Biotech crops in the last 22 years have brought enormous benefits to the environment, health of humans and animals, and contributions to the improvement of socio economic conditions of farmers and the general public, according to a new report issued today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).

The ISAAA report shows the global biotech crop area increased in 2017 by 3 percent or 4.7 million hectares or 11.6 million acres; Global economic gains contributed by biotech crops in the last 21 years (1996-2016) have amounted to US $186.1 billion economic benefits to more than 16 to 17 million farmers, 95 percent of whom come from developing countries.

As more developing countries, now 19 in total including India, Pakistan, Brazil, Bolivia, Sudan, Mexico, Colombia, Vietnam, Honduras, and Bangladesh have increased their biotech crop area and continue to allow farmers to adopt biotechnology in food production, smallholder farmers see the direct improvements this offers, allowing them to provide better lives for themselves and their families.

Developing countries now account for 53 percent of the global biotech area planted.

The ISAAA report was released in conjunction with a similar study by PG Economics, Ltd. Both studies highlight and quantify the continued social, environmental and economic benefits of the global adoption of biotechnology in agriculture.

From 1996-2016, PG Economics reported biotech crops provided $186.1 billion in economic gains to some 17 million farmers, many of whom are female, smallholder farmers solely responsible for the livelihood of their families and communities.

“Global food insecurity is a huge problem in developing countries, with around 108 million people in food crisis-affected countries still at risk or experiencing food insecurity,” said Graham Brookes, Director of PG Economics and co-author of the socio-economic and environmental impact paper. “We have seen for more than 20 years now how crop biotechnology adoption in developing countries has contributed to higher yields, more secure production, and increased incomes greatly contributing to decreasing poverty, hunger and malnutrition in some regions of the globe most prone to these challenges.”

The PG Economics study also shows great strides have already been made to reduce the footprint of agriculture and in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The latest study highlights how biotech use in agriculture continues to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Highlights from the PG Economics report include:

• In 2016, the GM crop-related carbon dioxide emission savings from reduced fuel use and additional soil carbon sequestration were equal to the removal of 16.75 million cars from the roads.
• Advances in biotech crops allow farmers to use insecticides and herbicides more strategically, reducing the environmental impact associated with their use by 18.4 percent on GM crop areas since 1996.
• In 2016, the direct global farm income benefit from GM crops was $18.2 billion, equal to an average increase in income of $102/hectare. Since 1996, farm incomes have increased by $186.1 billion.
• Biotechnology remains a strong investment for farmers. In terms of farmer investment, for each dollar invested in biotech crop seeds, farmers gained an average $3.49.

Additional highlights from ISAAA’s 2017 report include:

• In 2017, 67 countries used biotech crops.

  – This includes 24 countries in total that grew biotech crops, including 19 developing and five industrial countries;

  – and an additional 43 non-planting countries that formally regulate the importation and use of biotech crops for food, feed and processing

• Top five countries (USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India) planted 91.3 percent of the global biotech crop area of 189.8 million hectares or 469 million acres.
•  Biotech crops increased ~112-fold from 1996, the fastest adopted crop technology in the world; accumulated biotech area at 2.3 billion hectares or 5.7 billion acres.

 

The complementary studies – PG Economics’ “GM Crops: Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts 1996-2016” and ISAAA’s “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2017” – examine the continued widespread adoption of global crop biotechnology, and the significant positive socio-economic and environmental impacts of this adoption by farmers and communities around the globe.

The associated two papers in the peer review journal GM Crops and Food are available, with open access, at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2018.1464866 and www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2018.1476792

There is no doubting that genetic engineering will be a major part of the future of food and agriculture. And even though 88 percent of scientists believe genetically engineered foods are safe, according to a Pew Center poll, and GMO farming can be more environmentally friendly, GMOs have always been met with a lot of public resistance. There is hope, however, that acceptance of GMOs will become more widespread if more people rely on the science-based evidence that supports the technology rather than baseless fear and sensationalism, writes former GMO-opponent turned proponent Mark Lynas in “Confession of an Anti-GMO Activist,” which was recently published in the Wall Street Journal.

