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11-28-2007 French President Sarkozy announced a temporary ban on the cultivation on corn hybrids containing Mon 810.
10-25-2007 A report from the European Commission's Agricultural directorate states that Europe may be cut off from its North and South American feed suppliers within two years if North and South American farmers start planting second-generation GMO varieties of corn and soybean.
10-24-2007 Natural Genetic Engineering is widespread. Genetic engineering is the transfer of genes from one species to another and researchers at Univ. of Rochester and the J.Craig Venter Institute report that bacterial to animal gene transfer is widespread.
10-10-2007 The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to a Japanese researcher for her paper on the extraction of vanillin from cow dung.
10-9-2007 The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to Brian Witcombe and Dan Meyer for their article on the side effects of sword swallowing.
10-4-2007 Japanese scientists have produced mice with two mothers, thus eliminating the need for men.
8-29-2007 USDA awarded $97 M in guaranteed loans for renewable energy projects in GA, IL and NC.
8-28-2007 Thailand's ag minister is petitioning the Cabinet to lift the country's ban on GM crops.
7-16-2007 Field trials of GM crops in India that were halted by court order in 2006 have been restarted under more stringent over sight.
7-12-2007 Scientists have discovered that Viagra can ward off the effect of jet lag in hamsters.
7-10-2007 Dr. Phil Nelson of Purdue Food Science, won the 2007 World Food Prize for his research in aseptic processing. The World Food Prize is agriculture's highest award.
7-2-2007 Currently, there are more than 300 bioethanol plants in Brazil and by year's end there will be approximately 400.
6-7-2007 There are 400 miles of vasculature supply to the brain.
5-31-2007 Benefit of Roundup (R). According to USDA, since 1998 the sales of all herbicides including glyphosate have declined by 20%.
5-21-2007 Ag economists from the University of Missouri and University of California-Davis estimate that the compliance cost for new insect-resistant corn is between 7.1 and 15.4 million and herbicide-resistant corn ranges between 6.2 and 14.5 million dollars.
5-16-2007 According to Reuters, foods containing corn oil can now promote their products as a way to possibly reduce the risk of hear disease.
5-8-2007 University of Minnesota researchers have shown that Duct Tape is not an effective treatment for wart removal.
4-16-2007 According to BioCentury Publications, more than 10 million farmers worldwide planted transgenic crops.
4-12-2007 Researchers report that fisetin a flavonoid found in strawberries enhances memory in mice, but alas, you would have to eat 10 lbs of strawberries per day to obtain a benefit.
4-6-2007 A Federal Judge has halted transgenic grass field trials citing the risk of those grasses becoming established in protected grasslands.
3-2-2007 Researchers have discovered a mutation that makes golden cauliflower that is similar to golden rice in that it accumulates beta carotene, which gives the cauliflower its golden color.
2-26-2007 Bees make less than one-twelfth a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime.
2-23-2007 Plans for the $4.8 million Svalbard Global Seed Vault have been unveiled. The vault will preserve seeds for at least 200 years.
1-22-2007 The first GMO developed entirely in Africa is moving into field trials. The plants carry a mutated virus gene that hopefully will confer resistance to maize streak virus.
1-9-2007 According to CEN, the US will produce 9 billion gallons of ethanol in the next year or two. Ethanol has two-thirds the energy value of gasoline, so the 9 billion gallons translates to 6 billion gallons of gas or about 4.3% of the U.S. gasoline production.
12-20-2006 Last month, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture increased the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 20 to 23%.
12-4-2006 The Biotechnology Industry Organization reports that an additional five billion gallons per year of ethanol could be achieved by processing 30% of the available corn stover (CEN, 2006).
11-29-2006 Organic foods constitute 2% of all US food sales and reached $13.8 billion in 2005 (OTA, 2006).
11-10-2006 A new variant of H5N1 bird flu has arisen in China.
10-24-2006 Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries is setting up the country's first biotech center, which will focus on agriculture.
10-23-2006 A USDA task force urged for the modernization of its management of agricultural research. Following their recommendation, a bipartisan group in Congress has introduced legislation to create a National Institute of Food and Agriculture within USDA.
10-5-2006 Urbanization is not just a problem in the USA. By 2008, the number of people living in urban areas will surpass the number living in rural areas.
10-3-2006 Scientists at Xerox have developed a font that can help prevent forgery. The font is one-hundredth of an inch high.
9-29-2006 Climatologists seem to be in agreement predicting we will have a mild winter in the Midwest this season. However, early frosts are also predicted.
