After a five-year study, the Swiss National Science Foundation has reported to the Swiss government that it can find “no danger” to human health or the environment in the use of genetically engineered crops.

“Two literature reviews…analyzed more than a thousand scientific publications worldwide,” said a news release from the Swiss National Science Foundation. “They concluded that there is no danger to human health or the environment in the light of the latest scientific knowledge.”

Eleven research projects exploring the possible environmental risks of genetically modified wheat, maize and strawberries, came to the same conclusion, the Foundation reported: “They could not identify any negative impacts on beneficial organisms, microorganisms or soil fertility.”

Switzerland is debating whether to end a moratorium on agricultural biotechnology. Swiss farmers raise a wide variety of crops on mostly small-scale farms in addition to the nation’s famous dairy industry, which relies on crops grown for feed.

“It is almost impossible to distinguish between newer genetically modified plants and conventionally grown plants,” the scientists added. “Hence treating genetically modified plants differently is becoming increasingly questionable in scientific terms.” Read more.

As our nation confronts the worst drought since 1988, scientific innovations in agriculture can help farmers minimize yield losses. There is no single solution, and the reality is that plants need water to survive. But agricultural researchers and scientists are developing plant breeding and biotechnology innovations which can improve a crop’s ability to use water more efficiently and tolerate drought conditions.

Some 87 percent of the nation’s corn crop and 85 percent of soybeans were experiencing drought in August, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which added, “Over half of the corn and soybean areas are experiencing extreme to exceptional drought.  This has led to both reduced yields and earlier harvests.”

“A striking aspect of the 2012 drought is how the drought rapidly increased in severity in early July, during a critical time of crop development for corn and other commodities,” noted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS).

To help alleviate the effects of drought on the U.S. and global food supply, seed companies are working with farmers across America’s farm belt to conduct field trials of drought-tolerant corn varieties.

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American Chestnut trees in Wisconsin, photo by Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Biotechnology is bringing new hope to a long-running effort to revive the American chestnut tree, an iconic species that once dominated the eastern woodlands but was nearly wiped out by blight. Researchers in New York are growing transgenic chestnut specimens producing an enzyme that helps the tree resist fungal infections. The trees have survived experimental infections with chestnut blight, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“I didn’t think they would ever do it,” Kim Steiner, professor of forest biology at Penn State, told the Journal. Now, he said, “I’m sure it’s going to happen.”

The resistant trees were developed at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, which is also involved in a project using conventional breeding to cross the American tree with a blight-resistant Chinese variety.

The transgenic project uses a gene found in wheat and other grass species that can detoxify oxalate, a chemical produced by the blight, by breaking it down into carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide. The same gene is being tested for its pathogen resistance in crops.

The transgenic project began in 1990, alongside the “backcross” program dating from the 1980’s. The blight erupted in 1904 and killed billions of chestnut trees by 1950. While chestnut trees can still be found in the eastern woods and mountains, most succumb to the blight.

If the chestnut can be saved, scientists say, there could be hope for other endangered trees, including the elm, nearly wiped out by Dutch elm disease, and the eastern hemlock, which is besieged by a sap-sucking insect.

“We have to be proactive,” Steven Handel, a professor of plant ecology at Rutgers, told the Journal. “The statement that nature takes care of itself — if only it was true.” Read more.

While those who support California’s Proposition 37 assert that labeling GM foods is necessary to provide clarification to consumers, implementing such a measure would ultimately be detrimental to consumers and food producers alike, according to a report by agricultural economists at the University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.

The authors’ findings, published in the foundation’s bi-monthly magazine ARE Update, indicate that the proposed legislation would lead to consumer confusion, increased prices for many food items and less choice overall in stores.

The paper also draws attention to contradictions in the proposed labeling legislation. “If Prop 37 is approved, then consumers in California could face less choice and confusing information at their food markets despite claims that Prop 37 would result in more choice and better information,” it states. Read more.

According to an article published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), the Agricultural Institute of Genetics in Vietnam has concluded that biotech maize is safe for the environment, adding the biotech variety has been found to have some advantages that its conventional counterpart lacks.

Dr. Le Huy Ham, Head of the Agricultural Institute of Genetics, voiced his support for commercializing the biotech maize. “I don’t think we need to wait some more time. GMP [genetically modified plants] should be applied in Vietnam, as soon as possible,” he stated, adding that “the cultivation in the last 16 years shows that GMPs are safe to humans and biodiversity.”

Agriculture expert Professor Vo-Tong Xuan also encouraged adoption of the technology, noting that 30 countries worldwide have already successfully cultivated and benefitted from the use of biotech crops. Read more.