Agriculture
Exposing plants to an unusual chemical early on may bolster their growth and help feed the world
"Priming" plants by exposing them to certain chemicals while they’re seeds can affect their growth later in life.
CRISPR protects 9 out of 10 chickens from bird flu
UK scientists have used CRISPR to create gene-edited chickens that are highly resistant to the avian flu virus.
Adding spider DNA to silkworms creates silk stronger than Kevlar
Spider silk is strong and tough, but hard to farm. Silkworm silk is easy to farm, but not that strong. What if we could combine the two?
Is this plant the protein food of the future?
Over the past 50 years or so, lupins have become more common as food for farm animals, and are also increasingly eaten by humans
Mutant tomato could save crops around the world
A mutant tomato breed, known to botanists for decades, is highly resilient against blossom-end rot, a notorious plant disease.
By 2040, 60% of “meat” won’t come from dead animals
"Novel vegan meat alternatives" and cultured meat will likely become competitors to traditional meat products, the report says.
Lab-grown cotton is on its way to consumers
Cellular agriculture startup Galy has signed a deal that will make its lab-grown cotton available to consumers for the first time.
California will begin backing intentional burns to control wildfire
After decades of suppression, California is now supporting prescribed burns and cultural burns.
Desertification is destroying fertile land. Here’s how we’re fighting it.
Desertification is destroying once-fertile land at an alarming rate, but desert greening techniques are making degraded soil bloom again.
Here’s how growing plants on the Moon could benefit Earth
Making plants grow on the Moon could be instrumental in helping gardens to grow greener on Earth in the face of climate change.