Monsanto has announced it will scrap plans to sell an insect-resistant maize in France, the second move in a week by biotech company to retreat from the genetically modified foods market in Europe. Monsanto’s announcement came a week after Germany’s BASF said it would suspend the development of GM crops in Europe and move its plant...

Genetically-modified crops could play an important role in helping prevent a future global food crisis, according to the government's chief scientific adviser. Sir John Beddington said he saw no safety reasons for opposing GM crops, provided they were rigorously checked for their impact on health and the environment.

The Mexican government has been supportive of the development of biotech crops, including corn, while recognizing the importance of centers of origin of corn and centers of genetic diversity. Mexico’s biosafety law states that centers of origin for native corn species are not allowed to have biotech corn plantings. A recently released...

Washington, D.C. - With the 2012 growing season just around the corner, national consumer organization Food & Water Watch is challenging Walmart, the country’s largest food retailer, to measure up to its sustainability claims and say no to Monsanto’s first genetically engineered sweet corn.

Last week the Guardian announced that the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, Tories and Labour, were backing genetically modified food crops. This came as a surprise and disappointment to many, however, it should not have. The director of Rothamstead Research in the UK, the largest, oldest...

Monheim - During International Green Week 2012 in Berlin, Germany, Dr. Joachim Schneider, Senior Vice President Growth & Strategy for Bayer CropScience, affirmed the company’s commitment to addressing the challenges posed by population growth, the growing demand for foo...

A three year feeding study has shown no adverse health effects in pigs fed genetically modified (GM) maize. The maize, which is a Bt-maize bred for its insect resistant properties, was sourced from Spain. The results were one of the key findings of trials conducted as part of the GMSAFOOD consortium undertaking post market monitoring: long ter...

Monsanto will not, for a fifth season, sell genetically modified corn seed in Europe's biggest grower of the grain, despite a ban on the product being ruled illegal, and support from some farmers itching for payback against protesters. The seed giant said that it will maintain a stop on sales in France, imposed since 2008, of its MON180 corn v...

A new variety of corn that is suitable for organic and biological farming systems could benefit New Zealand farmers who rely on corn seed imports. A new corn hybrid developed by Blue River Hybrids has been shown to protect corn from pollen drift including GMO pollen [1]. The corn called PuraMaize has been developed through selective traditiona...

A survey of alfalfa growers from across the U.S. found that fewer than a third had planted the genetically engineered Roundup Ready variety of the crop. However, those farmers represented more than 50 percent of the surveyed acreage, according to researchers from the University of California-Davis. The biotech crop, which can wi...

HAMBURG - Germany’s giant association of farming cooperatives said it regretted the decision by BASF to transfer its research into crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from Germany to the United States and other countries. “The announcement by BASF to transfer its (German) domestic plant biotechnology research and devel...

Monheim - Bayer CropScience AG and Performance Plants Inc. (Kingston, Canada) have entered into a research and commercial license agreement, giving Bayer exclusive rights for PPI's Heat & Drought Tolerance Technology in cotton. Bayer will leverage this breakth...

Researchers at the University of Missouri have found a key process in a plant's immune system response that may help future crops fight off dangerous diseases. "We study how Arabidopsis, a common weed related to the mustard plant, fends off infectious agents," said Walter Gassmann, professor of...

An article in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Integrated Pest Management (JIPM) refutes claims by Greenpeace Germany that the western bean cutworm (WBC), Striacosta albicosta (Smith), is "a new plant pest" that was "caused by genetically engineered corn." The Greenpeace Germa...

MANHATTAN - A Kansas State University researcher's plant genetic work is rooted in the sunflower state. Mark Ungerer, associate professor of biology, has two major research projects that involve evolutionary change in sunflowers, the state flower of Kansas. "What we do in the lab is r...

BRUSSELS - BASF, the German chemical group, has abandoned efforts to sell genetically modified products in Europe, including its Amflora potato, because of overwhelming opposition to the technology, the company said. “There is still a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe -...