News & Events

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s Second Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, jointly organized with the Government of India, opens today, bringing together government ministers, scientists, Indigenous leaders, and practitioners from more than 100 countries. The Summit is expected to announce major scientific initiatives and new commitments aimed at advancing the implementation of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034

The spring-loaded spontaneous seed dispersal mechanism known as dehiscence, has been a critical plant feature for the successful colonization of land by angiosperms. Although advantageous for seed dispersal, spontaneous dehiscence is largely an unfavorable agronomic trait which historically was selected against during selective breeding of crops to increase seed retention. In canola (Brassica napus), a major global oil seed crop, spontaneous or harsh weather-induced fruit shattering at maturity could lead to yield losses from 3 to 50%.

Project opportunity: a collaboration of 12 European organisations in the starch potato value chain – has reported successful completion of its first field trials with starch potatoes edited using CRISPR-Cas technology to improve resistance to late blight. The 2025 trials were conducted in Sweden and Denmark, alongside a seed multiplication programme designed to scale up material for larger tests in 2026.

The second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, jointly organized with the Government of India, concluded today in New Delhi, marking a major milestone for global health as it drew over 16 000 online registrations and brought together 800 delegates from more than 100 countries, including ministers from over 20 nations. Combined with a strong line up of 160 speakers, the global traditional medicine community shared insights on how traditional medicine (TM) can strengthen health systems with more safe, evidence-based, and affordable care.

Previous studies have demonstrated that an appropriate promoter can drive Cas9 transcription in the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which improves the efficiency of gene editing. Here, we identified and characterized callus-specific promoters to enhance gene editing efficiency in cassava. From the transcriptome data of 11 cassava tissues, the gene named YCE1 was identified to exhibit callus-specific expression. Its promoter (pYCE1) could efficiently and specifically drive EGFP transcription in callus tissues.

Seed Co., Ltd. (now Sanatech Life Sciences Co., Ltd.)’s genome-edited high-GABA tomato has been confirmed by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) to be exempt from the GMO pre-market approval process (the approval process required for the sale of genetically modified crops and genome-edited crops deemed equivalent to genetically modified crops). (Notification received on October 30, 2025).

Migration is high on the political agenda of both developed and developing nations. This won't change anytime soon. High levels of poverty and hunger, trade tensions and growing inequality mean more people are likely to leaves their homes in search of a better future. At IFAD, we believe migration should be a choice, not a necessity. No one should feel forced to leave their homes and their families in rural areas due to a lack of opportunities.

Development of genome-wide distributed cross-transferable molecular markers applicable to different species can enhance pre-breeding efficiency. Screening of 23.5K primer pairs across nine reference genomes identified 1,008 cross-amplifiable sequence-tagged microsatellite site (STMS) markers, including 520 genic ones, for the Oryza sativa complex. Predicted amplicon lengths of the markers were validated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

When a novel virus such as Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects a new host species, it faces an inhospitable environment. However, a few mutations can be all the virus needs to get a bit of replication accomplished. As we know from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the results of adaptation in even a few hosts can be catastrophic for the entire new host population. The remarkable paper by Martínez-González et al

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016. A feature article published in the June 2020 edition of the Food Outlook presents the revision of the base period for the calculation of the FFPI and the expansion of its price coverage, to be introduced from July 2020

Land plants thrive in soils showing vastly different properties and environmental stresses1. Root systems can adapt to contrasting soil conditions and stresses, yet how their responses are programmed at the individual cell scale remains unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomic approaches, we showed major expression changes in outer root cell types when comparing the single-cell transcriptomes of rice roots grown in gel versus soil conditions.

The GM Approval Database, or GMAD, is one of ISAAA’s unique features that compiles all the available information about biotech/GM crops that have been approved for planting and importation for food and feed, and commercialization. ISAAA sources out the information from publicly available decision documents per country, Biosafety Clearing Houses and peer-reviewed scholarly articles to maintain the credibility of the database.