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Genetic modification can improve crop yields — but stop overselling it
Publication date: 20/09/2023
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Genetic modification can improve crop yields — but stop overselling it
Publication date: 20/09/2023
Over the past two decades, many journals have published papers describing how modifying one or a few genes can result in substantial increases in crop yields. The reported increases range from 10% to 68%, and the crops analysed include rice, maize (corn), tobacco and soya bean.
These studies have contributed important insights in molecular biology and gene discovery. But many are the results of tests conducted in greenhouses or in small-scale field trials — the latter typically involving plants grown in small plots. Few, if any, have used the experimental designs needed to evaluate crop performance in real-world environments. And hardly any findings have translated into yield increases on actual farms.
Especially in the context of climate change and a growing human population, the growth of misleading claims around yields has become a cause of concern to us.
Resource type: article: Web Page
The EU legislative framework for a sustainable food system: How can it effectively deliver for the environment and people?
Publication date: 08/09/2023
In its Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission announced that it will present a legislative framework for a sustainable food system, an initiative expected for the third quarter of 2023.
The vision reflected in the law proposal will have a critical impact on the EU’s capacity to build its resilience against the worsening climate and biodiversity crises while guaranteeing long-term accessibility to healthy food.
The briefing presents solutions in the form of actionable tools that can best ensure the swift implementation of a sustainable EU food system on the ground. The European Commission must go ahead with its proposal and publish it in September 2023; there is no better time.
Resource type: article: Web Page
‘Feeding the world, byte by byte’: emergent imaginaries of data productivism
Publication date: 13/08/2023
Recent scholarship has shed light on how data-driven food systems may entrench productivist and neo-productivist visions of ‘feeding the world.’ In this paper, we examine the narratives and institution-building practices of global development actors, asking: What stories do they tell about how data will transform food systems? Whose ‘data’ are legitimized and whose are overlooked? Our findings point to an emerging imaginary of data productivism—which constructs the making and accumulation of data as a socially intrinsic good. We examine the implications of data productivism for reconfiguring global capitalism, reproducing the modern-colonial order, and inciting social movements to anticipate its hold.
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Diverse values of nature for sustainability
Publication date: 09/08/2023
On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.
Resource type: article: Web Page
Gene Editing: the Ethical Questions
Publication date: 28/07/2023
This blog employs a food ethics lens to delve into some of the ethical issues surrounding gene-editing, assessing intended and unintended consequences. Issues discussed include patents, herbicide-tolerant traits, gene drives and food safety.
Resource type: article: Web Page
Identifying sustainability assessment parameters for genetically engineered agrifoods
Publication date: 22/07/2023
This Opinion article argues that to achieve a more sustainable agrifood production that relies on genetic engineering, governance systems related to new agrifood biotechnologies should incorporate a broader array of environmental, health, ethical, and societal factors to ensure their sustainability in the long-term. To facilitate this process, we propose a set of parameters to help evaluate the sustainability of agrifoods that rely on genetic engineering. We then discuss major challenges and opportunities for formalizing sustainability parameters in US governance policy and decision-making systems. Overall, this work contributes to further developing a more comprehensive assessment framework that aims to minimize potential risks and maximize potential benefits of agrifood biotechnology while also fostering sustainability.
Resource type: article: Web Page
Rethinking the drivers of biotechnologies: a paradigm for holistic climate change solutions
Publication date: 01/12/2022
Humanity is under pressure to identify sustainable climate change mitigation strategies that also progress developmental and environmental goals. Urgency creates greater risk of superficial actions that could accelerate climate change. We use recent advances in plant productivity through enhanced photosynthesis to demonstrate the pitfalls of defining objectives as a vacant biotechnological service. Recast as a goal to improve well-being and nutrition, climate change-exacerbating trade-offs are easier to avoid and payoffs include climate change mitigation. These insights emerge from linking new work in both molecular biology and anthropology. We suggest a strategy for addressing the adverse effects of climate change that better accommodates the voices of nontechnical public and has a superior navigational memory that optimises progress towards sustainable solutions.
Resource type: article: Web Page
With great power comes great responsibility: why ‘safe enough’ is not good enough in debates on new gene technologies
Publication date: 25/10/2022
To avoid past mistakes of under- or miscommunication about possible impacts, we need open, transparent, and inclusive societal debate on the nature of the science of gene (editing) technologies, on how to use them, and whether they contribute to sustainable solutions to societal and environmental challenges. To be trustworthy, GMO regulation must demonstrate the authorities’ ability to manage the scientific, socio-economic, environmental, and ethical complexities and uncertainties associated with NGTs. Regulators and authorities should give equal attention to the reflexive and the emotional aspects of trust and make room for honest public and stakeholder inclusion processes.
Resource type: article: Web Page
Genetic engineering, nature conservation and biological diversity: boundaries of design
Publication date: 01/10/2022
Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) presents its position on an international discussion surrounding research approaches to the genetic modification of wild organisms. Conclusions include:
- Due to the complexity of biological diversity – from the molecular to the ecosystem level – the effects of genetically engineering wild organisms cannot be sufficiently assessed with the methods currently available.
- The fundamental and necessary discussions on the compatibility of genetically engineering wild organisms with the requirements and the objectives laid down in section 1 of the German Federal Nature Conservation Act must be conducted.
- Global biodiversity loss is progressing with tangible consequences. We need suitable instruments to stop it. Nevertheless, wild organisms must not be genetically modified solely based on the assumption of a potential benefit to nature conservation and with uncertainty about possible harm.
- Along with its diversity, beauty and utility, nature’s uniqueness is a protected good in nature conservation that is firmly embedded in society and in legislation. Its intrinsic value imposes limits on the extent to which humans can intervene in nature to protect it. I
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