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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/genetic-engineering/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Genetic Engineering</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/genetic-engineering/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Philippines hosts new Asia-Pacific hub for sustainable agriculture, cuisine</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/philippines-hosts-new-asia-pacific-hub-for-sustainable-agriculture-cuisine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/philippines-hosts-new-asia-pacific-hub-for-sustainable-agriculture-cuisine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2026 23:16:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/21223832/TMAP_DAY5-2005-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313204</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Climate Change, Culture, Environment, Food, food security, Genetic Engineering, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — For five days last November, the city of Bacolod in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental became a crossroads of food cultures from across Asia and the Pacific. The aroma of grilled seafood, fermented sauces, roasted coffee and freshly ground spices filled the air as farmers, chefs, food artisans, scientists, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — For five days last November, the city of Bacolod in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental became a crossroads of food cultures from across Asia and the Pacific. The aroma of grilled seafood, fermented sauces, roasted coffee and freshly ground spices filled the air as farmers, chefs, food artisans, scientists, fisherfolk, Indigenous leaders, researchers and policymakers gathered to talk about seeds, soil, culture and survival. The event marked the first Asia-Pacific convergence of the global Slow Food movement, bringing together more than 2,000 delegates from 20 countries in Bacolod. The participants were drawn by shared concerns over biodiversity loss, climate change, and the future of food systems across the region. Organized by the international NGO Slow Food, which advocates for good, clean and fair food for all, in collaboration with Philippines partners, the gathering sought to strengthen regional networks around agroecology, a sustainable farming approach that integrates ecology, Indigenous knowledge, and social action, while showcasing food cultures rooted in local ecosystems. “This is a space where communities, ingredients, and ideas come together to shape the future of food,” Edward Mukiibi, president of Slow Food, told Mongabay, describing it as both a cultural platform and a venue for confronting urgent environmental challenges. Myrna Pula, a T’boli Indigenous leader from the southern Philippines, showcases heirloom rice varieties that have sustained her community and culture for generations. Image by Keith Anthony Fabro for Mongabay. Hub for &#8216;good, clean and fair&#8217; food A key outcome of the gathering was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/philippines-hosts-new-asia-pacific-hub-for-sustainable-agriculture-cuisine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/philippines-hosts-new-asia-pacific-hub-for-sustainable-agriculture-cuisine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313204</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Campaigners celebrate as firm making first-ever GMO fish ceases operations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/campaigners-celebrate-as-firm-making-first-ever-gmo-fish-ceases-operations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/campaigners-celebrate-as-firm-making-first-ever-gmo-fish-ceases-operations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2024 02:56:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/27162905/2-1-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, AquaBounty Technologies became the first company in North America, and likely the world, to get regulatory approval to sell a genetically engineered animal for human consumption. Its Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), spliced with genes from other fish, held promise because it could grow much faster than conventional farmed salmon. However, the demand for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, AquaBounty Technologies became the first company in North America, and likely the world, to get regulatory approval to sell a genetically engineered animal for human consumption. Its Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), spliced with genes from other fish, held promise because it could grow much faster than conventional farmed salmon. However, the demand for the genetically engineered fish turned out not to be all that bountiful. The Massachusetts-based firm, which is publicly listed, announced on Dec. 11 that it was closing its last facility, ceasing fish farming activities, and culling remaining stock. “We have been working for over a year to raise capital, including the sale of our farms and equipment. Unfortunately, these efforts have not generated enough cash to maintain our operating facilities,” David Frank, chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer at AquaBounty, said in a statement. A coalition of conservation and Indigenous groups that had campaigned against AquaBounty celebrated the announcement, saying the company’s work posed environmental and public health risks. “It&#8217;s clear that there&#8217;s no place in the U.S. market for genetically engineered salmon,” Dana Perls, a senior program manager at Friends of the Earth (FoE) U.S., told Mongabay. “People don&#8217;t want to eat it.” AquaBounty’s proponents, which include biotechnology researchers, contend that the campaign groups engaged in fearmongering. They argue that the salmon was completely safe and more sustainably produced than some farmed alternatives. Experts on both sides of the debate said the company’s failure may set an important precedent by showing other&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/campaigners-celebrate-as-firm-making-first-ever-gmo-fish-ceases-operations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/campaigners-celebrate-as-firm-making-first-ever-gmo-fish-ceases-operations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In sub-Saharan Africa, ‘forgotten’ foods could boost climate resilience, nutrition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sub-saharan-africa-forgotten-foods-could-boost-climate-resilience-nutrition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sub-saharan-africa-forgotten-foods-could-boost-climate-resilience-nutrition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jul 2024 18:17:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia GeibElodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/26142733/DSCF0434-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285144</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, Niger, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Genetic Engineering, Impact Of Climate Change, and Seed Dispersal]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For many people across sub-Saharan Africa, Cleome gyandra, commonly known as the spider plant, is not food: it’s a weed. A tall, leggy plant with stars of almond-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers, the spider plant is particularly common in Southern and East African countries. Yet until recently, it was a “forgotten” crop: sometimes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For many people across sub-Saharan Africa, Cleome gyandra, commonly known as the spider plant, is not food: it’s a weed. A tall, leggy plant with stars of almond-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers, the spider plant is particularly common in Southern and East African countries. Yet until recently, it was a “forgotten” crop: sometimes eaten by rural people for subsistence, but for the most part neglected in larger food systems. This, even though its peppery, mustard-flavored leaves and stems are rich in vitamins, minerals and nutrients — and the fact it may prove more resilient than other staples in a region rapidly being transformed due to climate change. The spider plant is one of 52 crops identified in a 2023 study recently awarded the prestigious Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study examined “forgotten” crops that may help make sub-Saharan food systems more resilient, and more nutritious, as climate change makes it harder to grow the maize, rice, cassava and yams that the region currently relies on. “The changing environment, together with the need to diversify the food system and to chase away some of the health issues that we are having now, should trigger us to change the way we grow things, the way we eat,” says co-author Enoch Achigan-Dako, director of the Genetics, Biotechnology &amp; Seed Sciences Laboratory at Benin’s University of Abomey-Calavi. “The diversity we need is already available.” The researchers began by looking at the present and future&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sub-saharan-africa-forgotten-foods-could-boost-climate-resilience-nutrition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/in-sub-saharan-africa-forgotten-foods-could-boost-climate-resilience-nutrition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285144</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Transgenics contaminate a third of Brazil’s traditional corn in semiarid region</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/transgenics-contaminate-a-third-of-brazils-traditional-corn-in-semiarid-region/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/transgenics-contaminate-a-third-of-brazils-traditional-corn-in-semiarid-region/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2023 08:39:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adriana Amâncio]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/29204701/Milho-crioulo-na-sede-do-banco-mae-prestes-a-ser-beneficiado-Foto-Arquivo-ASPT-A-e1693342190741-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272736</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Botany, Conservation, Culture, Drought, Ecology, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Forest Products, Forests, Genetic Engineering, Green, Indigenous Peoples, International Trade, Reforestation, Sustainability, Technology, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study identified the presence of up to seven transgenic genes in single seeds of traditional, or “creole” corn from more than 1,000 samples collected in 10% of the towns in Brazil’s Caatinga.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eighteen years after transgenic crops were legalized in Brazil, a new study has warned that traditional corn crops in Brazil’s semiarid Northeast are increasingly contaminated. The study found that of the 1,097 samples collected in 138 municipalities in the Northeast, more than a third contained genetically modified genes, and that in some cases, up to seven different types of transgenic genes were found in a single seed. To be more specific, the spread of transgenic contamination in traditional species reduces biodiversity. This makes Brazil more vulnerable to climate changes, pests and other challenges that crops may face. If the species continue to lose their individual characteristics, the tendency will be for fewer or no naturally adapted varieties that can resist certain types of pests or be resilient under certain climate conditions. The resulting impact will be significant because Brazil is rich in its diversity of this type of grains: There are 23 strains of corn and hundreds of other varieties in the country. Each “race” is a set of related corn varieties. However, according to Embrapa data, 90% of all the corn cultivated in Brazil is transgenic. In addition, the semiarid region where the study was carried out is home to endemic corn species, meaning species that grow only in that region. This is notable because the rainfall in the semiarid area is concentrated into four or five months out of the year, a pattern that has altered with climate change. Therefore, raising species adapted to the region increases the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/transgenics-contaminate-a-third-of-brazils-traditional-corn-in-semiarid-region/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/transgenics-contaminate-a-third-of-brazils-traditional-corn-in-semiarid-region/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-272736</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetically engineered trees stoke climate hope — and environmental fears</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2023 16:05:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliette Portala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/27113318/Arizona-trees-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271436</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Drones, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Genetic Engineering, Research, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“O poplar tree, O poplar tree, how carbon-dense are thy branches …” Trees are a major tool in our fight against climate change by sucking up carbon dioxide, but one company is taking them a step further: genetically engineering trees to sequester even more carbon. U.S. climate technology startup Living Carbon is developing genetically engineered [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“O poplar tree, O poplar tree, how carbon-dense are thy branches …” Trees are a major tool in our fight against climate change by sucking up carbon dioxide, but one company is taking them a step further: genetically engineering trees to sequester even more carbon. U.S. climate technology startup Living Carbon is developing genetically engineered seedlings of a hybrid poplar that it says can accumulate up to 53% more biomass than control plants and thereby absorb 27% more carbon. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar, a process known as photosynthesis. Living Carbon says its trees, a hybrid of the common aspen (Populus tremula) and white poplar (P. alba), can do it better with genetic changes to boost its photosynthetic performance. This solution emphasizes the potential role of synthetic biology in climate adaptation and carbon removal, and while the tweaking of trees’ genome has many proponents, not everyone is convinced. Critics warn these GE trees could lead to environmental damage and spread outside of plantation areas. The U.S. government has approved the commercial planting of Living Carbon’s GE trees. Image courtesy of Living Carbon. Sucking carbon, slowing decay Founded in 2019, Living Carbon has started strong. After collecting $15 million in seed fundingA and receiving a $500,000 grant from the U.S. government in 2021, the San Francisco-based group raised $21 million, pledging to capture 604 million metric tons of CO2 — or 1.7% of 2021 global annual emissions — from 2023 to 2030. Humans&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271436</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stem cells may make ‘impossible possible’ for near-extinct Sumatran rhino</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/stem-cells-may-make-impossible-possible-for-near-extinct-sumatran-rhino/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/stem-cells-may-make-impossible-possible-for-near-extinct-sumatran-rhino/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Nov 2022 05:02:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/29114855/kertam-mud-forward-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262606</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, Germany, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Forests, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, In-situ Conservation, Mammals, Megafauna, Poaching, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Sumatran Rhino, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A method to produce new living cells from a dead Sumatran rhinoceros is being developed by wildlife scientists in Germany in an effort to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered species. Researchers at the German Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine are developing the method to potentially produce viable spermatozoa for breeding purposes of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A method to produce new living cells from a dead Sumatran rhinoceros is being developed by wildlife scientists in Germany in an effort to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered species. Researchers at the German Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine are developing the method to potentially produce viable spermatozoa for breeding purposes of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), according to an official statement published Nov. 8. They have used the skin samples of the last male rhino in Malaysia, known as Kertam, who died in May 2019, to grow stem cells and mini-brains as reported in their recently published paper in the journal iScience. “Even though our work is attempting to make the seemingly impossible possible — to ensure the survival of animals that would otherwise probably disappear from our planet — it must remain an exception and not become the rule,” Vera Zywitza, a scientist at the Berlin-based biomedical research institution who is the lead author of the study, said in the statement. Kertam, a young male Sumatran rhinoceros from Borneo whose genome was sequenced for this study. Image by Scubazoo. The Sumatran