Archive for 2021


INT - STEM RUST FUNGUS GENE IDENTIFIED

Source: Crop Biotech Update – www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=18918

Researchers from CSIRO, together with 2Blades Foundation, reported a gene in the stem rust fungus that triggers resistance in the host plant, providing a clue for scientists to develop disease-resistant wheat varieties. Their findings are published in Nature Plants.

Wheat is one of the most important crops globally and provides about 20 percent of calories and protein for human nutrition. Stem rust, a virulent wheat disease caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt), has become a major threat to wheat crops in Africa and other regions.

With the recent research findings, researchers and wheat breeders will have additional insights for the introduction of multiple resistance genes into wheat. This strategy has been initiated by CSIRO and 2Blades Foundation. A proof-of-concept study has been conducted showing the efficacy of gene stacking of five cloned resistance genes to combat wheat stem rust.


PHILIPPINES - GM EGGPLANT APPROVED

Source: Crop Biotech Updatehttps://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=18917

Genetically engineered eggplant known as Bt eggplant has been approved for food or feed consumption by the Philippine Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI).

Bt eggplant event EE-1 is resistant to eggplant fruit and shoot borer, the most destructive pest of eggplant. It was developed by experts from the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, making it the first Filipino biotech product.

A commercial planting approval is necessary before farmers in the Philippines can avail themselves of the benefits of the Bt crop. These benefits include less dependence and exposure to insecticides, improved marketable yield, better income, and peace of mind for farmers.


PHILIPPINES - FIRST TO APPROVE ‘GOLDEN RICE’ FOR CULTIVATION

Source: IRRIhttps://www.irri.org/news-and-events/news/philippines-becomes-first-country-approve-nutrient-enriched-golden-rice

Filipino farmers will become the first in the world to be able to cultivate a variety of rice enriched with nutrients to help reduce childhood malnutrition, after receiving the green light from regulators. Golden Rice was developed by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to contain additional levels of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.


NIGERIA - NITROGEN-EFFICIENT GM RICE

Source: Cornell Alliance for Sciencehttps://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/07/15/nigeria-moves-forward-with-nitrogen-efficient-gmo-rice/

Still basking in the euphoria of commercializing sub-Saharan Africa’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop — insect-resistant cowpea —Nigeria has begun moving toward the environmental release of an improved GM rice. Nigerian scientists and their counterparts in other African countries are currently meeting in Abuja to begin compiling a dossier for a national performance trial on the high-yielding nitrogen-efficient, water-efficient, salt-tolerant (NEWEST) rice.

The completed dossier will be sent to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), which regulates the country’s GM products.


AUS - CALLS TO ADVANCE GENE EDITING

Source: Farm Weeklyhttps://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/7319361/calls-to-advance-debate-on-gene-editing/

A project which aims to build the capacity for small exporters in Australia to exploit new breeding technologies (NBT) was the focus of a webinar hosted by Murdoch University and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications last month…

The webinar attracted 632 participants from more than 40 countries, who tuned in to learn about the forward looking project, which primarily aims to enable the Australian grains and horticultural industries to be first-movers in applying NBT, such as SDN-1, to crop improvement.



AUS - GM DISEASE-RESISTANT BANANAS SHOW PROMISE

Source: Fresh Plaza – 13 August 2021

The trials conducted by a group of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, offer promising results in the search for Cavendish banana plants resistant to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical race 4 (TR4).

The researchers designed several lines of genetically modified Cavendish bananas with resistance to this fungus and, after a 3-year field test carried out in lands heavily infested with TR4, they concluded that a Cavendish line transformed with a gene taken from a wild banana grew completely free of TR4, while three other lines showed partial resistance…


PHILIPPINES - ‘GOLDEN RICE’ FINALLY RECEIVES COMMERCIAL TICK

Source: Bangkok Post – 26 August 2021

The Philippines said on Wednesday it has approved the commercial propagation of genetically modified Golden Rice after more than a decade of field tests that drew strong opposition from anti-GMO activists.

The Southeast Asian country, which is one of the world’s biggest rice importers, is the first nation to approve the Vitamin A-enriched grain for commercial cultivation, according to the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which helped develop Golden Rice.