Mark Lynas

“Opposition [to GMOs] was largely inspired and led by environmentalists, who asserted that genetically modified crops and foods would cause a range of harms.”

Lynas, a science writer, was once so opposed to GMOs that he would protest and lobby to get GMOs banned in stores, even going as far as destroying test fields where GMO crops were being grown and studied. Since his days as an anti-GMO activist, however, he has come to see the harms that he once thought GMOs caused were unfounded in science. Anti-GMO activism was actually doing the opposite of its intention.

“The anti-GMO campaign has deprived much of the world of a crucial, life-improving technology-and has shown the readiness of many environmentalists to ignore science when it contradicts their prejudices. That’s not the example we need just now as the planet faces the very real threat of climate change.

Contrary to our initial fears, the overall impact of genetically modified crops has been to dramatically reduce the amount and toxicity of pesticides sprayed by farmers.”

Opponents of GMOs often spew weak arguments, such as consumption of GM crops leads to cancer, autism or other diseases and disorders, to support their claims. As Lynas notes, however, the science rejects these claims:

“The view that GMO foods have no discernible impact on health is now the well-established consensus across the international community. It includes not just the NAS [National Academy of Sciences] but the American Medical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the U.K.’s Royal Society, the French Academy of Science, the African Academy of Sciences and numerous others.”

Even so, Lynas recounts the internal struggle he faced of accepting the science in support of GMOs as it went against his prejudices. Once Lynas recalibrated his beliefs, reaffirming his convictions to science and supporting GMOs, he received backlash from the community he used to be a part of.

“I have often been attacked, especially by my onetime activist friends, for changing my mind on GMOs. But what was the alternative? To stick to a position that I knew to be false in order to avoid losing reputation? Environmentalism, perhaps more than any other philosophy, requires science. And science means that you must change your mind when the evidence changes, however inconvenient that might be.”

With strong evidence that points to GMOs being perfectly safe, environmentally friendly and an overall improvement to farming, it is saddening that there is still such a huge debate surrounding GMOs. Hopefully soon, for the sake of the environment, more people realize what Mark Lynas has and come to support the science of GMOs.

June is a perfect time to take care of those nagging home cleaning and repair chores before the summer heat becomes too much.

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle has been sentenced to probation for striking people with his car at a party in 2016 … and will finally be released from jail.  The 26-year-old has been bouncing between jail and mental health…

Permalink

Each year at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, BIO recognizes innovators in the field of industrial biotechnology with the George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture and the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture. This year BIO congratulates Dr. Sang Yup Lee, distinguished professor and dean at the KAIST Institute in South Korea, and Krysta Harden, vice president of external affairs and chief sustainability officer at Corteva Agriscience^TM (a division of DowDuPont), for winning the George Washington Carver and Rosalind Franklin Awards, respectively.

George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture

The annual George Washington Carver Award, sponsored by the Iowa Biotechnology Association, recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to building the biobased economy by applying industrial biotechnology to create environmentally sustainable products. It serves as a lasting memorial to the original vision of George Washington Carver, who, over a century ago, pioneered biobased products, materials and energy derived from renewable agricultural feedstocks. Industrial biotechnology is the modern-day equivalent of Carver’s vision.

Dr. Sang Yup Lee will be recognized as the 11^th winner of the Carver Award during a plenary session at the 2018 BIO World Congress in Philadelphia on Wednesday, July 18. A pioneer in his own right, Dr. Lee is a leader in the establishment of systems metabolic engineering technology to develop microbial bioprocesses for the sustainable and environment-friendly production of chemicals, fuels and materials from non-food renewable biomass. Through his work, Dr. Lee has gained countless recognitions including being one of only 13 people in the world elected as a foreign member of both the National Academy of Sciences USA and the National Academy of Engineering USA.

