News and Trends 27 Jul 2020 Biological Fungicide Clears Wheat of Rust Disease in European Field Trial A fungicide derived from amoeba has proven effective at protecting wheat from rust disease and other major fungal diseases at bay. Developed by French company Amoéba, this product could provide an eco-friendly solution to a growing problem in agriculture worldwide. Every year, over 5 million tons of wheat are lost to rust disease globally, which […] July 27, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 22 Jun 2020 The Age of Agrochemicals is Ending: It’s Time for Agricultural Biotechnology As Europe moves to reduce its reliance on agrochemicals in the farming system over the next 10 years and beyond, a crucial question emerges: what replaces them? Agricultural biotechnology could provide the answer. The use of agrochemicals — pesticides, fertilizers, and plant growth enhancers — has been crucial to humanity over the last century. They’ve […] June 22, 2020 - 9 minutesmins - By Farhan Mitha Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Feb 2020 Meiogenix, Bayer Team Up to Boost Genetic Diversity in Crop Breeding Bayer and the French biotech company Meiogenix will work together to advance the development of Meiogenix’s plant breeding and genome editing technologies with the hope of improving food crops for farmers. For many years, the only way to improve characteristics such as yield and nutritional value of crops was through selective breeding, which can be […] February 10, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Jan 2020 Oxitec Unveils First Field Trial Results for Crop-Protecting GM Moths A study led by Oxitec has shown for the first time that diamondback moths genetically engineered to produce only male offspring can survive in the wild, a solution that shows promise for cutting populations of the crop pest. Caterpillars of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella are one of the most destructive pests for growers of […] January 29, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 8 Oct 2019 Israeli Biotech 3D Prints the First Beef Steak in Space Hungry astronauts rejoice! Aleph Farms, a company that grows beef steak from animal cells, has grown the first steaks aboard the International Space Station. The Israeli biotech’s experiment is the first proof that meat can be grown in outer space. Aleph Farms created the meat using a 3D bioprinter developed by the Russian company 3D […] October 8, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Jul 2019 Belgian Biotech Raises €35M to Develop Eco-Friendly Pesticides The Belgium-based company AgroSavfe has raised a Series C round of €35M to develop an environmentally friendly crop pesticide inspired by llama antibodies. AgroSavfe will use the funds to develop and manufacture its lead protein fungicide on a commercial scale. The company aims to get approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency and launch the […] July 30, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 11 Jul 2019 Bayer Launches Israeli Company to Develop Viruses Against Crop Disease Bayer is backing the launch of the Israeli biotech Ecophage, which will develop environmentally friendly crop disease treatments based on bacteria-hunting viruses called bacteriophages. Bacteria can cause a range of diseases in crops, including blight and root rot. These infections are often hard to control because they happen faster than fungal infections. The treatments used […] July 11, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 4 Jul 2019 First Eco-Friendly Treatment Stops Fungal Crop Disease An eco-friendly antifungal treatment developed by the French biotech Amoéba has reduced rust infections in legumes by 85% in a recent field trial. Rust is a plant disease caused by fungi that is very hard to treat. Although chemical fungicides can be used against it, these are often expensive and harmful to other organisms, including […] July 4, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 30 May 2019 Taking Inspiration from Plants to Prevent Mold from Ruining Crops Olga Dubey founded the Swiss startup Agrosustain with the intention to bring forth a natural alternative to chemical pesticides against mold. She shares how it all started and her company’s plans to end the massive amounts of food waste that mold is responsible for. “Mold is everywhere, so it’s something that is very hard to […] May 30, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 24 May 2019 This Biotech Uses Gene Editing to Count Chickens Before They Hatch In the city of Jerusalem, eggXYt is developing gene edited chickens whose male chicks fluoresce inside the egg. This could prevent the suffering of billions of male chicks in the egg-production industry, which are currently culled after hatching. Mission: To develop a gene edited breed of chickens whose sex can be determined before hatching using […] May 24, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 16 May 2019 Israeli Startup Raises €11M to Become the First to Sell Lab-Grown Steaks Aleph Farms has closed a Series A round of €10.7M ($12M) to beef up its manufacturing and get its lab-grown steaks into the market within the next four years. Aleph Farms is the first company to have created a lab-grown beef steak, which was publicly tasted last December. With the money raised, the company aims […] May 16, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 May 2019 Molecules in Bee Jelly Could Protect Whole Nests Against Viruses for Generations A research team has discovered that honeybees pass molecules of RNA to each other by sharing it in edible jelly, which could lead to vaccines that can stop generations of bees from dying from viral infections. Honeybees don’t just give us honey. As the dominant pollinators of lots of food crops, around a third of […] May 6, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email