Humans contract malaria from mosquitoes that are infected by parasites from the genus Plasmodium. Previous work had shown that mosquitoes could be engineered to rebuff the parasite P. falciparum, but researchers lacked a way to ensure that the resistance genes would spread rapidly through a wild population. In work published on 23 November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers used a controversial method called ‘gene drive’ to ensure that an engineered mosquito would pass on its new resistance genes to nearly all of its offspring— not just half, as would normally be the case. The result: a gene that could spread through a wild population like wildfire

Source: Nature, 23 November 2015.

The FDA approved the commercial production and sale of biotech salmon developed by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies. The AquAdvantage salmon, which was created to grow faster than regular Atlantic salmon, is the first biotech farm animal cleared for sale in the US. AquAdvantage fish is likely to take several years to bring to market.

The full FDA assessment document is available online.

Source: New York Times, 19 november, 2015.

Gene therapy is enjoying a resurgence, fueled by some stunningly positive results in certain clinical trials recently. A study published last year in the journal Nature Biotechnology examined current health-care spending on hemophilia B and found that a gene therapy could conceivably be priced as a one-time payment of $4 million to $6 million. The authors argued that paying $150,000 a year as long as the drug works could potentially save the health-care system money.

Source: Washington Post, 11 November 2015.

GRACE (GMO Risk Assessment and Communication of Evidence) scientists did not find any indication that a routine performance of 90-day feeding studies with whole food/feed would provide additional information on the safety of genetically modified (GM) maize MON810 when compared to the compositional comparison of the GM variety and its closest conventional comparator in terms of an initial safety assessment.

Source: GRACE, 10 November 2015.

Colorado State University scientists have created an integrated circuit for plants that are similar to those found in an iPhone. 'Gene circuits,' a product of synthetic biology, control specific plant characteristics such as color, size, and resistance to drought. While traditional plant genetic engineering involves inserting or modifying genes that control certain characteristics, plant synthetic biologists are taking a different approach by quantitatively analyzing gene parts to make predictable functions.

Source: Colorado State University, 16 November 2015.

Performing pig-to-primate transplants lto test different combinations of genetic modifications in the pig and immune-suppressing drugs in the primate is not easy. The complexities of the immune system and the possibility of infection by pig viruses are formidable and drove large companies out of the field of Xenotransplantation, a technology that looked promising in the 1990s, in the early 2000s. That trend may now be reversing, thanks to improved immunosuppressant drugs and advances in genome-editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9. These techniques allow scientists to edit pig genes, which could cause rejection or infection, much more quickly and accurately than has been possible in the past. In October, eGenesis, a life-sciences company in Boston, Massachusetts, announced that it had edited the pig genome in 62 places at once.

Source: Nature, 10 November 2015.

Scientists from Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are working towards developing vitamin A-enriched tubers. Assistant Professor Joyce Van Eck of BTI developed a new technique for building up beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, in potatoes. With the help of experts from Danforth, this technique will be used to develop biofortified cassava roots.

Source: Boyce Tompson Institute, 2 November 2015.

Pineapple has been cultivated for more than 6,000 years, thriving in water-starved environments. To understand how pineapples grow to be juicy under such conditions, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took a closer look at the plant's genes and genetic pathways.They found that pineapple uses a special type of photosynthesis called crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), while most plants use C3 photosynthesis.

Source: Nature Genetics, November 2, 2015, Illinois News Bureau, 2 November 2015.

An engineered herpesvirus that provokes an immune response against cancer has become the first treatment of its kind to be approved for use in the United States, paving the way for a long-awaited class of therapies. On 27 October, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a genetically engineered virus called talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) to treat advanced melanoma. Four days earlier, advisers to the European Medicines Agency had endorsed the drug.

Source: Nature, 28 October 2015.

Researchers from The University of Queensland in Australia have identified a key gene in barley that allows the plant to get water stored deep in the soil during drought. Dr. Lee Hickey from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation said that the gene promoted narrow root growth, which allowed the plant to grow roots that penetrate down to water stored deep within the soil.

Source: University of Queensland website, 28 October 2015.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have discovered a technique to boost the amounts of natural compounds in tomatoes. The compounds are classified as phenylpropanoids like Resveratrol and Genistein. Resveratrol is a compound in wine, which was found to extend life in animal studies. Genistein is present in soybean and has been linked to prevention of steroid-hormone related cancers such as breast cancer.

Source, John Innes Centre, 26 October 2015.

