UN Report: Fewer Hungry People Worldwide |
 The number of hungry people has decreased to about 795 million worldwide, 216 million less than the number recorded in early 1990s. This is according to the latest report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. The report covers the progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) and World Food Summit hunger targets, and recommends actions for the transition to the new post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.
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Study: GM Crops Can Help Preserve Agrobiodiversity |
 During the green revolution, farmers replaced a large number of landraces with a small number of high-yielding varieties. There are concerns that such erosion of varietal diversity could be further aggravated through the widespread use of GM crops. In a recent study, Vijesh Krishna from the University of Goettingen and colleagues showed that GM technology can actually help to preserve agrobiodiversity, because GM traits can be introduced into a large number of varieties. The researchers developed a general framework, which they applied to the case of Bt cotton in India. They showed that Bt reduced varietal diversity in the early adoption phase, when only a small number of Bt varieties were approved. Yet this trend was reversed when the approval process was facilitated and the seed market became more competitive. Cotton varietal diversity in India, with 95% adoption of Bt, is now at the same level than it was before the introduction of GM technology.
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APEC Leads Discussion on Agribiotech and Science Communication |
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Participants from 17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies and 3 non-APEC countries have converged at the Acacia Hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines for the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) Workshop. The workshop which runs from June 8-12, 2015 has experts and participants discussing the theme Fostering the benefits of innovation in plant breeding and science communication.
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A biweekly update on gene editing research, regulations, and impact
produced by ISAAA Inc. |
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| A monthly update on gene drive research and development provided by ISAAA in collaboration with the Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research |
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GM APPROVAL UPDATES |
- The Philippines approved the canola event LBFLFK for food, feed, and processing.
- The Philippines approved the cotton event GFM cry1A for commercial cultivation.
- Brazil approved the wheat event HB4 for commercial cultivation.
- The Philippines approved the soybean event GMB 151 for food, feed, and processing.
- The Philippines approved the eggplant event EE-1 for cultivation
- The USA approved the canola event MON94100 for food and feed.
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| Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10. |
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Researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) have used CRISPR/Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated), a new 
