ISAAA is monitoring the progress of research on COVID-19 treatments using plant-based technologies such as genetic engineering and gene editing, and other related techniques. We also keep track of the pandemic's effect on food security and agriculture. This is our effort to provide science-based information that can help the public make decisions and actions to mitigate and recover from the impact of COVID-19.
For researchers who wish to publish their findings in the Crop Biotech Update, please send an e-mail to knowledge.center@isaaa.org.
- COVID-19 Treatment Efforts Using Plant Technologies (Pocket K No. 58)
- Application Filed for Marketing of COVID-19 mRNA Booster Vaccine in Japan (February 8, 2023)
- Application Filed for Marketing of COVID-19 mRNA Booster Vaccine in Japan (February 8, 2023)
- Long COVID Affects Children of All Ages (February 1, 2023)
- CRISPR Helped to Successfully Prevent and Treat COVID-19 Infections (August 3, 2022)
- Health Canada Approves COVIFENZ®, Medicago's Plant-based COVID-19 Vaccine (March 2, 2022)
- Researchers in Japan Invent Mask that Glows When Exposed to Coronavirus (December 15, 2021)
- Omicron Variant Could Weaken COVID Vaccine Protection (December 9, 2021)
- Cuba's Homegrown COVID-19 Vaccines Show Promise (November 24, 2021)
- UC San Diego Researchers Develop CRISPR-based Rapid Diagnostic Tool for SARS-CoV-2 (November 10, 2021)
- Strategies for Communicating with People Who Are Not Vaccinated to Build Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines (October 27, 2021)
- Vaccines Cut Delta Transmission But Not for Long (October 6, 2021)
- UC San Diego Nanoengineers Develop Fridge-Free COVID-19 Vaccines Grown in Plants and Bacteria (September 8, 2021)
- Researchers Shed New Light on the Molecular Detail of COVID-19 (September 1, 2021)
- NIAID Warns about a More Dangerous COVID-19 Variant (August 11, 2021)
- MIT and Harvard University Engineers Design Tabletop Device that Detects SARS-CoV-2 from Saliva in One Hour (August 11, 2021)
- Initial Trials of Nasal Spray Vaccine for COVID-19 and Flu Show Positive Results (July 21, 2021)
- CRISPR Gene Editing Stops COVID-19 from Replicating in Infected Human Cells (July 21, 2021)
- Facemask Detects COVID-19 Virus in 90 Minutes (July 7, 2021)
- Medicago's Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Positive Phase 2 Results (May 26, 2021)
- Previous Dengue Infection Increases COVID-19 Risk (May 19, 2021)
- Experts Release Guidance on How to Communicate about COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy (April 21, 2021)
- NTU Singapore Sheds Light on Link of COVID-19 and Blood Clot Formation (April 14, 2021)
- Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Starts Phase 3 Trial (March 31, 2021)
- Study Reveals SARS-CoV-2 Jumped from Bats to Humans without Much Change (March 17, 2021)
- Nebulized Treatment Against Flu, SARS-CoV-2 Developed Using CRISPR (March 10, 2021)
- Survey Shows People with Low Scientific Reasoning Tend to Believe Conspiracy Theories on COVID-19 (March 3, 2021)
- Study Shows Climate Change May Have Driven Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (February 10, 2021)
- Unraveling Coronavirus Structure for Effective Vaccine and Medication (February 3, 2021)
- Testing of COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ongoing (January 27, 2021)
- Rush Scientists Develop Potential COVID-19 Drug (January 20, 2021)
- UChicago Creates First Computational Model of Entire COVID-19 Virus (January 13, 2021)
- Fast-spreading SARS-CoV-2 Variant in the U.K. Raises More Questions (January 6, 2021)
- WHO Calls for Actions to Encourage Acceptance and Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccines (December 16, 2020)
- COVID-19 Test Uses CRISPR and Smartphone Camera (December 9, 2020)
- Digital CRISPR-Cas‐Assisted Assay for Rapid SARS‐CoV‐2 Detection (November 25, 2020)
- Chemists Discover Structure of Key SARS-CoV-2 Protein (November 18, 2020)
- Study Identifies "Mother" of all SARS-CoV-2 Genomes; Reveals Earlier COVID-19 Timeline (November 11, 2020)
- Researchers Find "Hidden Gene" in COVID-19 Virus (November 11, 2020)
- Initial Tests Show Arthritis Drug Does Not Treat COVID-19 (October 28, 2020)
- SARS-CoV-2 Uses Neuropilin-1 to Infect Human Cells (October 28, 2020)
- International Team of Scientists Identify Common Vulnerabilities in COVID-19 and Other Lethal Coronaviruses (October 21, 2020)
- COVID-19 Virus Can Survive 28 Days on Surfaces (October 21, 2020)
- NAS Releases Guidance on Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic (October 14, 2020)
- Study Reveals Most Countries Fail to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Recovery Plans (October 14, 2020)
- Researchers Engineer Drug-Like Compounds that Disable SARS-CoV-2's Replication Engine (October 7, 2020)
- Sewage Testing Shows Prevalence of COVID-19 Infection (September 30, 2020)
- Farmers Highly Vulnerable to COVID-19, Says Study (September 30, 2020)
- Research Highlights COVID-19 Impacts on Food Security in Kenya and Uganda (September 23, 2020)
- Study Finds COVID-19 Virus Remains in Stool Samples (September 16, 2020)