9-25-2006 Scientists from University of Queensland genetically engineered sugarcane with the sucrose isomerase gene. They found plants that yielded up to 100% more sucrose compared to traditional plant breeding, which had only increased sucrose levels by 1% over the last 50 years.
9-21-2006 The South African government has rejected an application to conduct GMO sorghum field trials.
9-05-2006 A tree that can reach 90 feet in six years and be grown as a row crop on fallow farmland could represent a major replacement for fossil fuels. Purdue University researchers are using genetic tools in an effort to design trees that readily and inexpensively can yield the substances needed to produce alternative transportation fuel.
9-1-2006 American Dietetic Association. "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that agricultural and food biotechnology techniques can enhance the quality, safety, nutritional value, and variety of food available for human consumption and increase the efficiency of food production, food processing, food distribution, and environmental and waste management. The ADA encourages the government, food manufacturers, food commodity groups, and qualified food and nutrition professionals to work together to inform consumers about this new technology and encourage availability of these products in the marketplace."
8-29-2006 A U.S. Hawaiian district judge ruled that USDA broke environmental laws when it allowed GMO crops that produce pharmaceuticals to be grown on four Hawaiian islands. Stating that USDA did not fully investigate their impact on endangered species.
8-22-2006 Italian levulinic acid facility is the first to make a biomass-based chemical feedstock. Levulinic acid is made from cellulose and can be blended with diesel or gasoline to make cleaner burning fuels.
8-15-2006 Patent Ruling. The Federal Circuit has found that once a patent is determined to be infringed, that a permanent injunction should be issued. However the Supreme Court has found error in the Federal Circuit's granting of permanent injunctions. The ruling now requires a plaintiff to satisfy a four-part test for an injunction.
8-15-2006 Canada geese are thriving in most areas and a single 10-lb goose can produce 4 lbs of nitrate and phosphate rich manure per day.
7-31-2006 Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new low-cost system that analyzes scattered laser light to quickly identify bacteria for applications in medicine, food processing, and homeland security at 1/10th the cost of conventional technologies.
7-31-2006 A University of Arizona professor has invented a sticker that can tell consumers if a fruit or vegetable is ripe. The stickers will be available to growers next year and should make their way to supermarkets within 2 to 3 years.
7-31-2006 A San Francisco company is using molecular technology to develop a "wand" that consumers can stir in their coffee to pull out the caffeine. The company has patented the technology and is getting the process approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
7-31-2006 Steady release nitrogen. Georgia-Pacific researchers have developed Nitamin brand fertilizer, a blend of urea, short urea formaldehyde polymers and cyclic urea compounds.  The compounds are broken down by soil micro organisms at different rates and release nitrogen for 60-90 days.
7-13-2006 According to an article in Science, researchers theorize that the decrease in crop yields from the proposed increased temperature and drought associated with global warming will be off-set by increased carbon dioxide levels.
6-26-2006 Jeremy Rifkin quotes. Jeremy Rifkin is now in favor of marker-assisted selection with certain caveats. "That is what I'm going to hammer away on: MAS should be phased in on the condition of an agroecological approach and open source." "We've seen too much how the patent system restricts the cooperative nature in science." Rifkin does argue that GM crops should be phased out.
6-16-2006 The “apple” body shape that increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease may be accelerated by eating trans fats such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, according to new research.
6-8-2006 Scientists claim there are 10 trillion micro-organisms living in our small intestines.
5-31-2006 African elephants eat between 150 - 170 kg of food and drink up to 200 liters of water per day.
5-18-2006 Chromosome 1, the final chapter in the Human Genome Project has been published.
5-12-2006 Goldman Sachs has invested $27 million in Iogen, who operates the world's only cellulose ethanol plant. The plant produces 3-4 million liters of ethanol a day from 40 tons of straw.
5-3-2006 There is roughly two meters of DNA in every human cell.
5-01-2006 Sales of “unhealthy” foods have fallen by up to 40% since supermarkets started revealing fat, salt, and sugar content on labels.
4-21-2006 According to the American Petroleum Institute, in the first week of April, 40% of the US produced gasoline was blended with ethanol, up from 33%.
4-19-2006 According to the National Confectioners Association, Americans annually consume upwards of 90 million pounds of marshmallows.
4-18-2006 Dow Agrisciences is moving to double the production of their no trans fat canola by 2007.
4-17-2006 This year is the 60th anniversary of the invention of the bikini by a French automotive engineer.
4-13-2006 According to the International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development, about 95 million hectares of arable land in Africa have degraded and are losing nutrients a the highest rate in the world.
4-12-2006 The Department of Energy is revising its Genomics program to concentrate on bioenergy research.
