Crop Biotech Update

September 11, 2019

GM Crop Planting Increased ~113-fold Since 1996

GM crops were first planted in 1996, with an initial global area of 1.7 million hectares. After 23 years, plantings increased by ~113-fold, reaching an accumulated biotech area of 2.5 billion hectares. This makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times, according to the latest video about the Highlights of ISAAA Brief 54: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2018. With 23 years of documented adoption, biotech crops have long history of safety and benefits.

Utrecht Biologists Discover A Way to Make Plants Flood Tolerant

Global warming has resulted not only in increased incidences of drought and heatwaves but also increased rainfall which brings higher flood risk. Flooding is a major problem for crops as too much water deprives them of oxygen and suffocates them. Scientists at Utrecht University have discovered how some plants quickly detect being underwater when flooded, and how these plants initiate processes that prevent them from drowning.

Students Concerned about Future of Biotech Innovations in Uganda

Students in Uganda are wondering why the government is building a lot of capacity in biotech while creating a policy environment that may discourage innovation and inventions. This was expressed by biotech students from the University of Kisubi on September 7, 2019 during the first ever inter-university biotechnology symposium, which was inspired by Uganda Bio-sciences Information Center's school outreach programs. The event was attended by over 100 students and educators from more than 10 universities and colleges countrywide.

Use of CRISPR-Cas9 Revealed OsCAF1 Influences Chloroplast Development in Rice

The chloroplast splicing and ribosome maturation (CRM) domain proteins have functions in the splicing of chloroplast gene introns. Several CRM domain proteins have been discovered to be involved in chloroplast development in many plants, but their functions in rice are still yet to be known. To elucidate more on this, scientist Qiang Zhang from Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues used CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The results were reported in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

PLANT BREEDING INNOVATIONS

Use of CRISPR-Cas9 Revealed OsCAF1 Influences Chloroplast Development in Rice

GM APPROVAL UPDATES

Australia approved canola MS11 for cultivation, food, feed, and processing.
Turkey approved soybean DAS-44406-6 and maize DAS-40278-9 for feed use.
The Philippines approved GHB811 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved maize Bt11 x TC1507 x GA21 for cultivation.
The Philippines approved GA21 x T25 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved maize TC1507 � MON810 � MIR604 � NK603 for food, feed, and processing.

Visit GM APPROVAL DATABASE

The Crop Biotech Update is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a non-for-profit organization. The CBU is distributed for free to over 23,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in agricultural 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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