Warmer growing seasons and milder winters, brought about by climate change, could boost populations of insects that feed on corn and other crops, according to a Purdue University study. Severe pest infestation may significantly decrease corn yield in the United States, the world's top corn producer and exporter. The study appears in the current issue of Environmental Research Letters.
Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is currently assessing license application from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) to intentionally release genetically modified (GM) wheat and barley lines into the environment.
Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found that weather and climate play key roles in levels of tocopherols in soybean seeds.
Transposons are small stretches of DNA that can move around to different positions in the genome of a single cell, and in the process dramatically increasing a genome's size.
High food prices have pushed an additional 40 million people into hunger this year, increasing the total number of starving people to 963 millions worldwide or 14 percent of the world’s population, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
A veteran Vietnamese plant breeder has won the Senadhira Rice Research Award for 2008 for his outstanding contributions to the development of many popular rice varieties in Vietnam.