rhino used to roam many forests in the Southeast Asian region, but poaching and habitat loss have brought the species to the brink of extinction. Official estimates suggest that fewer than 80 rhinos remained in the world, and they all currently live in Indonesia in the wild, and some in a sanctuary. Their population is also threatened especially by low breeding rates in nature,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/stem-cells-may-make-impossible-possible-for-near-extinct-sumatran-rhino/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262606</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community-based seed banks in Nepal help conserve native species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/community-based-seed-banks-in-nepal-help-conserve-native-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/community-based-seed-banks-in-nepal-help-conserve-native-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2022 16:50:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/14160927/C0044T01-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258236</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Farming, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MARAMCHE, NEPAL— The monsoon clouds that arrive in Nepal in the first week of June herald the start of the rice-planting season. The country&#8217;s hills, valleys and plains turn green as farmers take to their muddy fields to start sowing the crop that will feed them for the whole year. As most farmers turn to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MARAMCHE, NEPAL— The monsoon clouds that arrive in Nepal in the first week of June herald the start of the rice-planting season. The country&#8217;s hills, valleys and plains turn green as farmers take to their muddy fields to start sowing the crop that will feed them for the whole year. As most farmers turn to the market for seeds they hope will give them the maximum yield, Krishna Prasad Adhikari and other residents of the village of Maramche in Gandaki province, western Nepal, are opting for a variety that won’t necessarily do that. They’ve settled on a native rice variety well suited for the high altitude and wet climate. &#8220;We are trying to save our heritage,&#8221; says Adhikari, secretary of the Maramche Community Seed Bank, established in 2020 to conserve local 12 varieties of crops that include rice, cucumbers and maize. &#8220;We have understood the importance of saving local varieties for future generations,&#8221; Adhikari says. Among the crops, he takes particular pride in the cold-resistant variety of rice. Until three years ago, Adhikari and his neighbors didn&#8217;t know that saving local varieties was important. Things changed when Adhikari got the opportunity to attend a meeting of Nepal&#8217;s national association of community seed banks in Kathmandu. It was here that he understood the importance of native seeds and crops, and decided to join the movement, already in its 25th year. The farmers learned that these varieties were not only tolerant to extreme weather and pests, but the conservation of their genetic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/community-based-seed-banks-in-nepal-help-conserve-native-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258236</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>GM fish engineered to glow in the dark are found in Brazil creeks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2022 07:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/05080014/GM-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-Brazil-creeks-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254429</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquariums, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Genetic Engineering, Invasive Species, Pet Trade, Pets, Rivers, Tropics, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of Brazil’s most threatened biomes, the Atlantic Forest, now faces a new hazard: genetically modified zebrafish that glow in the dark. Despite these so-called GloFish being officially banned in the country, researchers caught specimens in all five sampled headwater creeks in the southeastearn Paraíba do Sul River Basin. The basin covers 55,500 square kilometres [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of Brazil’s most threatened biomes, the Atlantic Forest, now faces a new hazard: genetically modified zebrafish that glow in the dark. Despite these so-called GloFish being officially banned in the country, researchers caught specimens in all five sampled headwater creeks in the southeastearn Paraíba do Sul River Basin. The basin covers 55,500 square kilometres (21,400 square miles) across the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and is considered the Brazilian watershed that has been the most heavily impacted by human activity. “I am very concerned because these non-native fish can have serious ecological impacts, such as competing [with native fish] over food and predating native fish,” André Magalhāes, a biologist at the Federal University of São João del-Rei in Minas Gerais state and lead author of a recently published study, told Mongabay in an email. Some of the native fish could be driven into extinction by these GloFish and other introduced species, he said. “Apart from many species of non-native fish, we now have non-native hybrid fish and, worst of all, non-native genetically modified fish, like the transgenic zebra fish [in our water courses].” A Galactic Purple Shark, one of several strains of genetically modified rainbow shark (Epalzeorhynchos frenatum). Image by Ccm272 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). This study, Magalhães said, is the first to explore life-history strategies of genetically modified zebrafish (Danio rerio) in the wild. These fish feed on the insects and zooplankton that native fish also eat, putting them in direct&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/gm-fish-engineered-to-glow-in-the-dark-are-found-in-brazil-creeks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254429</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, a messy breakup with hybrid seeds is good news for organic farming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/in-nepal-a-messy-breakup-with-hybrid-seeds-is-good-news-for-organic-farming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/in-nepal-a-messy-breakup-with-hybrid-seeds-is-good-news-for-organic-farming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2022 16:29:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Johan Augustin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/15213939/GMO017_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252730</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Cities, Climate Change, Community Development, Farming, Food, Genetic Engineering, Mountains, Pesticides, Subsistence Agriculture, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAVREPALANCHOK, Nepal — Ram Shrestha is spraying pesticide on his potato plants next to a paved road. The cracked earth seems lifeless here in this part of Kavrepalanchok district, a couple of hours’ drive east of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. Since 2004, farmers here and elsewhere in Nepal have sown hybrid seeds distributed by Monsanto, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAVREPALANCHOK, Nepal — Ram Shrestha is spraying pesticide on his potato plants next to a paved road. The cracked earth seems lifeless here in this part of Kavrepalanchok district, a couple of hours’ drive east of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. Since 2004, farmers here and elsewhere in Nepal have sown hybrid seeds distributed by Monsanto, and increasingly from producers in neighboring India and China. They’ve also had to use more chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the process — something that critics of hybrid and genetically modified seeds, also known as GMO seeds, say is common where these varieties of crops are cultivated. “I know it’s bad to use it,” Ram says, “but if I don’t spray, there won’t be any potatoes at all.” Ram Shrestha is spraying pesticides on some potato plants in Nepal&#8217;s Kavre-district. