Crop Biotech Update

September 19, 2018

Position Announcement: ISAAA Global Coordinator

The number of hungry people is growing globally, reaching 821 million in 2017 or one in every nine people, according to the United Nation's report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018.

Burkina Faso Farmers Call for Return of Bt Cotton

Cotton farming in Burkina Faso is in a fast slump two years after the suspension of Bt cotton. This was reported by Burkinab� farmers during the launch of the ISAAA report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2017 in Ouagadougou on September 11, 2018. Cotton has been the most important cash crop for Burkinab� farmers, with the country having been Africa's number one cotton producer for 7 consecutive years between 2008 and 2015. It is hardly a coincidence that Bt cotton was commercially cultivated in Burkina Faso during the same period.

How Plants Signal Danger Long Distances

A video shows how seconds after a hungry caterpillar severs a leaf from the rest of the plant, a blaze of fluorescent light washes over the other leaves, signaling that they should prepare for future attacks by the caterpillar or its kin.

Scientists Develop Modified CRISPR-Cas9 System for Tetraploid Potato

Potato's tetraploid genome requires a more powerful genome editing system. Scientist Hiroaki Kusano of Tokyo University of Science and colleagues apply the translational enhancer dMac3 to the Cas9 expression vector to increase the amount of Cas9 proteins produced inside potato cells.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

PLANT BREEDING INNOVATIONS

GM APPROVAL UPDATES

The Philippines approved cotton MON88701 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved corn MON87427 x MON89034 x TC1507 x MON87411 x 59122 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved eggplant EE1 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved corn MON87429 for food, feed, and processing.
The Philippines approved rice GR2E for commercial propagation.
The Philippines approved (renewal) corn MON89034 for commercial propagation.

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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