Cargill recently introduced the new zero-calorie sweetener Eversweet, produced by adding a few genes from the Stevia plant -a nutural sweetener- to a specially crafted baker’s yeast. The ETC Group warns that this type of application of synthetic biology threatens the livelihoods of small-cscal Stevia growers in Kenya (and other pathers of the world). In its annual survey of leading global risks, the World Economic Forum noted that, “the invention of cheap, synthetic alternatives to high-value agricultural exports … could suddenly destabilize vulnerable economies by removing a source of income on which farmers rely.”

Meanwhile, the European Stevia Association (EUSTAS), has expressed concern that EverSweet will undermine stevia’s reputation as safe and natural.

Source: A Bad Bet on Synthetic Bioloy, Project Syndicate, 23 October 2015. Also published in The Bangkok Post of October 28.

Ophthalmologist Eric Pierce believes there will be a therapy for children diagnosed with genetic retinal diseases that will ultimately leave them blind so that they won’t experience the full course of this disease.

Source: Nature, 21 October 2015.

Monsanto's MON 87411 biotech corn, which is designed to be glyphosate tolerant and resist rootworms, has been deregulated by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The decision comes after a review showed the corn is not a threat to agricultural crops, the environment or other plants. It is still being evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Source: Reuters, 23 October 2015.

Plant scientists have been quick to experiment with the popular CRISPR/Cas9 technique. By disabling specific genes in wheat and rice, for example, researchers hope to make disease-resistant strains of the crops.Some jurisdictions, such as the European Union, could decide to classify such plants as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) making their acceptance by regulatory bodies contentious, says geneticist Jin-Soo Kim of Seoul National University.

Source: Nature, 21 October 2015.

Pregnant goats fed with genetically engineered (GE) soybeans have offspring who grow more slowly and are shorter, according to a new Italian study (Tudisco et al., 2015). Publishing in the journal of Small Ruminant Research, the researchers were testing the results of supplementing the feed of female goats with Roundup Ready GE soybeans.

Source: Independent Science News, October 23, 2015.

Scientists from the University of Geneva and ETH Zurich reported a new genetically engineered cassava variety that produces high levels of vitamin B6. The results are published in Nature Biotechnology.

Source: ETH Zürich, 9 October 2015.

By modifying more than 60 genes in pig embryos — ten times more than have been edited in any other animal — researchers believe they may have produced a suitable non-human organ donor. On 5 October Geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, announced that he and colleagues had used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to inactivate 62 porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in pig embryos. These viruses are embedded in all pigs’ genomes and cannot be treated or neutralized. It is feared that they could cause disease in human transplant recipients.

Source: Nature News, 6 October 2015.

The large number of European countries opposing GMO cultivation may have given the impression the bloc is putting a brake on GMOs but with new crops queuing for approval.

SOurce: Reuters, 5 October 2015.

Malta, Slovenia and Luxemburg filed last minute applications to opt out of GMO cultivation in Europe, bringing the total number to 19 member states. On October 2nd the European Commission confirmed that 16 member states had requested to opt out but had said that the number could rise ahead of the 3 October deadline.

Source: Food Navigator, 5 October 2015.

BGI in Shenzhen, the genomics institute that is famous for a series of high-profile breakthroughs in genomic sequencing, originally created the micropigs as models for human disease, by applying a gene-editing technique to a small breed of pig known as Bama. On 23 September, at the Shenzhen International Biotech Leaders Summit in China, BGI revealed that it would start selling the pigs as pets. The animals weigh about 15 kilograms when mature, or about the same as a medium-sized dog.

Source: Nature News, 29 September 2015.

The Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food will now send an official request to ban the cultivation of eight GM varieties to the European Commission before the deadline of 3 October 2015.

Source: Sustainable Pulse, 29 September 2015.

Serbia will not allow cultivation of GMO seed on its plots, State Secretary in the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Danilo Golubovic said on September 28th. This is the official stand of the incumbent government and it will never change for as long as the current government structure remains in power, Golubovic told Tanjug.

Source: InSerbia, September 28, 2015.

Nineteen of the 28 EU member states have applied to keep genetically modified crops out of all or part of their territory, the bloc's executive arm said Sunday, the deadline for opting out of new European legislation on GM crops.The EU nations had until October 3 to seek an opt-out which would give them the opportunity to ban GM crops already authorised as safe for cultivation, or under consideration, by the European Union.

Source: PhysOrg, 4 October 2015.

Austrian Health Minister Sabine Oberhauser and a number of Italian Ministries have confirmed that both countries are officially requesting an opt-out from growing the eight varieties of  GM maize permitted or set to be permitted at the EU level, thus there will now be a full ban on GM crops in both countries under new EU regulations.