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay. This preference for hybrids may be slowly changing among Nepali farmers. An outcry in 2011 over a plan to subsidize distribution of Monsanto hybrid seeds in three districts, including Kavrepalanchok, or Kavre, as it’s more commonly known, has seen the company lose ground to competitors. At the same time, more Nepali farmers and consumers are realizing the importance of growing organic crops — although they haven’t abandoned hybrids altogether. In the village of Khok Besi, in Kavre, fields of cauliflower cover the fertile soil. Karunga Tamang, a farmer, says shoppers at the local market often ask if the cauliflowers she sells are organic. It’s complicated: Even though Karunga  and most&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/in-nepal-a-messy-breakup-with-hybrid-seeds-is-good-news-for-organic-farming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252730</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land scarcity and disease threaten a multifaceted indigenous crop in Ethiopia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/land-scarcity-and-disease-threaten-a-multifaceted-indigenous-crop-in-ethiopia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/land-scarcity-and-disease-threaten-a-multifaceted-indigenous-crop-in-ethiopia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2020 09:30:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maheder Haileselassie Tadese]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/19090411/Enset_Maheder-Haileselassie_DSC_3156-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230422</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Crops, Encroachment, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Land Use Change, Plants, and Recycling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SIDAMA, Ethiopia — For Lidya Ashango and 14 million other Ethiopians, the false banana plant widely known as enset is a staple food and, on many occasions, a supplementary source of income. But it’s no longer easy to grow this crop in the southern part of the country, where land is scarce and plant disease [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SIDAMA, Ethiopia — For Lidya Ashango and 14 million other Ethiopians, the false banana plant widely known as enset is a staple food and, on many occasions, a supplementary source of income. But it’s no longer easy to grow this crop in the southern part of the country, where land is scarce and plant disease is inevitable. A mother of seven living in this southern town of Sidama, Ashango and her family have been growing, harvesting and processing enset as long as she can remember. Men plant the crop, but the women do the time-consuming and laborious work of producing food from the crop. By the time a well-tended crop is ready to harvest, three to four years after planting, the woman goes to the farm with a machete and cuts the false stem to scrape and separate it into a starchy pulp and a fiber. Lidiya Ashango, 35, harvests an enset plant in her backyard in Sidama, Ethiopia. Photo by Maheder Haileselassie Tadese. The pulp is covered with enset leaves and left in a pit to ferment for months before being used to make various bread and porridge dishes. Kocho, the fermented product to turn into bread, and bulla, the flour to be cooked into porridge, are among the dishes prepared by the women from the plant. The leaves are used for livestock feed and packaging. Although enset varieties are known to be found in other countries in Africa such as Uganda, this cultivation and fermentation process is largely known only&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/land-scarcity-and-disease-threaten-a-multifaceted-indigenous-crop-in-ethiopia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230422</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the first gene-edited reptile: An albino lizard</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/meet-the-first-gene-edited-reptile-an-albino-lizard/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/meet-the-first-gene-edited-reptile-an-albino-lizard/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2019 03:51:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/27122827/This-image-shows-an-albino-lizard-hatchling-CREDIT-Doug-Menke-e1566923830518-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=221901</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Florida]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Lizards, and Reptiles]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Think of a reptile that’s been genetically mutated, and Godzilla springs to mind. Or maybe ninja turtles. But the real thing is here, and it’s neither hell-bent on destroying Tokyo nor eating pizza in the sewers. Instead, it’s a pale, finger-sized lizard — the world’s first gene-edited reptile, researchers at the University of Georgia, U.S., [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Think of a reptile that’s been genetically mutated, and Godzilla springs to mind. Or maybe ninja turtles. But the real thing is here, and it’s neither hell-bent on destroying Tokyo nor eating pizza in the sewers. Instead, it’s a pale, finger-sized lizard — the world’s first gene-edited reptile, researchers at the University of Georgia, U.S., reported this week. In a paper published in the journal Cell Reports, Douglas B. Menke and his colleagues described how they made an albino version of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei), a species of lizard native to Cuba and the Bahamas. “Instead of performing gene-editing on fertilized eggs or single-cell embryos, we performed gene-editing on unfertilized eggs while they are still physically attached to the ovary of adult female lizards,” said Menke, a geneticist and developmental biologist. The first genetically modified animal was a transgenic mouse, created in 1974. But it was only seven years later that researchers could edit genes that were passed on to future generations. In the case of the albino lizard, the changes are inheritable. Though gene editing has been around for decades and the advent of CRISPR technology makes it easier and is more efficient to carry out, doing so in reptilian zygotes is particularly challenging. Researchers consider it best to make an edit when the embryo is newly formed. For animals that reproduce sexually, the target is usually a single cell at this stage. In reptiles, it’s difficult to pin down when fertilization actually happens, in large part due&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/meet-the-first-gene-edited-reptile-an-albino-lizard/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-221901</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Greenpeace fires back at Nobel laureates calling for end to campaign against genetically engineered food</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/greenpeace-fires-back-at-nobel-laureates-who-penned-open-letter-calling-for-end-to-campaign-against-gm-food/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/greenpeace-fires-back-at-nobel-laureates-who-penned-open-letter-calling-for-end-to-campaign-against-gm-food/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2016 18:24:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01200535/800px-Golden_Rice-497x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187413</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Environment, Genetic Engineering, and Industrial Agriculture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than 110 Nobel laureates have now signed on to an open letter calling for an end to the efforts led by Greenpeace opposing the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in agriculture. The letter is addressed not just to Greenpeace but also to the United Nations and “Governments around the world.” After noting that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than 110 Nobel laureates have now signed on to an open letter calling for an end to the efforts led by Greenpeace opposing the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in agriculture. The letter is addressed not just to Greenpeace but also to the United Nations and “Governments around the world.” After noting that the UN Food &amp; Agriculture Program projects that global production of food, feed, and fiber will need to double by 2050 in order to meet the demands of the growing global population, the Nobel laureates write: “Organizations opposed to modern plant breeding, with Greenpeace at their lead, have repeatedly denied these facts and opposed biotechnological innovations in agriculture. They have misrepresented their risks, benefits, and impacts, and supported the criminal destruction of approved field trials and research projects.” In particular, the Nobel winners take issue with Greenpeace’s opposition to Golden Rice, a genetically modified crop that they say has the potential to “reduce or eliminate much of the death and disease caused by a vitamin A deficiency.” According to the letter, the World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 250 million people worldwide suffer from vitamin A deficiency, including 40 percent of children in the developing world who are under five years old. “We urge Greenpeace and its supporters to re-examine the experience of farmers and consumers worldwide with crops and foods improved through biotechnology, recognize the findings of authoritative scientific bodies and regulatory agencies, and abandon their campaign against &#8216;GMOs&#8217; in general&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/greenpeace-fires-back-at-nobel-laureates-who-penned-open-letter-calling-for-end-to-campaign-against-gm-food/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187413</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil poised to break global moratorium on GM Terminator seeds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/brazil-poised-to-break-global-moratorium-on-gm-terminator-seeds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/brazil-poised-to-break-global-moratorium-on-gm-terminator-seeds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2015 15:29:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/10/03143956/featured-Agro_PR_Trigo_em_Guarapuava-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Infrastructure]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Environment, Genetic Engineering, Monocultures, and Plantations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Government disarray often offers opportunities for lobby groups, and Brazil is no exception. With President Dilma Rousseff fighting for her political survival, as opposition politicians threaten to impeach her, the agribusiness lobby in the Brazilian Congress is moving to push through an amendment to the country’s Biosafety Law. That amendment would permit exemptions to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[March 2015 GM protest. A masked woman demonstrator stands beside a slogan that reads: &#8220;Women in the Struggle&#8221;. Nearly 1,000 women from Brazil&#8217;s Landless Movement (MST) occupied an agricultural research institute to protest against the planned introduction of GM eucalyptus trees into Brazil, 5 March 2015. Photo courtesy of MST Government disarray often offers opportunities for lobby groups, and Brazil is no exception. With President Dilma Rousseff fighting for her political survival, as opposition politicians threaten to impeach her, the agribusiness lobby in the Brazilian Congress is moving to push through an amendment to the country’s Biosafety Law. That amendment would permit exemptions to the ban on Terminator seeds. If approved, this amendment would make Brazil the first country in the world to legislate in favor of the commercial cultivation of crops with built-in sterility. Some environmentalists and activists fear that the amendment, which is being pushed through Congress with very little public discussion, could represent one of the most serious threats ever to Brazil’s biodiversity. What the agribusiness lobby wants is not new. Ever since the country’s Biosecurity Law (no. 11,105) was passed in 2005, the agribusiness lobby has been trying to amend it to allow the cultivation of Terminator plants. Terminator seeds, if approved, will be costly for small-scale farmers who may be driven out of business because they lack the money to pay for them. Photo by Antônio Cruz/ABr published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Brazil License It nearly succeeded in 2009, and was stopped only&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/brazil-poised-to-break-global-moratorium-on-gm-terminator-seeds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-152950</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Canary in the cornfield&#8217;: monarch butterfly may get threatened species status</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/canary-in-the-cornfield-monarch-butterfly-may-get-threatened-species-status/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/canary-in-the-cornfield-monarch-butterfly-may-get-threatened-species-status/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2014 20:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/09/canary-in-the-cornfield-monarch-butterfly-may-get-threatened-species-status/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Butterflies, Environment, Genetic Engineering, Green, Herbicides, Insects, Migration, and Population]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species declined 90 percent in 20 years Monarch butterflies were once a common sight throughout the North American heartland. In Mexico, where they overwinter, single trees would often be covered in thousands. But declines in milkweed – their caterpillars’ only source of food – have led to a 90 percent decline in monarch numbers. Now, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species declined 90 percent in 20 years Monarch butterflies were once a common sight throughout the North American heartland. In Mexico, where they overwinter, single trees would often be covered in thousands. But declines in milkweed – their caterpillars’ only source of food – have led to a 90 percent decline in monarch numbers. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is reviewing a petition that would grant the iconic species protection through the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The monarch (Danaus plexippus) is one of the world’s greatest insect migrators, flying 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) over four generations from breeding grounds as far north as Nova Scotia to forests in Mexico where they overwinter. However, fewer and fewer have been congregating in Mexico. Surveys conducted by scientists have tracked an overall steep decline over the past two decades. Monarch butterflies produce four generations every year. Most live only a few weeks, but the fourth generation lives several months in order to complete their journey. Photo by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson. “We’re at risk of losing a symbolic backyard beauty that has been part of the childhood of every generation of Americans,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The 90 percent drop in the monarch’s population is a loss so staggering that in human-population terms it would be like losing every living person in the United States except those in Florida and Ohio.” Researchers largely attribute the monarch decline to an uptick in the planting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/canary-in-the-cornfield-monarch-butterfly-may-get-threatened-species-status/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24722</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.S. citizens willing to spend billions to protect monarch butterflies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/u-s-citizens-willing-to-spend-billions-to-protect-monarch-butterflies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/u-s-citizens-willing-to-spend-billions-to-protect-monarch-butterflies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2014 22:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Paul Sutherland]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/04/u-s-citizens-willing-to-spend-billions-to-protect-monarch-butterflies/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Butterflies, Conservation, Environment, Genetic Engineering, Green, and Insects]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research shows most Americans place importance on the protection of the ailing monarch butterfly, which is experiencing a steep decline in numbers. The study, published in Conservation Letters, found nearly three-quarters of those surveyed support conservation efforts for the iconic species, and are willing to spend several billion dollars to help. The monarch is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New research shows most Americans place importance on the protection of the ailing monarch butterfly, which is experiencing a steep decline in numbers. The study, published in Conservation Letters, found nearly three-quarters of those surveyed support conservation efforts for the iconic species, and are willing to spend several billion dollars to help. The monarch is the official insect or butterfly of seven U.S. states, and is celebrated in a number of festivals held across North America. The annual migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is one of nature’s most beautiful sights. Millions of the insects migrate annually from the as far north as Nova Scotia all the way down to wintering grounds in the forests of Mexico, a journey of up to 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) that takes four generations. However, each year fewer and fewer monarch butterflies make the trip, as populations have been declining across North America for about 15 years. Recent surveys at the wintering grounds of monarchs in Mexico showed the lowest colony size ever recorded. A wintering mass of monarchs. Photo by: Raina Kumra. To estimate population size, researchers measured monarch numbers while they were assembled en mass at their wintering grounds. During the 2013-2014 winter season, the butterflies covered 0.67 hectares in Mexico’s forests, a drop of 44 percent from 2012. Overall, the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 