Dr. Lee has actively promoted the importance of industrial biotechnology through engagement with the public, policymakers and decision makers around the world. Dr. Lee has published more than 575 peer-reviewed papers, contributed to 82 books and holds 636 patents.

As BIO’s Executive Vice President of Industrial and Environment Brent Erickson said: “Dr. Sang Yup Lee has advanced the biobased economy by developing innovative products and processes that are sustainable and environmentally friendly…. His contributions to the advancement of the industry are a continuation of the legacy left behind by George Washington Carver.”

“The credit all goes to my research team who has worked together for the past few decades,” said Dr. Lee when learning of the honor. “Industrial biotechnology is becoming increasingly important to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We should continue to work together to advance the field and establish a solid foundation for the sustainable future.”

Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture 

The annual Rosalind Franklin Award, sponsored by the Rosalind Franklin Society, will be presented at the same plenary session on Wednesday, July 18, at the 2018 BIO World Congress to Corteva Agriscience’s Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Krysta Harden.

Named after former King’s College research associate Rosalind Franklin, the award is sponsored by the Rosalind Franklin Society, whose goal is to support and showcase the careers of eminent women in science. While working as a research associate in London, Rosalind Franklin conceived and captured Photograph 51 of the “B” form of DNA. Her photograph, acquired from a machine Dr. Franklin herself refined, revealed the structure of DNA, making it the single most important advance of modern biology. Though sometimes overlooked, Rosalind Franklin’s critical work and discovery in the field has allowed the biotechnology industry to become what it is today.

Krysta Harden currently leads Corteva Agriscience’s public policy and government affairs efforts, in addition to its sustainability, philanthropy, product stewardship and global regulatory activities. Both in her current role and in her former position as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ms. Harden has been a tireless advocate for bringing new technology and innovation to industrial biotechnology and agriculture, as well as a passionate leader in encouraging women to seek careers in these burgeoning sectors. During her time at USDA, Ms. Harden helped shape food and agriculture policy and founded the agency’s Women in Agriculture Mentoring Program, which supports and engages women across all areas of agriculture and fosters professional partnerships between women with shared goals.

“Krysta was a leader when she worked in Congress and the federal government and she continues to be a leader in the private sector,” said Erickson. “The combination of her advocacy in biotechnology innovation and promotion of women in the field makes her the perfect recipient for an award that aims to honor the distinguished women that work in science.”

“I am humbled to receive such a prestigious award,” said Krysta Harden. “As an advocate for both biotechnology and women in science, it is an honor to receive the Rosalind Franklin award. Women leaders continue to play an increasingly pivotal role in science fields. From the farm to the lab to the boardroom, there are many possibilities for women in science and we must continue to open doors for them.”

Following the award ceremonies, both recipients will participate in a panel discussion moderated by Brent Erickson on Wednesday, July 18 from 11:30 AM – 1 PM to discuss how industrial biotechnology has changed over the last 15 years and highlight promising opportunities for growth in the future.

For more information about the plenary session and other programming, view the program schedule here. For more information about this year’s BIO World Congress, including information about past year’s award winners, click here.

And if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to register to attend the 2018 BIO World Congress in Philadelphia, July 16-19, 2018.

“Innovation has been the life blood of this country since its founding,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross earlier this week in a press release announcing the 10 millionth patent issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Strong, reliable and enforceable patent laws are the drivers of the biotechnology innovation ecosystem. Without these strong patent rights, the financing to take revolutionary biotechnology discoveries from the lab to the patient, farmer, or consumer would be unavailable. The weakening of these patent rights threatens new investment in the innovation sector of our economy and, with it, the jobs and industries of the future.

Toady in The Hill, BIO’s President and CEO Jim Greenwood addressed our industry’s concerns regarding the deficiencies within the USPTO that have weakened the our patent system that have led to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to rank our patent system as only 12th in the world, behind nations like Singapore, France, and South Korea.

Read the full Op-ed here.

