Monsanto Co. and BASF AG, a German competitor, on Wednesday promised to work together to deliver higher-yielding crops to meet increasing global demand. The companies announced a $1.5 billion research and development collaboration that, over a decade or more, could deliver hundreds of varieties of genetically modified corn, soybeans, cotton and canola. The seeds would allow farmers to boost yields on limited cropland to meet the world’s requirements for food, animal feed, fiber and renewable fuels.

Mosquitoes genetically engineered to resist infection with a malaria parasite outbreed their normal cousins and might be used to help control malaria, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said their study suggests that releasing such genetically altered insects could help battle malaria, which kills up to 3 million people a year around the globe, most of them small children.

The moratorium bills on genetically engineered taro and coffee undermine development of Hawai’i’s science and technology industries and put at risk their high-paying technical jobs. The bills are needless for a number of reasons. The University of Hawai’i agreed more than a year ago that genetic engineering research on Hawaiian taro would not proceed until discussions with the Hawaiian community are completed. UH has a similar agreement with the Kona coffee growers, in which field testing of genetic engineering research will not be conducted until discussions with them are completed. Therefore, it puzzles us why legislation is needed at all — unless it is an attempt to hijack legitimate cultural concerns and the concerns of some coffee growers in the service of a broader philosophic and anti-scientific agenda.

The Organization for Competitive Markets filed its opposition to Monsanto’s proposed acquisition of the Delta & Pine Land Company. The acquisition would, if allowed, tremendously concentrate the transgenic cotton trait and cotton seed markets in Monsanto’s hands. ”Monsanto’s past history of consolidation and charging excessive technology fees in other seed markets shows this deal would harm cotton farmers across the United States,” said Keith Mudd, OCM President.

A court decision overturning U.S. government approval for a biotech alfalfa underscores complaints made for years that the USDA is failing to adequately oversee genetically altered crops, biotech crop critics said on Tuesday. And the critics believe it sets a precedent that should prompt more stringent oversight of these controversial crops. ”It is a big deal for the court to do that. It is the first time it has happened in the U.S.,” said Margaret Mellon, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Food and Environment Program, which is not a party to the case. There have been concerns for years about the USDA’s lack of proper oversight. Indeed, other recent court rulings have leveled criticism against U.S. government oversight of biotech crops.

Although referred to as an industry, in reality biotechnology is better described as a set of techniques to alter the genetic programs of living organisms. Biotechnology provides the opportunity for controlling biosystems to do things now done only by physics or chemistry or perhaps not at all. The result is technology that is encroaching on many conventional industries doing things the old ways.

When Fred Zaunbrecher heard in August that the popular variety of long-grain rice he was planning to grow had become contaminated with snippets of experimental, unapproved DNA, the Louisiana rice farmer took it in stride and ordered a different variety of seed for his spring planting.

A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction banning the sale of Monsanto Co.’s genetically modified alfalfa and any planting of the seed after March 30. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California granted the injunction at the request of a group of farmers, environmentalists and consumer activists who have alleged the biotech alfalfa could be destructive to both the economy and the environment.

In a continuing effort to purge GM traits from the rice industry, the Arkansas State Plant Board has banned the rice variety Clearfield 131. The measure passed on a 6-5 vote at a March 2 emergency meeting and came after lengthy board deliberation and often emotional testimony from farmers, seedsmen and millers. Bred to harness a natural mutation to tolerate the Newpath herbicide, Clearfield varieties have provided growers new tools to fight yield-sapping red rice. Many farmers facing red rice infestations consider the Clearfield technology a godsend and have set up farms around it.

You say tomato, scientists say ”fewer birth defects.” U.S. researchers say they’ve created a folic acid-enriched ”super tomato” that could cut the rate of birth defects, anemia and other folate deficiency-linked problems in the developing world. ”We used the tomato, because it is a very good model to work with,” explained study co-author Andrew D. Hanson, professor of plant biochemistry at the University of Florida at Gainesville. ”Now we want to move the strategy we have developed into cereal and tuber crops such as sweet potatoes.”