hectares – nearly ten times higher than the 2013 estimation. Much of the decline in monarch numbers has been blamed on the loss of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/u-s-citizens-willing-to-spend-billions-to-protect-monarch-butterflies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25435</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migrating monarch butterflies hit shockingly low numbers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jan 2014 13:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biofuels, Butterflies, Corn, Environment, Farming, Genetic Engineering, Green, Habitat Loss, Insects, Invertebrates, and Migration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico&#8217;s forest, a drop of 44 percent from 2012 already perilously low population. To put this in perspective the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 or nearly ten times [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico&#8217;s forest, a drop of 44 percent from 2012 already perilously low population. To put this in perspective the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 or nearly ten times this year&#8217;s. For years conservationists feared that deforestation in Mexico would spell the end of the monarch migration, but now scientists say that agricultural and policy changes in the U.S. and Canada&#8212;including GMO crops and habitat loss&#8212;is strangling off one of the world&#8217;s great migrations. &#8220;This is the third straight year of steep declines, which I think is really scary,&#8221; Karen S. Oberhauser, a biologist at the University of Minnesota told the New York Times. &#8220;This phenomenon&#8212;both the phenomenon of their migration and the phenomenon of so many individuals doing it&#8212;that&#8217;s at risk.&#8221; Considered one of the world&#8217;s greatest natural spectacles, millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus)&#8212;at one time likely billions&#8212;travel some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) across the diverse habitats&#8212;and climate conditions&#8212;of North America, from Canada to Mexico. The migration is so long that no single monarch survives the whole, but instead the journey is built on generations. The butterflies, easily-recognized by even non-naturalists, depend on plentiful common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) habitat on the way down. Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Photo courtesy of Kenneth Dwain Harrelson. But milkweed is becoming harder and harder to find. The use of herbicide-resistant crops (i.e. GMO) has led to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25756</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Frankenfish or scientific marvel?: giant GM salmon await U.S. approval</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/frankenfish-or-scientific-marvel-giant-gm-salmon-await-u-s-approval/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/frankenfish-or-scientific-marvel-giant-gm-salmon-await-u-s-approval/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2013 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzanne Goldenberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/frankenfish-or-scientific-marvel-giant-gm-salmon-await-u-s-approval/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, Panama, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Corporations, Environment, Fish, Food, Genetic Engineering, Genetics, Governance, Green, Regulations, Science, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It is hard to think of a more unlikely setting for genetic experimentation or for raising salmon: a rundown shed at a secretive location in the Panamanian rainforest miles inland and 1,500m above sea level. But the facility, which is owned by an American company AquaBounty Technologies, stands on the verge of delivering the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It is hard to think of a more unlikely setting for genetic experimentation or for raising salmon: a rundown shed at a secretive location in the Panamanian rainforest miles inland and 1,500m above sea level. But the facility, which is owned by an American company AquaBounty Technologies, stands on the verge of delivering the first genetically modified food animal&#8212;a fast-growing salmon&#8212;to supermarkets and dinner tables. The US government this week enters the final stages of its deliberations on whether to allow commercial production of the GM fish, with a public consultation on the issue ending on Friday . Separately, a committee in Congress on Monday took up a bill that would outlaw GM salmon entirely&#8212;essentially destroying AquaBounty&#8217;s commercial prospects in America. If approved, the salmon could be the first of some 30 other species of GM fish under development, including tilapia and trout. Researchers are also working to bring GM cows, chickens and pigs to market. In Panama City, government officials are upbeat about AquaBounty&#8217;s prospects of getting its fish to market. &#8220;From what we know it is very close to being approved. There have been tests for many years and the last thing we heard from the FDA is that there is a very good probability that it is going to be approved in the near future,&#8221; said Giovanni Lauri, the director of the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama, Arap. AquaBounty must still overcome formidable opposition from supermarkets and consumer organizations, environmental groups and commercial fishermen to sell its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/frankenfish-or-scientific-marvel-giant-gm-salmon-await-u-s-approval/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29059</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists a step closer toward creating biofuels directly from atmospheric CO2</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/scientists-a-step-closer-toward-creating-biofuels-directly-from-atmospheric-co2/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/scientists-a-step-closer-toward-creating-biofuels-directly-from-atmospheric-co2/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2013 20:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/03/scientists-a-step-closer-toward-creating-biofuels-directly-from-atmospheric-co2/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Carbon Dioxide, Energy, Environment, Genetic Engineering, Green, Mitigation, Oceans, Solutions, Strange, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have taken a step closer to using atmospheric carbon dioxide as a biofuel, potentially helping mitigate climate change while at the same time meeting rising energy demand, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists at the University of Georgia and the North Carolina State University are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have taken a step closer to using atmospheric carbon dioxide as a biofuel, potentially helping mitigate climate change while at the same time meeting rising energy demand, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists at the University of Georgia and the North Carolina State University are working with the bacteria Pyrococcus furiosus to convert CO2 into directly biofuels. &#8220;Basically, what we have done is create a microorganism that does with carbon dioxide exactly what plants do-absorb it and generate something useful,&#8221; said study co-author Michael Adams of the the University of Georgia. &#8220;What this discovery means is that we can remove plants as the middleman. We can take carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and turn it into useful products like fuels and chemicals without having to go through the inefficient process of growing plants and extracting sugars from biomass.&#8221; Pyrococcus furiosus. Image from the Missouri University of Science and Technology Pyrococcus furiosus is a microorganism that lives in super-heated ocean waters near geothermal vents. Adams and colleagues manipulated the bacteria&#8217;s genome so it feeds on CO2 at much lower temperatures. A press release from the University of Georgia explains the next steps of the process for potentially using the extremophile bacteria to convert the potent greenhouse gas into fuel. The research team then used hydrogen gas to create a chemical reaction in the microorganism that incorporates carbon dioxide into 3-hydroxypropionic acid, a common industrial chemical used to make acrylics and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/scientists-a-step-closer-toward-creating-biofuels-directly-from-atmospheric-co2/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bolivia takes step to boost agriculture and curb surging deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/bolivia-takes-step-to-boost-agriculture-and-curb-surging-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/bolivia-takes-step-to-boost-agriculture-and-curb-surging-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jan 2013 00:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/01/bolivia-takes-step-to-boost-agriculture-and-curb-surging-deforestation/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Genetic Engineering, Green, Law Enforcement, Ranching, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in neighboring Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Bolivia has passed a land use law that aims to boost food security and slow deforestation in a region that is wracked by illegal forest clearing. Approved earlier this month, Ley 337 seeks to regulate land use in the Bolivian Amazon where deforestation for industrial agricultural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in neighboring Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Bolivia has passed a land use law that aims to boost food security and slow deforestation in a region that is wracked by illegal forest clearing. Approved earlier this month, Ley 337 seeks to regulate land use in the Bolivian Amazon where deforestation for industrial agricultural production is surging. The law requires landowners who illegally deforested land prior to 2011 to either reforest or establish &#8220;productive agriculture&#8221; on the land and pay reduced fines for past transgressions. The stated goal is to boost Bolivia&#8217;s low agricultural productivity, which lags the rest of Latin America, and has exacerbated deforestation and been blamed for the need for occasional food imports. According to Bolivian government projections, the area of agricultural production in Santa Cruz Department alone will increase from 1.1 million hectares to 1.7 million ha by 2018. The measure thus aims to encourage expansion in already deforested areas, rather than driving new forest conversion, although it doesn&#8217;t establish criteria for prioritizing areas according to best use. However the effectiveness of the law is still far from certain. Governance is virtually non-existent in parts of the Bolivian Amazon. Laws are selectively enforced &#8212; for example a prohibition on genetically modified (GMO) soy is widely ignored &#8212; and corruption is rampant. Further, by reducing fines for past illegal deforestation, the state is effectively forgoing potential revenue that could have paid for law enforcement under the country&#8217;s Forestry Act 1700. Bolivia lacks the advanced deforestation monitoring&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/bolivia-takes-step-to-boost-agriculture-and-curb-surging-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29673</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The genetically modified &#8216;Frankenfish&#8217; salmon soon in a plate near you</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/the-genetically-modified-frankenfish-salmon-soon-in-a-plate-near-you/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/the-genetically-modified-frankenfish-salmon-soon-in-a-plate-near-you/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jan 2013 16:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonia Gandiaga]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/01/the-genetically-modified-frankenfish-salmon-soon-in-a-plate-near-you/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fishing, Genetic Engineering, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[AquaAdvantage GM salmon next to a normal Atlantic salmon The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has partially approved the AquAdvantage Salmon, a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal. The FDA states that the GM salmon is “safe and unlikely to harm the health of the consumers or the environment”. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[AquaAdvantage GM salmon next to a normal Atlantic salmon The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has partially approved the AquAdvantage Salmon, a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal. The FDA states that the GM salmon is “safe and unlikely to harm the health of the consumers or the environment”. The AquaAdvantage salmon has been developed by AquaBounty a biotech company based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Their GM salmons have an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon and a promoter gene from an ocean pout that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long instead of only during the Spring and Summer months. The fish grows to market size in 16 to 18 months rather than three years. Aquabounty has reassured this salmon is safe for consumption and poses no threat to the environment as they intend to only develop sterile females. Environmental and advocacy organizations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth or Food and Water Watch oppose what they call the &#8220;Frankenfish&#8221;. They are concerned that it could cause human allergies and the eventual contamination or decimation of the natural salmon population if it escapes and breeds in the wild. The Monterey Aquarium revealed that current methods used to produce sterile fish are less than 99% accurate. That would mean that one fish in every hundred would not be sterile and could be reproductively viable. Another concern is that production of GE salmon, even in its early stages, is likely to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/the-genetically-modified-frankenfish-salmon-soon-in-a-plate-near-you/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29782</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>15 conservation issues to watch</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Mar 2011 23:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Greenland, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, boreal forests, Carbon Sequestration, Cattle, Climate Change, Climate Science, Consumption, Development, Diseases, Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Environment, Environmental Services, Extinction, Fish, Fishing, Forest Carbon, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Fracking, Genetic Engineering, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Invertebrates, Marine, Marine Animals, Mass Extinction, Mining, Mosquitoes, Overfishing, Parks, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Ranching, Sea Ice, Soil Carbon, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation near Gunung Palung in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler Deforestation, oil spills, coral acidification: these are just a few examples of ongoing, and well-researched, environmental changes that are imperiling the world&#8217;s biodiversity. But what issues are on the horizon? At the end of 2010, experts outlined in Trends in Ecology &#038; Evolution [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation near Gunung Palung in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler Deforestation, oil spills, coral acidification: these are just a few examples of ongoing, and well-researched, environmental changes that are imperiling the world&#8217;s biodiversity. But what issues are on the horizon? At the end of 2010, experts outlined in Trends in Ecology &#038; Evolution 15 issues that may impact conservation efforts this year and beyond, but are not yet widely known. These are issues you may never hear about it again or could dominate tomorrow&#8217;s environmental headlines. &#8220;Our aim was to identify technological advances, environmental changes, novel ecological interactions and changes in society that could have substantial impacts on the conservation of biological diversity […] whether beneficial or detrimental,&#8221; the authors write in the paper. Experts originally came up with 71 possible issues and then whittled it down to the 15 most important—and least known. But given that these issues may or may not pose a problem, what should society do in order to stay ahead of the curve? &#8220;We believe that each issue is sufficiently important to warrant new research, policy consideration and sometimes pre-emptive, cost-effective action that might decrease the probability of undesirable consequences and increase the probability of desired outcomes,&#8221; the authors conclude. THE ISSUES (in alphabetic order) Aerial view of acquaculture—shrimp farms—in Java, Indonesia. Researchers say compounding impacts on the ocean are threatening to change it indefinitely. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Acid rain from nitrogen: Nitric acid rain, caused by nitrogen emissions from fertilizers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/03/15-conservation-issues-to-watch/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32835</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>GM crop contamination may be product of sloppy handling, not cross-pollination</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/gm-crop-contamination-may-be-product-of-sloppy-handling-not-cross-pollination/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/gm-crop-contamination-may-be-product-of-sloppy-handling-not-cross-pollination/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jan 2011 18:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emily Kirkland]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/01/gm-crop-contamination-may-be-product-of-sloppy-handling-not-cross-pollination/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Environment, Farming, Genetic Engineering, and Green]]>
