Genetic Engineering

Hundreds of small farmers have converged on the central Haitian city of Hinche to demand more space to grow their own crops in a country that imports more than half of its food.

Emerging from the worst drought in 50 years, US farmers are bracing for long-term challenges from climate change including blasting heat and more capricious rainfall.

The US Supreme Court appeared on Tuesday to side with Monsanto against an Indiana farmer accused of having pirated the genetically-modified crops developed by the agribusiness giant.

Everything will be on the table when US and EU negotiators restart talks on ambitious transatlantic free-trade deal with a new wind in their sales, Washington's top trade negotiator said Wednesday.

Everything possible will be covered in the coming US-European Union talks for a free-trade deal announced by President Barack Obama, Washington's top trade negotiator said Wednesday.

A genetically-engineered virus tested in 30 terminally-ill liver cancer patients significantly prolonged their lives, killing tumours and inhibiting the growth of new ones, scientists reported on Sunday.

Scientists using gene therapy have partially restored hearing and balance in profoundly deaf mice, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.

BASF, the world's biggest chemicals company, said Tuesday it has decided to no longer seek European approval of its genetically modified potato products in the face of stiff resistance.

The European Commission has decided to freeze the approval process for genetically modified food crops through the end of its mandate next year while it works towards an agreement with EU member states.

An Australian scientist said Wednesday he had discovered a way to turn the HIV virus against itself in human cells in the laboratory, in an important advance in the quest for an AIDS cure.

An Australian scientist said he had discovered how to turn the HIV virus against itself to stop it progressing to AIDS, describing it as a major breakthrough in finding a cure for the disease.

The European Union on Tuesday took the debate about genetically modified crops to the public with a survey asking citizens to share their thoughts on organic farming.

The EU's food safety agency challenged its doubters on Monday, making available all the scientific information used to clear a genetically modified corn which a French researcher had linked to cancer.

Poland on Wednesday imposed new bans on the cultivation of certain genetically modified strains of maize and potatoes, a day after an EU required green light for GM crops took effect.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson on Monday called for genetically modified food to be grown more widely and said opposition to it was "complete nonsense", in an interview printed in the Daily Telegraph.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson on Monday called for genetically modified food to be grown more widely and said opposition to it was "complete nonsense", in an interview printed in the Daily Telegraph.

The EU's food safety agency definitively rejected Wednesday a bombshell French report linking genetically modified corn to cancer, saying it failed to meet "acceptable scientific standards."

The EU's food safety agency, EFSA, on Wednesday rejected a bombshell French scientific report linking genetically modified corn to cancer, saying it failed to meet "acceptable scientific standards."

Environmentalists are warning that Mexico, the cradle of corn, risks damaging its staple if the government gives US firms the green light to plant genetically-modified maize in huge swaths of land.

Greenpeace activists staged a mock fumigation outside EU offices Wednesday to warn off the European Commission from authorising new genetically modified (GM) crops.