Reading Time: 3 minutes NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are turning to Canadians for help in figuring out how to keep people alive during long future space flights to Mars and beyond. The two organizations have come together with national food and agri-tech accelerator Bioenterprise and its Quebec counterpart ZoneAgTech to launch an exceptional call for innovation […] Read more
Tag Archives Science
Space agency looks for out of this world food solutions
Food innovations for space flight could also have impact on food security on Earth
Mechanism identified to protect crop reproduction from heat stress
Science Notes: Climate change to impact crop yields
Reading Time: 2 minutes As temperatures rise due to global warming, the need to protect plants from stressful conditions has increased. Stress can cause a loss in yield and cause further impact economically. A consortium led by the University of Warwick has successfully identified two proteins that protect crops from stress, which is key in safeguarding food production. Plant […] Read more
Gene-edited crops suffer in information war
Consumers continue to confuse gene editing with genetic modification
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canadians don’t know much, or think much, about gene-edited crops. But when asked about the technology, one phrase pops up: genetically modified organisms. Last summer, CropLife Canada hired a polling firm to gauge public knowledge and perceptions about gene-edited crops. Why it matters: How gene-edited crops are regulated around the world will […] Read more
Providing a place to change the world
Agriculture is a rare sector where people can make a difference with their work
Reading Time: 4 minutes The agriculture sector needs to recruit workers but marketing to a new generation will require innovative thinking. The industry not only needs to diversify the sectors it pulls talent from, it also has to update the backstory of agriculture to be more inviting to those who’ve not grown up on the farm. “This industry has […] Read more
Is the transgenic era over?
New genetic technologies, especially editing, could make genetic modification a rarely used tool
Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The era of genetically modified crops may be over. Two and half decades after herbicide-resistant crops came onto the market, scientists have now adopted newer techniques to design crops. That’s because the new technologies are more efficient and partly because the strict regulations on GM crops have become a barrier to innovation. […] Read more
Beneficial bacteria found to boost crop yields, increase drought tolerance
Ontario-developed product still coming to market, will be applied as liquid
Reading Time: 3 minutes A Canadian crop nutrition company is using Trent University research into yield-boosting microbes to bring a new bioinoculant to market. Toronto-based NutriAg Ltd. and biology professor Dr. Neil Emery have received funding through a program supporting genomics-based technologies to refine and commercialize the innovation. The beneficial microbes discovered by Emery and his team have been […] Read more
What’s old is new again in bacterial control
Bacteriophages are finding more uses in food processing, but not yet in internal medicine
Reading Time: 3 minutes A virus discovered a century ago could become a powerful weapon against disease and antimicrobial resistance in the livestock industry, according to an expert in the Canadian government. Why it matters: Bacteriophages could be an antidote to antimicrobial resistance, which is undercutting options for antibiotics at a time when global demand for meat is rising. […] Read more
Fraser: In ag marketing, emotions need to start trumping facts
Emotional transparency 'actually goes a long way'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Go to an agricultural event and someone will inevitably point out how bad farmers are at getting their message to consumers. As annoying as it is, those comments underscore an increasingly important theme in Canadian agriculture: communication. It used to be enough to grow and market your crops, but that has changed dramatically over the […] Read more
Researchers unlock key to photosynthesis
Science notes: It is hoped that the finding can mean more productive crop yields
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scientists have solved the structure of one of the key components of photosynthesis, a discovery that could lead to photosynthesis being ‘redesigned’ to achieve higher yields and meet urgent food security needs. The study, led by the University of Sheffield and published in November in the journal Nature, reveals the structure of cytochrome b6f – the […] Read more
Protein that triggers plant defences to light stress identified
Science notes: Finding could play role in protecting crops from harsh clime conditions
Reading Time: 2 minutes A newly discovered protein turns on plants’ cellular defence to excessive light and other stress factors caused by a changing climate, according to a new study published in eLife. Plants play a crucial role in supporting life on Earth by using energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen, a […] Read more
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