Agriculture
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Animals
EPA OKs first living pest-control mosquito for use in United States
Feds approve non-GM male tiger mosquitoes for sale as fake dads to suppress local pests.
By Susan Milius -
Agriculture
Much of the world’s honey now contains bee-harming pesticides
A controversial group of chemicals called neonicotinoids has a global impact, tests of honey samples show.
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Plants
José Dinneny rethinks how plants hunt for water
Plant biologist José Dinneny probes the very beginnings of root development, which may have important implications for growing food in a changing climate.
By Susan Milius -
Agriculture
‘Big Chicken’ chronicles the public health dangers of using antibiotics in farming
A new book takes a hard look at the chicken industry for its role in fostering antibiotic resistance.
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Agriculture
GM moth trial gets a green light from USDA
GM diamondback moths will take wing in a New York field trial.
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Climate
Climate change might help pests resist corn’s genetic weapon
Rising temperatures may allow pests to eat corn that is genetically modified to produce an insect-killing toxin.
By Susan Milius -
Climate
Changing climate could worsen foods’ nutrition
Climate change could aggravate hidden hunger by sapping micronutrients from soils and plants, reducing nutrition in wheat, rice and other crops.
By Susan Milius -
Genetics
How to grow toxin-free corn
Corn genetically altered to produce specialized molecules may prevent a fungus from tainting it with carcinogenic toxins.
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Agriculture
Fleets of drones could pollinate future crops
Chemist Eijiro Miyako turned a lab failure into a way to rethink artificial pollination.
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Animals
Too many stinkbugs spoil the wine
Stinkbugs can ruin wine if enough are accidentally processed alive with the grapes. Three or fewer stinkbugs per grape cluster don’t have a noticeable effect on red wine.
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Anthropology
DNA points to millennia of stability in East Asian hunter-fisher population
Ancient hunter-gatherers in East Asia are remarkably similar, genetically, to modern people living in the area. Unlike what happened in Western Europe, this region might not have seen waves of farmers take over.
By Meghan Rosen -
Genetics
CRISPR used in cows to help fight tuberculosis
Chinese researchers used a CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editor to make cows more resistant to tuberculosis.