In a previous article, we discussed how CRISPR is not almighty and that organisms can evolve resistance to the changes made to their genome. The simplest method for them to accomplish this is just to mutate the changed gene back to what it was before or just stop its function altogether. If the change made […]
A popular and pressing issue currently in agriculture is the issue of bees and their fate in a modernizing world. Both for domesticated honey bees, who appear to be suffering from a combination of negative effects with a main combatant being the Varroa destructor mite slowly wearing down hives and destroying them, and wild bees, […]
Temperature, rainfall, soil stability, and many other factors contribute to plant growth (and in turn successful agriculture). Humans do our best to help influence and manipulate these conditions to improve our ability to grow crops, but even this is unable to change the basic fact that there are certain areas of the world that are […]
As science progresses, new methods are developed to accomplish tasks. Some help medical and agricultural science work faster, others allow completely news ways of doing things. In the business of promoting new crop traits, CRISPR is one example of a revolutionary new technology that opens up new avenues. But it isn’t the only one. In […]
Corn has become one of the primary crops grown in Africa over the years, largely in subsistence farming to feed populations. Being a versatile crop that can grow in a variety of environments, especially warmer ones, it is no surprise that corn cultivation has thrived in Africa. Such as in South Africa that has been […]
All crops have to contend with parasites and pests, whether of the insect or bacterial variety, and farmers have to create multiple methods to protect their crops and farm yields. For legume farmers and the various types of beans they grow, it is the Bruchus family of beetles that continues to be one of the […]
