Biotech Updates

Two independent studies reveal that retrons, similar to CRISPR, are part of the bacterial immune arsenal, protecting the bacteria from viruses called phages.

COVID-19 Test Uses CRISPR and Smartphone Camera

A team of scientists at Gladstone Institutes, University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has developed the technology for a CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 that uses a smartphone camera to provide accurate results in under 30 minutes. The Gladstone team led by Dr. Melanie Ott and Parinaz Fozouni worked with UC Berkeley bioengineer Dr. Daniel Fletcher and Dr. Jennifer Doudna, senior investigator at Gladstone, professor at UC Berkeley, president of the Innovative Genomics Institute, and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Research Team Discovers Strategy to Make Plants More Salt Tolerant

A research team from the Centre for Research in Agricultural Economics (CRAG) has found that plants are more tolerant to soil salinity by regulating the TEMPRANILLO (TEM) genes. These findings open up new possibilities in the development of plant varieties that are better adapted to climate change.

ISAAA Webinar: Global Status of Biotech Crops and the Philippine Adoption Experience

The Philippines is the first country to plant a biotech crop in Southeast Asia and has become a model for science-based biosafety regulation in the region. In 2019, Filipino farmers boosted the area planted to biotech maize. Global biotech crop adoption in 2019 and the Philippine experience on biotech crops will be presented through a webinar on December 14, 2020, at 10 AM (GMT+8) via Zoom.