Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry (IPB) in Halle have used genetic engineering methods to produce purple tomatoes using dye from beetroot. The scientists smuggled the genes for the biosynthesis of betanin into the plants and activated them in the ripening fruits. Betanin is not originally formed in …
A group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University, and Guizhou University has found a genetic tweak that targets RNA to help grow crops that yield significantly more food and show increased drought tolerance Human RNA demethylase FTO is the first known protein that erases chemical marks on …
On June 3, 2021, botanist Simon Gilroy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison launched cotton seeds including genetically modified ones to the International Space Station (ISS) on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Gilroy and his team will study cotton seedlings grown on the ISS to better understand cotton growth. This is the …
An international group of experts led by the University of Copenhagen discovered how to regulate zinc in plants. This breakthrough could help pave the way to alleviating malnutrition worldwide. Zinc is one of the essential micronutrients for plants and animals because of its vital functions in many proteins. Zinc deficiency …
An international team of scientists has successfully developed cassava with high-level resistance to cassava mosaic disease (CMD), cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), as well as higher levels of iron and zinc. This is the first time that disease resistance and multiple biofortification traits have been stacked in this manner in …
Japanese researchers from Nagoya University, in partnership with Nanjing Agricultural University, developed a method to increase simultaneously the nutrient uptake through the roots and stomatal opening of rice paddy to increase its yield with less use of fertilizer. The researchers created a new variety of field-grown rice paddy with an …
Researchers at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have led an international effort to develop wheat plants with a stronger and potentially more durable level of resistance against rust diseases by “stacking” five resistance genes together. This novel approach of building multiple layers of protection will make it …
Scientists led by a team from John Innes Centre (JIC) have developed a genetically modified (GM) tomato enriched with the Parkinson’s disease drug L-DOPA in what could become a new, affordable source of one of the world’s essential medicines. L-DOPA is produced from tyrosine, an amino acid found in many …
Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture has granted approval of Bioceres Crop Solutions’ HB4 wheat event for growth and consumption. The HB4 trait increases wheat yields by up to 20% and is currently the only drought tolerance technology for wheat and soybean crops in the world. Argentina is Latin America’s largest wheat …
Hanyang University scientists developed a pale purplish-pink Petunia using CRISPR-Cas9. Their findings are published in Plant Cell Reports. The research team performed site-specific mutagenesis in Petunia to change the flower color. The commercial Petunia cultivar ‘Madness Midnight’ has been known to have two F3H coding genes and thus they designed …
