Last month, a consortium of scientists published findings that challenge the traditional view of how genes function. The exhaustive four-year effort was organized by the United States National Human Genome Research Institute and carried out by 35 groups from 80 organizations around the world. To their surprise, researchers found that the human genome might not be a “tidy collection of independent genes” after all, with each sequence of DNA linked to a single function, such as a predisposition to diabetes or heart disease.

Monsanto is making a bid to dominate commercialized plant biotech’s second decade. In March, it announced a $1.5 billion collaboration deal with BASF, of Ludwigshafen, Germany. The arrangement promises to be the anchor for much of Monsanto’s ongoing R&D, including the introduction of complex second-generation traits to counter drought tolerance, an issue of global importance to agriculture. Indeed, the BASF deal sets the scene for the next ten years of plant biotech, say crop industry analysts. The scale of the R&D cooperation poses a challenge to Monsanto’s main rivals in the genetically modified (GM) crop business—DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred, in Des Moines, Iowa, and Basel-based Syngenta.

Monsanto has wrapped its fight to keep Roundup Ready alfalfa from being outlawed in the rhetoric of “choice.” Following Breyer’s initial ruling in February, Andrew Burchett, a spokes-man for Monsanto, told Farm Industry News: “We’re going to do everything we think is appropriate to defend growers’ right to choose this technology. Our goal is to restore that choice for farmers.” It was a curious position to take, given that Monsanto has spent the last decade all but forcing farmers to buy bundled packages of its seeds and herbicides, while, opponents claim, systematically eliminating its competitors. In fact, the company now faces at least 20 antitrust lawsuits over its actions.

Researchers transformed one bacterial species into another by swapping their genomes, a move that will accelerate the race to develop custom-built synthetic bugs, a pioneer on genetics said Thursday.

Craig Venter, who had a hand in mapping the human genome, said a team of his researchers had transplanted the entire genetic code of one bacterial organism into another closely related species.

Scientists at Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of International Stem Cell Corporation, have successfully created six unique human stem cell lines that appear capable of differentiation into any cell type found in the human body using an efficient method that does not require the use of fertilized embryos.

Will genetically modified grapes be used by Napa Valley’s wine industry in the future? A panel of experts offered sweeping discussion of possible benefits and pitfalls of the increasingly controversial topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at a forum Wednesday sponsored by the Napa Valley Grapegrowers Association.

Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed producer, said third-quarter profit jumped 71 percent as U.S. farmers planted the most corn since World War II.

Net income in the quarter ended May 31 rose to $570 million, or $1.03 a share, from $334 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier, St. Louis-based Monsanto said today in a statement. Sales gained 23 percent to $2.84 billion from $2.31 billion.

Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestines. Today it is found mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Current vaccines to protect against cholera must be kept in cold storage. The need for refrigeration limits use in poor countries. But research in Japan may lead to rice plants that contain a cholera vaccine that does not need to be kept cold. So far, the research has been carried out only on mice.

Stink bugs populations are on the increase. Once considered a minor pest of vegetable, fruit and nut crops, they are now causing serious damage. [...] ”Cleaner” fields, borders and landscapes with fewer native weeds and other herbaceous plants causes stink bugs to home in on whatever is available. This is often a single crop in the area that attracts them for lack of other host plants in the area. Another reason is the change in insecticide use over the past several years. Farmers are using fewer of these chemicals and those used are more specific as to the target pest and are shorter lived in the environment. In cotton production for example, little insecticide is applied any more due to the boll weevil eradication in our area and the use of genetically modified varieties.

In January 2006, small amounts of genetically engineered rice turned up in a shipment that was tested - we don’t know why - by a French customer of Riceland Foods, a big rice mill based in Stuttgart, Ark. Because no transgenic rice is grown commercially in the U.S., the people at Riceland were stunned. At first they figured that the test was a mistake or that tiny bits of genetically modified corn or soybeans had somehow gotten mixed up with rice during shipping. They said nothing.