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01 / 05
In Search of a Healthier Spud

Wall Street Journal | Food Production

In Search of a Healthier Spud

“One concern about spuds: frying, baking or roasting them to a char. The Food and Drug Administration in 2013 warned consumers to avoid cooking potatoes and other plant-based foods to a very dark brown, due to the formation of a chemical called acrylamide. While the FDA has said it isn’t clear exactly how risky acrylamide is to humans, the agency has urged consumers to mind how much fried and roasted potatoes they eat, and outlined strategies for food companies to reduce acrylamide formation in their products.

Friedberg believes Ohalo has a solution. Using gene-editing technologies that allow scientists to tinker with a plant’s DNA without adding outside genetic material, the company’s researchers use proteins to switch off specific genes, then grow the edited cells into enhanced potato plants.

The technology, Friedberg says, also enables Ohalo to combine low acrylamide varieties—which sometimes don’t grow reliably or plentifully—with higher-yielding varieties.”

From Wall Street Journal.

Bloomberg | Food Production

Brazilian Bull DNA Becomes a Coveted Commodity

“At his ranch in southwest Nigeria, Moyosore Rafiu watches as an artificial insemination specialist carefully inspects whether his cows are ready. If he gets the nod, another part of his herd will be impregnated with imported semen from the hardy Girolando breed from Brazil.

Switching to cattle that can withstand the African climate means twice the milk and more income for Rafiu. But it could also be a game changer for Nigeria, home to one of the world’s most food insecure populations…

The potential for growth is huge. On average, a Nigerian cow yields less than 1 liter of milk a day compared with 26 liters in the Netherlands and 30 liters in the US, according to data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. A Girolando can yield about 20 liters.”

From Bloomberg.

ISAAA | Pollution

High-Yield Rice Emits up to 70 Percent Less Methane

“Rice, one of the world’s key staples, is responsible for 12 percent of global methane emissions. Now, an international team of scientists has identified chemical compounds released by rice roots that determine how much methane the plants emit…

When the research team grew these low fumarate and high ethanol (LFHE) rice varieties at various field sites throughout China, the LFHE rice produced 70 percent less methane on average compared with the elite variety from which it was bred. The LFHE crops also have high yields at yields—8.96 tons/hectare on average, compared to the 2024 global average of 4.71 tons/hectare.”

From ISAAA.

The Economist | Agriculture

Heritable Agriculture Is Bringing AI to Crop Breeding

“Crop breeding remains a fiddly business. Plant geneticists must decide which traits they are looking for, cross plants which appear to possess them, run a series of field trials and wait to see if their new plants are an improvement. The interplay between a plant’s genes and the weather, the soil condition and scores of other environmental variables in which it grows, are complex. Working out which genetics suit which conditions can take decades, as it did Borlaug in Mexico.

Heritable Agriculture, which spun out of X, Alphabet’s moonshot lab, in December, aims to speed things up. The idea is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to predict, for a given environment, which genetic changes will improve a crop’s yield, as well as other properties like taste, nutritional content and photosynthetic capacity…

Brad Zamft, Heritable’s co-founder, says the firm’s system can breed a crop with the right genetics to achieve a desired trait in just one year. He presented data validating Heritable’s approach at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego on January 13th. They showed that the firm’s software can be used to quickly breed corn with fine-grained control over the time it takes to flower. Heritable says it has already used its software to breed plants with specific properties for undisclosed customers, including tastier leafy green vegetables.”

From The Economist.

The Debrief | Agriculture

Robot Insect Paves the Way for the Rise of Robot Pollinators

“MIT researchers have developed a robot insect designed for artificial pollination, laying the groundwork for entirely indoor farms of the future.

The robot’s lifelike flapping wings imitate nature, enabling the tiny aerial robot to weigh under a gram. The agile and resilient new model represents a significant advancement in small-scale robotics.

The envisioned indoor farm would grow fruits and vegetables inside a multilevel warehouse, maximizing yield per acre while minimizing environmental impacts through a controlled, closed-loop system.

Under these conditions, robot insects would reside in mechanical hives and be deployed in swarms for synchronized pollination missions. However, robotic insects currently in development still fall short of matching natural bees in speed, maneuverability, and endurance.”

From The Debrief.