Reading Time: 4 minutes 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 […] Read more
Gene-edited crops clear CFIA’s regulatory bar
Agency guidance puts gene editing on level of conventional breeding
Better wheat varieties ahead
Genome editing and CRISPR technology are scoring bigger wins in shorter time frames for cereal breeding
Reading Time: 5 minutes Last November, the 10+ Genome Project and its international team of researchers were hailed for their role in sequencing the genomes of 15 wheat varieties from around the world. It was an astounding accomplishment with great potential for cereal breeding, particularly for a sector that struggles to keep up with the investments being made in […] Read more
Can innovation soothe consumer fears?
CRISPR promises huge potential gains for the entire world, but first it must develop signs of consumer acceptance
Reading Time: 7 minutes Agriculture has done a better job of creating advanced genetics than of gaining public acceptance for them. Ever since the arrival of Bt corn and RR soybeans, growers have seen yield increases and simplified weed and pest management spread across crops and across the country. Yet in 2020, a segment of society still opposes those […] Read more
Is this what farmers have been waiting for?
Based on promising early results, “epigenetics” may help save agriculture from climate change
Reading Time: 6 minutes In the past 25 years, the agricultural landscape has seen several significant changes, from the advent of herbicide-tolerant crops to precision agriculture systems and soil supplements. Many were dubbed game changers when they were introduced, and we’re glad to have them all, but they also met with unexpected issues like weed resistance, or they didn’t […] Read more
Why farm innovation is faltering
Farmers are being left behind as they get squeezed between new regulations and consumer activism
Reading Time: 8 minutes The turn of the millennium was an amazing time to be involved in agriculture. Technologies like Roundup Ready, LibertyLink and Bt corn hybrids were in their infancy, with the promise of more to come from GMO labs. GPS yield monitors were new too, and the fledgling world of molecular “pharming” and “farmaceuticals” seemed to promise […] Read more
Gene-edited chickens planned in bid to halt next pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more
GMO rules cover plant gene editing technique, top EU court says
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more
Our CRISPR future
New technology promises to shove traditional GMO breeding aside, with huge gains for growers
Reading Time: 7 minutes Where were you when… you heard of GPS or Bt corn for the first time? Both were seminal moments of the past 25 years in agriculture that have led to further innovation and advances, increasing growers’ efficiency and productivity at practically every step of the way. Now, CRISPR technology represents another of these seminal moments, […] Read more
Climate Corp. crop data system in beta for Western Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes A major farm data analysis package, already being offered for sale in Eastern Canada for use this spring, is in beta testing toward a rollout later this year in Western Canada. Management from Monsanto and its farm data systems arm, The Climate Corp., speaking on a conference call Thursday, said they see a launch for […] Read more
U.S. patent agency to weigh rival claims on CRISPR
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. patent agency on Tuesday will hear arguments in a heated dispute over who was first to invent a revolutionary gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. Hundreds of millions of dollars may be at stake, as the technology promises commercial applications in treating genetic diseases, engineering crops, and other areas. CRISPR works as […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
