plant genes Articles
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New strategy of "two in one" rapid breeding
Xu Cao's research group from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences published a paper titled “A two-in-one breeding strategy boosts rapid utilization of wild species and elite cultivars” online in Plant Biotechnology. This study reports a new "two-in-one" rapid breeding strategy, which combines the new de novo domestication breeding method and ...
By Lifeasible
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Better photosynthesis for a better world?
There’s no question that plants are better than most other life forms at converting carbon dioxide and sunlight into the sugars that form the basis of our global food web — and eventually, humans’ entire food supply. But fact of the matter is, with conversion rates hovering around 2 percent for our best crop fields, they’re by no means great. Even a slight increase in the ...
By Ensia
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The Safety of Genetically Modified Foods Produced through Biotechnology
Executive Summary The Society of Toxicology (SOT) is committed to protecting and enhancing human, animal, and environmental health through the sound application of the fundamental principles of the science of toxicology. It is with this goal in mind that the SOT defines here its current consensus position on the safety of foods produced through biotechnology (genetic engineering). These products ...
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Crop gene banks are preserving the future of agriculture. But who’s preserving them?
As climate change makes crop diversity even more important, gene banks struggle to stay afloat. During the past few years of civil war in Syria, rebel fighters have destroyed Shia mosques and Christian graves, and burned and looted Christian churches while the Islamic State group has demolished priceless artifacts in the region. Nothing seemed sacred to the disparate groups vying for control of ...
By Ensia
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How `open source` seed producers from the U.S. to India are changing global food production
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds available for other breeders to use. Frank Morton has been breeding lettuce since the 1980s. His company offers 114 varieties, among them Outredgeous, which last year became the first plant that NASA astronauts grew and ate in space. For nearly 20 years, Morton’s work was ...
By Ensia
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A Saline Duper Wheat that Tolerates Higher Salt Concentrations!
In the past few decades, agricultural land has been largely lost, and increased salinity in soils around the world has received much attention. Nowadays, nearly 8% of the world's arable land can no longer be used for crop cultivation due to salt pollution, and more than half of the world's countries are affected. Wheat is the second largest grain grown after corn and grows more on Earth than any ...
By Lifeasible
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Researchers Analyze Rapeseed Thioglycoside Transport Mechanism to Assist High-quality Breeding
Recently, Liu Shengyi, a researcher at the Institute of Oil Materials, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Yang Qingyong, a professor at the School of Information, Huazhong Agricultural University, collaborated to develop a new idea/method for the functional identification of multi-copy genes, and based on this identification, the important transporter BnaA06. GTR2 of glucosinolates in ...
By Lifeasible
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Can genetic engineering help quench crops’ thirst?
Researchers around the world are exploring how GMO technology might boost food production under hot, dry conditions. Roger Deal is trying to figure out how plants remember drought. An assistant professor of biochemistry and genetics at Emory University, Deal says most plants have a kind of memory for stress. When experiencing water shortage, for example, plants close the holes in their leaves, ...
By Ensia
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