4-7-2006 IMS Health is reporting that prescription drug sales are up 5.4%.
4-4-2006 There are over 800 compounds that affect the taste of a typical beer.
3-31-2006 Pfizer has received approval for Exubera and inhaled powder to treat adult type 1 and 2 diabetes.
3-28-2006 Oxford BioMedica (UK) has expressed interferon beta-1a in the whites of eggs laid by transgenic hens.
3-24-2006 Scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference announced that the first samples returned from a comet were not dust that aggregated in the frigid fringes but bits of rock forged under extreme heat.
3-22-2006 NaturalNano is developing a nanotechnology-based paint, which they say can lock out cell phone signals on demand.
3-21-2006 USDA issued the first market license to a veterinary vaccine produce in plant cells. The vaccine was produce in transformed tobacco cells in a indoor, production system not in the field.
3-17-2006 According to Science and Engineering Indicators, since 1990 China and the United States have doubled their percentage of manufacturing derived from high-tech products. Europe and Japan have seen little change.
3-16-2006 Brazil has recently carried out negotiations with Japan to export ethanol. Brazil's ability to produce high volume, low-cost sugarcane gives Brazil a competitive advantage.
3-15-2006 The red, pink or purple color of Good & Plenty candy is derived from the female cochineal beetle. Consumer and organic advocates want FDA to require companies to disclose such information.
3-13-2006 An Austrian study shows that beer is as good as red wine and green tea for damping down arterial inflammation.
3-2-2006 Pioneer Hi-Bred announced they are going to open a research station in Brookings, SD.
2-27-2006 According to Fiscal Year 2007 Analytical Perspectives, the proposed 2007 Agricultural research funding is expected to be 16.5% lower than 2005 funding.
2-23-2006 China unveiled a new 15-year plan for R&D that boosts spending from $25 billion in 2004 to $110 billion in 2020.
2-22-2006 Bayer to acquire Icon Genetics, a biotech company that engineers plants aimed at creating pharmaceuticals.
2.-17-2006 Some wheat in Midwestern states has greened up as a result of unusually warm temperatures this winter. Although this may make wheat look good at this time of year, agronomists warn that such warm weather could spark insect and disease problems earlier than normal.
2-17-2006 Scientists and several companies are working with termites to convert wood, corn stalks, and other plant waste into sugars that are easily brewed into ethanol. According to the researchers, there are some 200 microbes that live in termite bellies that help the household pest convert wood into energy. For details, see http://kutv.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_044120427.html
2-13-2005 A French judge acquitted 49 activists who destroyed field trials of GMO crops south of Paris. The judge said they acted out of necessity to prevent GMO contaminated seeds from "harming" the environment.
2-3-2006 According to BP, credible studies show that biofuels could supply 30% of the global energy demand without affecting food production.
2-01-2006 New research from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, suggests that consumption of apple juice may protect against cell damage that contributes to age-related memory loss.
2-01-2006 Scientists at the U.K.’s leading plant science center have uncovered a gene that could help to develop new varieties of crop that will be able to cope with the changing world climate.
2-01-2006

New data show that proanthocyanidins found in cranberries inhibit the growth of lung tumors and colon and leukemia cells in vitro.
1-31-2006 In an article in Seed Technology, Egli et al. show that high temperature stress during soybean seed development can adversely affect seed vigor more than standard germination. Therefore a seed lot can have an acceptable standard germination but perform poorly due to lower vigor.
1-30-2006 According to ISAAA, world planting of biotech crops is still increasing. The global area of biotech crops has increased fro 4.2 million acres in 1996 to 222 million in 2005. The number of countries planting biotech crops also increased from 17 in 2004 to 21 in 2005. Five EU members, Spain, Germany, Portugal, France and Czech Republic now grow GMO corn.
1-23-2006 The bird flu virus causing an outbreak in Turkey appears to be changing. Three mutations have been found, and scientists believe that two of these make it easier for the virus to spread between humans.
1-23-2006 The USDA announced the award of $10 million to the University of Illinois to obtain a draft sequence of the pig genome. With more than 61 million pigs in the nation, the sequence of the pig genome will have a significant effect on U.S. agriculture.
1-23-2006 The first soybean rust of 2006 was detected on two kudzu patches in the city of Montgomery, Alabama.  For details, see http://www.stopsoybeanrust.com/viewStory.asp?StoryID=670
1-20-2006 Researchers are attempting to purify the healthy compounds in beer so they can be manufactured and sold as nutritional supplements. This sounds like a bad idea to me.
