14/April/20

 

Global pandemics triggered by research on viruses could pose one of the two biggest existential threats that humanity faces. The possibility that COVID-19 emerged from a research laboratory has not been ruled out. And there are good reasons why gene editing was included in the list of “weapons of mass destruction and proliferation” by a top US intelligence official. Yet some governments – including Australia – have moved to de-regulate gene editing without apparently considering the risks. Jonathan Matthews reports. GMWatch

 

 

In Wisconsin and Ohio, farmers are dumping thousands of gallons of fresh milk into lagoons and manure pits. And in South Florida, tractors are crisscrossing bean and cabbage fields, ploughing perfectly ripe vegetables back into the soil. After weeks of concern about shortages in grocery stores and mad scrambles to find the last box of pasta or toilet paper roll, many of the nation’s largest farms are struggling with another effect of the pandemic. They are being forced to destroy tens of millions of pounds of fresh food that they can no longer sell. The closing of restaurants, hotels and schools has left some farmers with no buyers for more than half their crops. And even as retailers see spikes in food sales to Americans who are now eating nearly every meal at home, the increases are not enough to absorb all of the perishable food that was planted weeks ago and intended for schools and businesses. New York Times