Source: Sustainable Pulse, 28 September 2015.

Malta should utilise EU opt-out and join Austria and Italy in declaring Malta a GMO-free zone, the Green Party said. Simon Galea, the party’s spokesperson for animal welfare and agriculture, held that apart from the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food chain, GMO crop cultivation pose other major threats including cross pollination, something which is particularly relevant to small countries such as Malta.

Source: Malta Today, 28 September 2015.

Sinds 2014 is het zogeheten Nagoya protocol voor access and benefit sharing van kracht. Organisaties die wilde zaden, bacteriën of ander genetisch materiaal uit het buitenland halen voor onderzoek of ontwikkeling moeten nu contracten sluiten met de landen van herkomst. Het Centrum voor Genetische Bronnen Nederland (CGN) van Wageningen UR, heeft in opdracht van het Ministerie van Economische Zaken een informatieloket opgezet: het ABS National Focal Point.

Bron: Wageningen UR Nieuws, 23 september 2015.

Genetically modified crops have been prohibited in Northern Ireland. Stormont’s Minister for the Environment Mark H Durkan said: “I remain unconvinced of the advantages of GM crops and I consider it prudent to prohibit their cultivation here for the foreseeable future.”

Source: The Irish Times, 25 September 2015.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is part of the federal government’s Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, a system first devised three decades ago. The USDA is dealing with an increase in request for non regulated status of GM crops with new technology and complaints about overregulation of GM crops and technologies with proven track records of safety at the same time. For these reasons the White House has started updating the Coordinated Framework.

Source: ISB News Report, August/September 2015.

According to new research, global biofuels capacity will grow to 61 billion gallons per year (231 bln litres). Ethanol and biodiesel will continue to dominate with 96 percent of the capacity in 2018, but novel fuels and novel feedstocks will be major drivers of capacity growth, according to the report titled, “Biofuels Outlook 2018: Highlighting Emerging Producers and Next-generation Biofuels.”

Source: Domestic Fuel, 23 September 2015.

Researchers from Ghent University succeeded in stabilizing folates in biofortified rice. They claim this rice  can offer a solution to serious health problems caused by folate deficiency in developing countries. They applied two strategies for the folate to remain stable for long storage. The first strategy involved binding folates with a folate binding protein. The second strategy consisted of the stimulation of the last step in folate production, which extends the tail of the folate molecule. This promotes cellular retention and binding to folate dependent proteins. Aside from enhancing folate stability, the new gene combinations also increased folate levels by up to 150-fold than those found in regular rice.

Source: Universiteit Gent, 21 September 2015.       

The International Rice Research Institute announced that the 3,000 Rice Genomes Project (3K RGP) has successfully sequenced 3,024 rice varieties from 89 countries. This big data is a massive source of information for understanding the natural genetic variation in rice and for discovery of novel genes linked to economically important traits. It is expected that this project will help speed up the development of better rice varieties to provide food for the growing world population. The desirable traits for improvement in rice include nutritional quality, tolerance to pest and diseases, resistance to flood and drought, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: IRRI, September 2015.

The Russian government will ban production of goods using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said. Russian authorities have been tightening rules against GMOs for some time. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia would not import GMO products, and the government approved a draft law banning GMO cultivation, except for research purposes, in early 2015, Prime reported.

Dvorkovich, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, said that Russia would not resort to using GMOs to boost agricultural output, and that Russia has "chosen a different path" to boost crop yields.

Source: The Moscow Times, 21 September, 2015.

Results from the newest USDA survey indicate that of the organic farmers who chose to answer the question, 92 had experienced monetary loss between 2011 and 2014 averaging approximately $66,395 per farmer during that timeframe. Overall, GMO presence cost organic farmers at least $6.1 million over four years. This figure is 77 times that reported during the 2006 to 2011 timeframe—a staggering increase.

Source: Food & Water Watch, 22 September 2015.

China currently depends on foreign (GM) imports to fill its burgeoning soybean demand. Researchers at Michigan State University took a first look at how China’s soybean farmers are reacting when their crop struggles in the global market.

The full paper is:

Jing Sun, Wenbin Wu, Huajun Tang, Jianguo Liu. Spatiotemporal patterns of non-genetically modified crops in the era of expansion of genetically modified food. Scientific Reports, 2015; 5: 14180 DOI: 10.1038/srep14180, www.nature.com/articles/srep14180less

Source: Michigan State University, 18 September 2015.

The Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum has moved to court in a bid to stop the government from lifting the  ban on genetically modified organisms

Source: KBC, 18 September 2015.

France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place. The European Union's largest grain grower and exporter has asked the European Commission for France to be excluded from some GM maize crop cultivation under the new scheme, the farm and environment ministries said in a joint statement.

Source: Reuters, 18 September 2015.

Members of the US Biotech Crops Alliance (industry) wrote a letter urging President Barack Obama to encourage the Chinese government to expedite the approval of biotech crops. In the letter, the group requested that the president press Chinese President Xi Jinping to create a "transparent, predictable and practical approach to both biotechnology approvals and imports of grains and oilseeds that may contain crop biotechnology.

Source: Agri Pulse, 11 September 2015.

The IPAFEED database – a key deliverable of the EU-funded MARLON project – contains searchable data for monitoring possible impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops on the health of livestock animals. Through providing guidance and the means to closely monitor GM feed-related risks in livestock, the project seeks to help regulators and the food supply chain ensure that any such health risks can be identified early and effectively.

Source: IPAFEED, 16 September 2015.

A new analysis by the Synthetic Biology Project at the Wilson Center finds the Defense Department and its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funds much of the U.S. government’s research funding in synthetic biology, with less than 1 percent of total federal funding going to risk research.

The report, U.S. Trends in Synthetic Biology Research, finds that between 2008 and 2014, the United States invested approximately $820 million dollars in synthetic biology research. In that time period, the Defense Department became a key funder of synthetic biology research. DARPA’s investments, for example, increased from near zero in 2010 to more than $100 million in 2014 – more than three times the amount spent by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The report can be downloaded here

Source: Wilson Center, 16 September 2015.

Lativia and Greece have chosen the “opt-out” clause of a European Union rule passed in March that allows member countries to abstain from growing GM crops, even if they are authorized by the EU. Scotland and Germany also made headlines in recent weeks for seeking a similar ban on GMOs. Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia’s and Greece’s request to not grow the crops. The company, however, accused the two countries of ignoring science and refusing GMOs out of “arbitrary political grounds.”

Source: Ecowatch, 7 September 2015.

The agriculture committee on Thursday rejected the Commission's draft law that would give member states the power to restrict or prohibit the use of EU-approved GM food or feed on their territory. It fears that arbitrary national bans could distort competition on the EU's single market and jeopardise the Union's food production sectors which are heavily dependent on imports of GM feed

Source: European Parliament News, 3 September 2015.

A monopoly on specific tomatoes with a higher content of healthy compounds known as flavonols was granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) to the Swiss company Syngenta. The patent covers the plants, the seeds and the fruits. Patent EP1515600 describes the crossing of wild tomatoes with domesticated varieties. The plants are not genetically engineered but derived from classical breeding.

Source: No Patents on Seeds, 27 August 2015.

Plans by Scotland, and possibly Germany, to ban genetically modified (GM) crops could prove a boon for farmers of conventional crops in these countries, but could also put further research at risk, analysts say.

Source: CNBC, 1 September 2015.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a potato genetically engineered by Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co. to resist the phytophthora infestans that still damages crops around the world.

Source: ABC News, 28 August 2015.

Chinese stem-cell scientists have welcomed long-awaited measures that, state media claim, will rein in rogue use of stem cells in clinics while allowing research. The measures — announced on 21 August by China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission through state media — offer a straightforward path towards clinical studies. But some also warn that the measures do not have the teeth needed to stop clinics offering unproven and unapproved treatments.

Source: Nature News, 26 August 2015.

German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has informed German state governments of his intention to tell the EU that Germany will make use of new "opt-out" rules to stop GMO crop cultivation even if varieties have been approved by the EU, a letter from the agriculture ministry seen by Reuters shows.

Source: Reuters, 27 August 2015.

Hailed for its simplicity and versatility, CRISPR allows scientists to make specific changes to a gene’s sequence more easily than ever before. Driven by an inventive spirit that inspires them to fiddle with yeast to alter the flavour of beer, build art installations out of bacteria or pursue serious basic-research questions, amateur Do-it-Yourself biologists cannot wait to try the technique.

Source: Nature, 26 August 2015.

Breakthroughs in the process of editing the human genome have scientists both "excited and terrified." What are the potential benefits and risks associated with altering human DNA and is science and society prepared for the ethical, moral, and policy questions raised by new technological capabilities? Public Policy Scholar Eleonore Pauwels helps us consider the implications of controlling the biological process in this edition of Wilson Center NOW (August 18, 2015).

