Gene editing is becoming a baseline tool to drive innovation in Canadian crop research and new varieties.
Tag Archives CRISPR
Gene editing’s growing sway in plant breeding
Crop variety development in Canada is evolving to incorporate gene editing more as a breeding tool; one researcher notes that Canada’s regulatory approach will help drive innovation
Comment: GMO and GE could be powerful solutions, if we let them be
Breaking down the details on gene editing and GMOs and the issues surrounding them
Advances in genetic engineering have given rise to an era of foods that promise to revolutionize how we eat. Critics argue these foods could pose risks to human health and the environment. Proponents point to their potential for enhancing yields, reducing food waste and even combating climate change. Although GMOs and gene-edited foods have been
Gene-edited crops clear CFIA’s regulatory bar
Agency guidance puts gene editing on level of conventional breeding
Plants gene-edited for efficient use of water or nutrients or to better withstand pests or drought now won’t have to clear the same regulatory hurdles in Canada as any crops that are modified for herbicide tolerance or include foreign genes. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced updated guidance from the Canadian Food Inspection
Opinion: Plant-breeding innovations fuel future
This new technology can help solve some of the biggest challenges of tomorrow
Just as we’ve seen the importance of science and innovation in combating the current public health challenge, they stand to play an equally important role in helping agriculture tackle the challenges it faces ahead. New pests and major weather events are increasing, making the job of producing food for a growing population even more challenging.
Letters: Concerned for the future of seed
As a farmer I am keenly aware of the importance of genetics when it comes to raising life, be it plant or animal. This does not make me unique, but rather defines a farmer’s historic relationship with the life we have been entrusted with, the idea being that genetics matter. This historic relationship has been
Comment: Gene editing a risk communication fiasco in the making
There are powerful arguments for this technology, but the industry isn’t making them
We are hearing more about gene-edited foods. It’s an intriguing concept for some but perhaps a scary one for others. We don’t know whether Canadian consumers will want to eat gene-edited food. There’s a lot of excitement in agriculture about the introduction of gene-edited food products into the Canadian food system over the next few
Gene-edited chickens planned in bid to halt next pandemic
London | Reuters — British scientists are developing gene-edited chickens designed to be totally resistant to flu in a new approach to trying to stop the next deadly human pandemic. The first of the transgenic chicks will be hatched later this year at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said Wendy
GMO rules cover plant gene editing technique, top EU court says
Brussels | Reuters — Crops obtained by plant breeding technique mutagenesis should fall under laws restricting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Europe’s highest court said on Wednesday, in a victory for environmental campaigners. The biotech industry had argued that much of mutagenesis, or gene editing, is effectively little different to the mutagenesis that
Monsanto highlights research pipeline for canola, soybeans
Xtend soybeans with added glufosinate tolerance isn’t far off, but glyphosate- and dicamba-tolerant canola is still five or six years out
Dicamba-tolerant canola is coming and so is a triple-threat soybean, resistant to glyphosate, dicamba and glufosinate. That’s just some of what’s in Monsanto’s crop and weed-control pipeline, Robb Fraley, the seed and pesticide giant’s executive vice-president and chief technology officer told reporters during a conference call Jan. 4. Fraley sees great things coming from new
Changing the discussion on genetic engineering
A genetic engineering researcher who is married to an organic farmer is trying to bridge the gap between consumers and science
The evolution of genetic engineering will continue, with more diverse options, giving scientists more flexibility to breed crops better for farmers and human nutrition. But farmers and researchers will continue to have to explain the technology to consumers focused on the genetic level, said Pamela Ronald. Ronald, a genetic engineering researcher at the University of
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