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							<![CDATA[A recent study has suggested that sloppy seed handling may be partially responsible for the presence of genetically modified plants in conventional fields. For years, farmers have been reporting that fields planted with traditional seeds sometimes yield GM plants. Many scientists believe that this pattern is due to cross-pollination: insects carry pollen from neighboring GM [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[A recent study has suggested that sloppy seed handling may be partially responsible for the presence of genetically modified plants in conventional fields. For years, farmers have been reporting that fields planted with traditional seeds sometimes yield GM plants. Many scientists believe that this pattern is due to cross-pollination: insects carry pollen from neighboring GM fields into conventional fields, resulting in some GM plants. But a new paper just published in PLoS One argues that the effect of cross-pollination is actually quite small. In the fields tested by the researchers, fewer than 1 percent of all conventional cotton plants produced genetically modified Bt seed as a result of insect cross-pollination. The researchers argue that in fact, the main problem is that GM seeds are often mistakenly mixed with regular seeds. Sometimes, this happens before the seeds are even sold. When the researchers tested one bag of supposedly “conventional” seed, for instance, they found that it actually contained 28% GM seed. There was also human error during the planting process: in one field, a row designated as conventional was accidentally sown with GM seed. Because the GM and regular seeds look identical, these types of problems are difficult to detect. There have been reports of similar mix-ups in the past. In September, for instance, a small number of potato plants corresponding to a unapproved, experimental GM strain were found growing in Swedish fields. The problem was later attributed to an error at the facility that produced the potato seeds, where two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/gm-crop-contamination-may-be-product-of-sloppy-handling-not-cross-pollination/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-33147</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Seeing the forest for the test-tube trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/seeing-the-forest-for-the-test-tube-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/seeing-the-forest-for-the-test-tube-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2010 01:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Strain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2010/01/seeing-the-forest-for-the-test-tube-trees/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forestry, Forests, Genetic Engineering, Green, and Plantations]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paper manufacturers and environmentalists seem to be reliving Robert Frost’s age-old dilemma caused by two roads diverging in the woods. Proponents of genetically engineered trees say the road they’ve chosen will lead to trees capable of weathering freezing temperatures and disease &#8212; trees that can grow more efficiently on less land and possibly serve as [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Paper manufacturers and environmentalists seem to be reliving Robert Frost’s age-old dilemma caused by two roads diverging in the woods. Proponents of genetically engineered trees say the road they’ve chosen will lead to trees capable of weathering freezing temperatures and disease &#8212; trees that can grow more efficiently on less land and possibly serve as a cheap source of biofuel. In addition, supporters say, genetic engineering holds the possibility of bringing some trees back from the brink of extinction. But critics in the environmental community say the path chosen by the paper industry won’t save a single forest from the chainsaw. They fear that test-tube trees may become invasive, destroying the forests they’re meant to protect. “There is a lot of hype about transgenics with people fearing that they could be bad in any context,” said Steven Franks, a botanist with Fordham University in New York. “I don’t really think that’s true, that they’re always bad.” Photo copyright istockphoto.com Regardless of their applications, few genetic engineering projects &#8212; such as adding pest resistance to agricultural crops or mixing and matching genes between two separate animal species &#8212; have managed to escape criticism entirely. There are a few scattered plots of genetically modified poplars in the Pacific Northwest, and scientists have used engineering tools to create papaya trees that are resistant to a widespread viral disease. So far, however, genetically engineered trees remain a small-scale industry. For many environmental groups, the fork in the road for genetically engineered trees is a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/seeing-the-forest-for-the-test-tube-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-35838</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Transgenic plant may thrive under global warming-induced drought</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2007/11/transgenic-plant-may-thrive-under-global-warming-induced-drought/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2007/11/transgenic-plant-may-thrive-under-global-warming-induced-drought/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Nov 2007 14:30:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2008/12/transgenic-plant-may-thrive-under-global-warming-induced-drought/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Botany, Drought, Farming, Genetic Engineering, Green, and Technology]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Transgenic plant may thrive under global warming-induced drought Transgenic plant may thrive under global warming-induced drought mongabay.com November 26, 2007 Researchers have created a drought-resistant tobacco plant through genetic engineering, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The work could eventually lead to the development of crops [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Transgenic plant may thrive under global warming-induced drought Transgenic plant may thrive under global warming-induced drought mongabay.com November 26, 2007 Researchers have created a drought-resistant tobacco plant through genetic engineering, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The work could eventually lead to the development of crops that are better able to survive higher temperatures and reduced rainfall associated with global warming. Rosa M. Rivero, a plant scientist at the University of California at Davis, and colleagues developed a strain of plants in which the IPT&#8211;a gene that prevents a plant from dropping its leaves&#8211;is &#8220;induced by maturation or drought stress.&#8221; The researchers found that the transgenics grew better under drought conditions than conventional plants. H2O2-diaminobenzidine (DAB)-staining in WT and PSARK::IPT4-24 plants during drought. Brown spots in the leaves represent H2O2 tissue localization. Image courtesy of PNAS/National Academy of Sciences (copyright 2007). &#8220;The authors inserted their compound gene into the DNA of tobacco plants and observed as, under normal conditions, the transgenics grew similarly to controls. But after 15 days without water, the control plants withered,&#8221; explained a statement from PNAS. &#8220;When watering was resumed, the control plants died, while the transgenics resumed growth. Transgenics also grew well on only one-third of the normal water allowance.&#8221; The authors suggests that transgenic plants could allow farmers to conserve water and get higher crop yields in dry conditions. &#8220;The production of drought-tolerant crops able to grow under restricted water regimes without diminution of yield&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2007/11/transgenic-plant-may-thrive-under-global-warming-induced-drought/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-38830</doi>				</item>
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