Every week, we provide you with new and free Divi layout packs which you can use for your next project. For one of the layout packs, we also share a use case that’ll help you take your website to the next level.

This week, as part of our ongoing Divi design initiative, we’re going to show you how to create a stunning open job position layout that matches Divi’s Digital Marketing Layout Pack. This layout is an addition to the careers layout that’s already included in the layout pack. Once you create the layout, you’ll be able to reuse it for each one of the open job vacancies and change the content accordingly. Don’t want to go through creating the layout from scratch? At the end of this post, you’ll be able to download the layout for FREE and upload it to your Divi Library.

Let’s get to it!

Preview

Before we dive into the tutorial, let’s take a look at the layout we’ll recreate (and which you’ll be able to download) on different screen sizes:

Create New Page with the Digital Marketing Homepage Layout

Add New Page & Open with Visual Builder

Start by adding a new page, giving your page a title, publishing it and switching over to Visual Builder right away.

Upload Digital Marketing Homepage Layout

We’re going to reuse one of the layouts that are included in the Digital Marketing Layout Pack. This will make it easier to maintain the same style throughout the entire website. Go to your premade layouts, scroll down until you come across the Digital Marketing Layout Pack and use the homepage layout.

Remove Irrelevant Sections

The layout we’ve uploaded contains some sections that we don’t need for the open job position layout. That’s why we’ll remove them right away. These are the sections you won’t need:

Transform Page into Open Job Position Layout

Remove a Hero Section Text Module

Now we can start transforming the page into an open job position layout! Start by removing the following description Text Module in the hero section:

Change Content in Hero Section

Change the copy of the remaining modules in your hero section as well.

Add a New Section Below Hero Section

Then, right below the hero section, add a new standard section.

Add Row with Two-Columns

We’re going to add a row with the following column structure to it:

Clone Hero Section Text Module & Place in Column 1 of New Row

To make things easier, we’re going to reuse one of the Text Modules of our hero section and place it in the first column of our new row. This will save us time and will allow us to make changes according to our needs:

Remove H1 Text in Text Module

Open this Text Module and remove the H1 copy that is included. We’ll also change the H3 copy into ‘Job Description’.

Change H3 Text Settings

The text color in our hero section is white so we’ll definitely need to change that into ‘#fcb6ab’, a color that matches the color palette of this layout pack. We’ll also use left Text Alignment.

Clone Text Module & Place in Column 2

Once you’ve applied the changes, clone your Text Module and place it in the second column. Make sure you change the copy here as well.

Add Job Description Text Module

Right below the previous Text Module in the first column, go ahead and add a new Text Module. You can use this Text Module to add the job description you need to show. We’re using a combination of paragraphs, H3 titles and lists. It isn’t necessary to create separate Text Modules for each one of these. We’re going to use only one Text Module and modify the settings of all three text types in the text settings.

List Settings

We’re skipping the paragraph settings and moving on to the list settings right away. There, we’ll use the following settings:

• Unordered List Style Type: Circle
• Unordered List Item Ident: 12px (This will push the list items a bit to the right)

H3 Text Settings

Open your H3 text settings next and use the following settings:

• Heading 3 Font: Roboto
• Heading 3 Font Weight: Bold
• Heading 3 Text Size: 40px (Desktop), 35px (Tablet), 28px (Phone)

Place Blurb Modules in Column 2

The homepage layout of the Digital Marketing Layout Pack contains many stunning design elements that we can simply reuse instead of creating something from scratch. The Blurb Modules in the next section, for instance, are great for sharing additional details such as information on how to apply, the deadline, location and availability. We’ll delete this section after we’re done so instead of cloning the Blurb Modules with the color palette of your choice, simply place them in the second column of the previous section.

Remove Bottom Margin of Blurb Modules

These Blurb Modules are pushed together due to the zero bottom margin that was assigned to them. Go ahead and remove the ‘opx’ bottom padding of each one of the modules you’re using.