Scientists from Ghent University, VIB, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) and partners released the results of their GM potato field study in the journal Crop Protection. The field trials of GM potatoes were conducted in Belgium and Netherlands to investigate the efficacy of adding one to three resistance genes in potatoes against last blight caused by Phytophthora infestans. Results showed that the tested genes have different contributions to resistance. They have identified a certain stack of genes from Solanum venturii, Solanum stoloniferum and Solanum bulbocastanum that provides the best resistance to late blight.

Source: VIB, 17 August 2015.

Scientists from the University of Maryland will report in the Journal of Theoretical Biology that they have isolated several different strains of bacteria that make high concentrations of biofuels from cellulosic biomass or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas. The authors isolated bacteria that make high concentrations of alcohols including ethanol and 1-butanol, and other strains that make hydrocarbons, like hexane and octane.  These compounds are similar to components already found in gasoline.

Source: Biofuels Digest, 16 August 2015.

A ban on growing genetically-modified crops in Scotland could threaten the country's contribution to scientific research, according to scientists, universities and farming leaders. Almost 30 organisations have signed an open letter seeking an urgent meeting with Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead to discuss their concerns.

Source: BBC 18 August 2015.

Cotton has been the major Mexican biotechnology success story. The Confederation of Mexican Cotton Associations (CMCA) stated that pesticide application has dropped by over 50 percent since the use of GE seeds while at the same time yields have increased dramatically. The binational program for the Eradication of Pink Bollworm and Boll Weevil include the use of GE seeds. Bt cotton directed against the pink bollworm has been used in Mexico since 1996. GE seed use covers about 95 percent of the planted area for cotton in the country.

Source: USDA GAIN Report Agri-Biotech in Mexico, 15 August 2015.

In a move aimed at boosting food production, Kenya's government said it will remove the country's biotech crop ban, which was implemented in 2012, in one to two months.

Source: The Standard, 13 August 2015.

Deep inside its labs, Monsanto is learning how to modify crops by spraying them with RNA rather than tinkering with their genes.

Source: MIT Technology Review, 11 August 2015.

US Right to Know of Oakland, California, filed a request under Washington's freedom-of-information law to see her correspondence with, or about, 36 organizations and companies. McGuire is one of 40 US researchers who have now been targeted by the group, which is probing what it sees as collusion between the agricultural biotechnology industry and academics who study science, economics and communication.

Source: Nature, 12 August 2015.

With its eight prehensile arms lined with suckers, camera-like eyes, elaborate repertoire of camouflage tricks and spooky intelligence, the octopus is like no other creature on Earth. Added to those distinctions is an unusually large genome, described in Nature¹ on 12 August, that helps to explain how a mere mollusc evolved into an otherworldly being.

Source: Nature, 12 August 2015.

Scottish ministers have been accused of ignoring scientific evidence after they announced plans to ban the growing of genetically modified crops in Scotland. The SNP government said that it was not prepared to "gamble" with the future of Scotland's £14 billion food and drink sector. But experts said the decision marked a "sad day" for science.

Source: The Herald Scotland, 10 August 2015.

Scottish ministers are planning to formally ban genetically modified crops from being grown in Scotland, widening a policy divide with the Conservative government in London. Ministers in Edinburgh are to apply to use recent EU powers that allow devolved administrations to opt out of a more relaxed regime, which is expected to increase commercial use of GM crops around the EU.

Source: The Guardian, 10 August 2015.

Biofuel consumption for transport in Europe saw a 6.1% increase in 2014, bolstered by a 7.8% increase in biodiesel use, according to estimates by EurObserv'ER. Meanwhile, bioethanol consumption in Europe only gained slightly in 2014, rising by 0.1%.

Source: The Brussels Times online, 3 August 2015.

The development of so-called “gene drive” technology promises to revolutionise medicine and agriculture because it can in theory stop the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses, such as malaria and yellow fever, as well as eliminate crop pests and invasive species such as rats and cane toads. In last week's Science a group of 27 leading geneticists call on the scientific community to be open and transparent about both the risks and benefits of gene drives.

The US National Academy of Sciences has initiated a review of the controversial gene drive technology.

Sources: Independent, 6 August 2015, Science, 17 july 2015, International Business Times, 4 August 2015.

Arcadia Biosciences received a patent in Europe for a genetic trait used to produce drought-resistant crops. The firm, which holds exclusive rights to develop the Water Use Efficiency trait, has used it in crops such as rice, corn, cotton and vegetables.

Source: American City Business Journals, July 30, 2015.