AUS - GENE TECH IN LIVESTOCK BRIMMING WITH POTENTIAL

SOURCE: Queensland Country Life – 27 August 2021

Using gene technology in livestock is brimming with potential, from using warthog genes to stop African swine flu killing pigs to ending the need to cull male chicks.

For more than a decade, the cropping sector has benefited from gene technology, which has been used to make species more drought or pest resistant, or more resistant to certain pesticides. But using the same technology in animals is still in its infancy. …

That could soon change, as researchers explore the practical applications of the technology and government policy slowly shifts.


UK - FIRST GENE EDITED WHEAT FIELD TRIAL APPROVED

Source: Seed Quest – 25 August 2021

UK research institute Rothamsted Research, a pioneer of GM crop trials since the 1990s, has been granted permission by Defra to run a series of field trials of wheat that has been genome edited.

The Hertfordshire-based experiments will be the first field trials of CRISPR edited wheat anywhere in the UK or Europe.

The wheat has been edited to reduce levels of the naturally occurring amino acid, asparagine, which is converted to the carcinogenic processing contaminant, acrylamide, when bread is baked or toasted.

The ultimate aim of the project is to produce ultra-low asparagine, non-GM wheat, says project leader Professor Nigel Halford…


AUS - COTTON PARTNERSHIP REACHES MILESTONE

Source: CSIRO Media Release – 25 May 2021
A 50-year partnership that enables Australian growers to produce the highest yielding cotton in the world and has boosted earnings by more than $5 billon is being celebrated in Canberra.

The CSD-CSIRO partnership has resulted in 116 cotton varieties delivered to growers, which have returned more than $5 billion to the cotton industry and through the delivery of third-party GM traits reduced insecticide use by 85 per cent and cut herbicide use by 52 per cent. Australian cotton farming is also the most water efficient in the world…


INT - WHO ISSUES NEW RULES FOR GM MOZZIE R&D

Source: Cornell Alliance for Science – 21 May 2021

The World Health Organization has issued a new set of guidelines to shepherd the research and development of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes.

“We urgently need innovative approaches to help control mosquito-borne diseases, which have a devastating impact around the world…

GM mosquitoes is one such approach, but we want to be sure it’s fully and responsibly evaluated, as outlined in a recent WHO position statement,” said Dr John Reeder, director of the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).


AUS - SA GROWERS ACCESS GM CANOLA

Source: North Queensland Register – 19 May 2021

Farmers in states that have had access to genetically modified canola (GM) for some years say their South Australian counterparts will find the opportunity to grow the crops a useful addition to their agronomic toolkit. Western Australian farmer and WAFarmers grains section president Mic Fels said the technology had been widely adapted in the west.

“As has been said many times before it is not a magic bullet, but it has had a super fit for many of our croppers,” Mr Fels said…


AUS - MOUSE PLAGUES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 23 May 2021

Mice plagues, such as the one ravaging parts of inland NSW, could become a thing of the past if scientists succeed in modifying the genes of the rodents so that populations crash before they can take off. Paul Thomas, a researcher at the University of Adelaide, is part of an international consortium including the CSIRO and the US Department of Agriculture, studying how to safely alter genes to make female mice infertile.

The techniques learned could potentially be applied to other damaging invasive mammals such as cats and foxes…


USA - GM SALMON FIRST HARVEST SELLS OUT

Source: American Council on Science and Health, 11 May 2021

The first customers have lined up for AquaBounty’s genetically engineered (GE) salmon, committing to purchase five metric tons of the fish that will be harvested at the end of May. After 30 years of regulatory roadblocks, lawsuits, and activist opposition, AquAdvantage salmon may finally be heading to US restaurants and grocery stores.

AquaBounty’s engineered Atlantic salmon will be the first biotech animal sold in US restaurants and grocery stores. The fish contain a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and an on-off switch from the ocean pout. Unlike conventional salmon, AquaBounty’s fish grow year-round, greatly reducing the amount of feed they consume and enabling important environmental benefits as a result. Only sterile females are produced for consumption in the company’s tightly secured Indiana facility…