The challenging dilemma between genomic sequencing and traditional knowledge Historically, to develop a new plant variety, there needed to be two distinct varieties to be able to cross-pollinate. If one variety was higher yielding and the other had strong disease resistance, they could be crossed with the goal of being Read more…
After years of varietal development, the most promising varieties are selected to begin the process of registering them for commercial use. Under Canadian legislation, the Seeds Act and Seeds Regulations govern the testing, inspection, quality, and sale of all seeds. This legislation ensures that all seeds, whether imported or developed domestically, are proven to be safe for production and consumption before they reach the fields of Canadian farmers. In this final blog of the #LabtoField series, we explore how newly developed crop varieties become registered seed for use in Canada.
Building proteins from amino acids I never thought I would be writing about the ‘building blocks’ of the human body, amino acids (AA) for a SAIFood blog. Being that SAIFood normally discusses the topics of sustainable agricultural innovations and food, covering what is new or pressing, who knew we’d be Read more…
New Crop Varieties: The Journey from Lab to Field – Phytotron Part 6: Harvest This is the sixthof a series of #LabToField blogs that will explain the yearly cycle of variety development. Click here to read Part 1: Phytotrons, Part 2: Agriculture Greenhouses, Part 3: The U of S Seed Lab, Read more…
This blog is based on the ‘Governance of Digital Sequence Information and Impacts for Access and Benefit Sharing’ technical report which you can find here. Digital Sequence Information (DSI) How do you design an access and benefit sharing (ABS) system that benefits both providers and users of plant genetic resources Read more…
Spring has sprung. As the sun and warm temperatures melt away the remnants of winter, farmers across Canada are gearing up for seeding. Throughout the winter, hours have been spent choosing the best crop varieties for each farm operation. While this happens yearly, have you ever stopped to consider the Read more…
Establishing DivSeek to drive innovation collaborations Problems with the provision of food are an annual occurrence, at multiple locations across the globe. On any given day, it’s estimated that 800 million individuals are food insecure. Fortunately, many scientists have been working hard to find new ways of increasing food security, Read more…
For an industry that is seemingly under continuous attack by anti-science and anti-corporate idealists, there has been some positive press for agriculture, food and science to celebrate. For agriculture using modern farming practices of genetically modified crops, chemicals and synthetic fertilizers, and scientific advancement, this has been a pretty decent Read more…
Poison Squad set to determine acceptable limits for toxins in food If you’ve ever had the misfortune of eating something that results in food poisoning, then you know the agony that results. Curled up and shivering on the bathroom floor is not how any of us would want to spend Read more…
Or, be sure to regulate the process, rather than the product In 2002, Europe establishing a new regulatory agency, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to resolve its regulation problems regarding GM crops and other food safety challenges. This new agency assesses the risk of the process used to create Read more…