Biotech Updates

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Inc., announces the opening of registration for the 8th Asian Short Course on Agribiotechnology, Biosafety Regulation, and Communication (ASCA8), which will be held on September 8-12, 2025, at Vivere Hotel, Muntinlupa City, Philippines.

BRIC-NIPGR Develops Gene-Edited Rice with Improved Phosphate Uptake and Grain Yield

Scientists from the BRIC-National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) in New Delhi developed rice lines with improved phosphate uptake and grain yield, even in low phosphate soil conditions, through gene editing. The gene-edited rice lines will decrease the need for phosphate fertilizers, lower cultivation input costs, and prevent fertilizer loss into water bodies.

USDA Completes Regulatory Review of Genetically Engineered Chestnut Tree

Researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) have created Darling-54. This experimental transgenic American chestnut is now one step closer to public release after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed its regulatory review in June. The USDA review states that the tree is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk.”

MIT Chemists Boost Rubisco's Efficiency for Photosynthesis

Chemists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have enhanced a version of Rubisco found in bacteria from a low-oxygen environment. Using a process known as directed evolution, they identified mutations that could boost Rubisco's catalytic efficiency by up to 25 percent.