Change Blurb Content & Icons

Now, you can go ahead and change the content of these Blurb Modules one by one. Choose an icon that matches the content you’re sharing as well.

Remove Remaining Section

As mentioned before, we were only using the section with the Blurb Modules to ease our workflow. Once you’ve replaced the Blurb Modules you needed, you can go ahead and remove this section.

Save Layout to Divi Library & Reuse for Other Open Positions

Save Layout to Divi Library

And we’re done! We now have a stunning layout which we can easily reuse for all current and future open job positions. The only thing left to do is saving the layout to your Divi Library by clicking on the following icon, giving your layout a name and clicking on the ‘Save to Library’ button:

Download The Layout for FREE

To lay your hands on the free open job position layout, you will first need to download it using the button below. To gain access to the download you will need to subscribe to our Divi Daily email list by using the form below. As a new subscriber, you will receive even more Divi goodness and a free Divi Layout pack every Monday! If you’re already on the list, simply enter your email address below and click download. You will not be “resubscribed” or receive extra emails.

Preview

Now that we’ve gone through all the steps, let’s take a final look at the open job position layout on different screen sizes:

Final Thoughts

In this use case blog post, we’ve shown you how to create an elegant and stunning open job position page in addition to Divi’s Digital Marketing Layout Pack. We’ve created the layout from scratch using Divi’s Visual Builder and we’ve also shared the layout. You can download it for free and upload it to your Divi library. If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment in the comment section below!

The post How to Create an Open Job Position Layout with Divi (Free Download!) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

Every day, farmers around the world use GMOs to help combat threats to food and the environment. Whether helping to protect crop yields against plant diseases, weeds, pests, or to reduce water use, GMOs are one of modern agriculture’s many innovations that allow farmers to grow more food with fewer resources. A new blog post at the GMO Answers Medium page show exactly how:

1. Research into GMO bananas could help save the crop in Africa, where is it a staple in the diet and under attack from disease
2. Golden Rice, a GMO fortified rice is int,ended to address Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), a serious disease which is estimated to affect 250 million preschool-age children around the world.
3. The GMO Hawaiian papaya has helped save an important industry for Hawaiians since it came to the U.S. market in 1998.

 

To learn more about how these GMOs are helping find solutions to food problems around the globe, visit the GMO Answers Medium page.

“I thought for sure Roseanne had that in the bag.”

---

View Entire Post ›

BIO’s International Convention was packed with compelling keynote speeches, and dozens of fireside chats and breakout sessions featuring global biotech and pharma leaders who discussed everything from trends in biotech dealmaking to the latest on Capitol Hill.

But it’s not just the pursuit of the next breakthrough medicine or technology that our industry is focused on – we’re looking for the next brilliant scientist or savvy entrepreneur to help bring these cures across the finish line. And when Shaness Grenald, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the department of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University stopped by the BIO Buzz Center, it became clear that the future of our industry is brighter than ever before.

Shaness is part of the Scientist Mentoring and Diversity Program (SMDP), a component of the International Center for Professional Development (ICDP) which is a one year career mentoring program that pairs ethnically diverse students and early career researchers with industry mentors, who typically work at companies in the medical technology, biotechnology and consumer healthcare industries. Check out the video below to learn more about her story.

Also making headlines at BIO 2018 was Sajeev Kohli – an 11^th grade student from Waterloo, Ontario who was named the grand prize winner of the International BioGENEius Challenge. Each year, this premier competition for high school students recognizes outstanding research and innovation in biotechnology, which is judged by a group of academic and industry experts.

Sajeev’s’s research on recruiting endogenous proteins for site-specific transport as a novel gene carrier design stood out among the impressive research from his 15 fellow finalists and along with the top honor, Sajeev was rewarded with a cash prize of $7,500. Watch the video below to learn more about his efforts.

Over the course of Convention, the BIO Buzz Center captured incredible stories from both current and future leaders in biotechnology. You can view all the videos on YouTube by clicking here.