- Researchers Discover SARS-CoV-2 Uses Heparan Sulfate to Get Inside Cells (September 16, 2020)
- Most Comprehensive Map of SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Structures Now Published (September 9, 2020)
- Nigerian Scientists Identify Seven Lineages of SARS-CoV-2 (September 9, 2020)
- Map Catalogs Effects of Coronavirus Mutations (September 2, 2020)
- Pregnant Women Face More Risks from COVID-19 (September 2, 2020)
- Washington University Saliva Test for COVID-19 Faster and Easier (September 2, 2020)
- MassBiologics Identifies Antibodies that may Protect Against COVID-19 (August 26, 2020)
- Hospital in Israel Starts Trials for the Fastest COVID-19 Test (August 26, 2020)
- Scientists Discover Mutation Making SARS-CoV-2 Milder (August 26, 2020)
- Researchers Discover Vulnerability in SARS-CoV-2 (August 19, 2020)
- Q&A: COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Food and Agriculture (August 19, 2020)
- Team of Experts Develop Nasal Spray Against COVID-19 Virus (August 19, 2020)
- National Survey Says Most Americans Willing to Vaccinate Against COVID-19 (August 12, 2020)
- Human Immune System Responds to Plant-derived SARS-CoV-2 Antigens (August 12, 2020)
- More Countries Join the COVID-19 Food Coalition (August 5, 2020)
- Study Finds SARS-CoV-2 Has Six Strains (August 5, 2020)
- Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Advances to Phase 3 COVE Study (July 29, 2020)
- Study: Heartburn Medicine Doesn't Work as COVID-19 Antiviral (July 29, 2020)
- International Team of Researchers Identify Evolutionary Origins of SARS-CoV-2 (July 29, 2020)
- Structural Analysis of COVID-19 Spike Protein Describes its Evolution (July 22, 2020)
- Researchers Identify Possible Immune Targets in SARS-CoV-2 Genome (July 22, 2020)
- Human Trials Begin for COVID-19 Plant-Based Technology Vaccine (July 22, 2020)
- Most Americans Supportive of Scientific Interventions to Stop COVID-19, 72% Willing to Get Vaccinated (July 8, 2020)
- Genes Linked to COVID-19 Risk Inherited from Neanderthals (July 8, 2020)
- MIT-Engineered Peptide Targets COVID-19 (June 24, 2020)
- Scientists Find Super-potent Human Antibodies from Recovered COVID-19 Patients (June 17, 2020)
- CRISPR Technique 90% Effective in Reducing SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (June 10, 2020)
- Study Shows COVID-19 Risk Might be Linked to Blood Type (June 10, 2020)
- Scientists Find Potential Targets for COVID-19 Vaccine (June 3, 2020)
- First Results from Human COVID-19 Immunology Study Identify Universally Effective Antibodies (June 3, 2020)
- First Human Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine Found Safe and Induces Rapid Immune Response (May 27, 2020)
- Coronavirus Has Two Versions and One is Not More Harmful, Study Finds (May 27, 2020)
- Medicago Announces Positive Results of Trials for its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate (May 20, 2020)
- Scientists Clone SARS-CoV-2 Genome Using Quick Yeast-Based Method (May 13, 2020)
- COVID-19 Treatment Efforts Using Plant Technologies (May 13, 2020)
- Researchers Discover Antibody that Blocks SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cells (May 6, 2020)
- The Role of Plant Biotechnology Against SARS-CoV-2 (May 6, 2020)
- Canadian Researchers Use Algae to Produce COVID-19 Test Kits (May 6, 2020)
- Food Security Expert Says COVID-19 Pandemic Calls for Reassessment of Food Systems (May 6, 2020)
- FAO, IFAD, World Bank, and WFP Joint Statement on COVID-19 Impacts on Food Security and Nutrition: Countries Must Work Together to Ensure Food for All (April 29, 2020)
- Nanoengineers Combine Molecular Farming and Advanced Manufacturing to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine (April 29, 2020)
- COVID-19 Vaccine Development Using New, Fast-Growing Tobacco Plant Technology (April 22, 2020)
- A Call to Action for World Leaders: Prevent Global Food Security Crisis in COVID-19 Fight (April 22, 2020)
- Researchers in Spain Use Biotech to Produce SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Plants (April 15, 2020)
- Researchers Turn to Cell-free Biotechnology to Accelerate COVID-19 Therapeutics (April 8, 2020)
- Native Australian Plant Paves Way for Vaccine Development Against COVID-19 (April 8, 2020)
- UConn Researcher Develops Simple, Low-Cost CRISPR-based Diagnostic Test for COVID-19 (April 1, 2020)
- International Seed Federation Calls on Governments to Facilitate Movement of Seeds in the Time of COVID-19 (March 25, 2020)
- Scientists Say COVID-19 Coronavirus Has Natural Origins (March 25, 2020)
- Viable Vaccine Candidate for COVID-19 Developed Using Proprietary Plant-based Technology (March 18, 2020)
ISAAA shares, disseminates, and promotes science-based information to help in achieving global agricultural sustainability and development. During this time of COVID-19 pandemic, we monitor research on treatments, vaccines and keep track of the pandemic's effect on food security and agriculture. We help the public make informed decisions and actions to mitigate and recover from the impact of COVID-19. At this crucial time, we need your help. Please support our efforts today from as little as $10