-stressed plants simultaneously dial down both their immune systems and their inner iron-uptake machinery.

Soil is fundamental to sustaining life on Earth, providing ecosystem services, regulating climate, and playing a central role in global food systems. In the last decades, due to human activities and climate change, soils worldwide have experienced substantial changes in their key properties, resulting in alterations to their functions. In this context, global soil mapping is crucial for identifying degradation trends and informing effective adaptation strategies.

As climate change accelerates the frequency of extreme weather events like prolonged droughts and heavy rainfall, crop producers face unprecedented uncertainty. To better understand how these conditions impact agricultural management, a joint study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Michigan State University evaluated how farmers perceive and react to financial and climate-related risks.

A study by researchers at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB) found that most people in Mali would support the use of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to combat malaria if the technology is proven safe and tested in controlled conditions before wider use. The study examined public knowledge, risk perceptions, and acceptance of GMMs among households in rural communities in the Koulikoro region and in the capital, Bamako.

Accurate and standardized phenotyping of complex, environmentally sensitive quantitative traits remains a major bottleneck for reliable locus discovery and breeding applications. Here, we established a skeleton-guided 3D digital phenotyping framework that generates standardized digital replicas and enables precise quantification of fruit and plant architecture traits in cucumber. The workflow was applied to a permanent recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (n = 211) evaluated across two seasons (2023–2024)

Experts from Henan Agricultural University in China have identified a key wheat gene that helps regulate iron uptake and storage. The study focuses on the transcription factor TaPIL1, which plays a central role in activating iron-related responses in wheat plants. Their study is a breakthrough that could support efforts to breed more nutritious wheat varieties and address iron deficiency anemia.

Rothamsted Research has officially sown the UK's first crop under a new Precision Bred Organism (PBO) Release Notice, marking a major milestone for agricultural biotechnology. The proof-of-concept field trial has sown the oilseed crop Camelina sativa, to evaluate the real-world performance of gene-edited varieties. This historic planting is the first to be registered under the framework established by the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 and the subsequent 2025 regulations.