1-16-2006 According to results of a recent study, a major cause of overeating is eating too many flavors all at once, triggering the hypothalamus in the brain to ask for more food. For details, see http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=35869
1-16-2006 Researchers in Germany have shown for the first time how genetically modified maize could be a cost-effective way of tackling iron deficiency in developing countries. For details, see http://www.agbios.com/news.php
1-16-2006 Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three fluorescent pigs that glow in the dark and are green all the way through, including internal organs. Researchers hope the pigs will boost the country’s stem cell research, as well as help with the study of human disease. For details, see http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20060112-11293000-bc-taiwan-glowingpigs.xml
1-12-2006 There are 129 known microbial species that inhabit the human stomach.
1-11-2006 ADM has plans to build a large-scale facility that will make propylene glycol and ethylene glycol from corn and soybeans rather than the propylene and ethylene.
12-12-2005 This week Swiss voters approved a 5-year moratorium on the planting of GMO crops and the import of transgenic animals. GMO field trials and the importation of GMO foods is still permitted. Syngenta said its US-based GMO research will not be affected.
11-28-2005 University of Georgia and Monsanto scientists reported the presence of Roundup(R)  resistant pigweed in central Georgia.
11-21-2005 Turkeys. Turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 mph and run 20 mph. Turkeys can see movement almost 100 yards away.
11-17-2005 Researchers believe there have been at least three, independent transatlantic introductions of western corn rootworm from North America to Europe.
11-17-2005 Researchers have found a gene that confers resistance to Chinese soybean aphid.
11-11-2005 France GM field trials. After a six-year hiatus, the National Institute for Agricultural Research will resume field trials of genetically modified rootstocks designed to resist fanleaf nepovirus. The experiment was approved because no naturally occurring resistance genes have been found.
11-10-2005 European Commission. The EC is proposing a plan to make patent infringement a criminal rather than civil offense. The plan is being backed by big companies but opposed by biotech startups. The proposal also forbids the incitement of patent infringements, which could turn attorneys into defendants.
11-7-2005 Wine. Researchers have shown that resveratrol in red wine lowers levels of amyloid-beta peptides that cause the senile plagues of Alzheimer's patients. J. Biol. Chem.
11-04-2005 Allergy sufferers could find relief from sneezing and other symptoms with a new variety of rice being developed by a Japanese research team. The team has been working with a genetically modified strain of rice that incorporates an allergy-causing protein, which acclimates and thus immunizes the body against the allergen.
11-3-2005 Wine. French researchers have found a new class of bioactive compounds in oak-aged wine called ellagitannins. These anticancer agents are more potent than the commercially available anticancer agent Etoposide.
11-3-2005 Beer. A German Brewery has introduced a beer (6.3% alcohol) that contains 3 mg of natural nicotine per can. Drinking three cans of beer is comparable in nicotine intake to an entire pack of cigarettes.
10-17-2005 Last spring Brazil passed a biosafety bill designed to create a regulatory procedure for planting, harvesting and segregating GMO crops. According to Embrapa, segregation is not a technical issue but an economic one. Japan is paying 40% more for non-GMO Brazilian soybeans and there is worry on whether or not Europe will be willing to pay a higher premium for non-GMO beans. Europe imported $2.196 billion in Brazilian soybeans in the first half of 2005.
10-13-2005 A Federal Circuit Court has upheld the Patent Office's rejection of Monsanto's patent application containing approximately 32,000 maize ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags). The patent examiner rejected the application for lack of utility, enablement and written description, since ESTs provide no information about the full nucleic acid sequence or the translated protein associated with them.
10-12-2005 A Rhode Island man won the largest pumpkin contest with an entry of 1,443 pounds, just 3 pounds short of tying the world's record.
10-12-2005 Researchers at University of Tennessee have over expressed a plant gene whose expression confers kanamycin resistance. This is important for plant transformation because currently used antibiotic resistance genes are of bacterial origin. Switching to a plant gene would lower the risk of horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes.
10-11-2005 PENGUINS can generate eight times the intestinal pressure of humans so that they can expel their excrement away from their nest.
10-10-2005 The half life of DNA fragments in waste water ranges from 1 to 14 minutes.
10-7-2005 The Ig Nobel Prize in agriculture was awarded to Dr. James Watson of Massey University in New Zealand for his scholarly study entitled "The significance of Mr. Richard Buckley's exploding trousers." No comment necessary!
10-1-2005 GMO CHINA. China has increased the number of biosafety and environmental scientists on their State Agricultural Genetically Modified Crop Biosafety Committee, leaving some to wonder if China will take a more cautious approach to GMO commercialization.

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