Sunday Evening News 456 / 2025
Weekly report on genetic engineering, genome editing, biotechnology and legal regulation.
December 2025-12-22 -January 2026-01-04
Meetings – Conferences / Treffen - Veranstaltungen
Internationale Grüne Woche 2026
16. bis 25. Januar 2026 in Berlin auf dem Messegelände am Funkturm (Berlin ExpoCenter City)
18th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) “Water. Harvests. Our Future”
14 - 17 January 2026, Berlin
https://msc.gffa-berlin.de/app/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/GFFA2026_Save-the-date-Flyer_ENG.pdf
https://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/agenda/#day-1
Stimmt´s oder stimmt´s nicht? - Von Vorurteilen, Halbwahrheiten und Irrtümern über die Landwirtschaft
Sonntag, 15. Februar 2026, 14:00 Uhr bis 15:30 Uhr
Ort Futurium, Berlin
Press Releases - Media / Presse- und Medienberichte
Nellen W. (2025): Grüne Gentechnik – die nächste Generation
Geiger R.: Der Inselpräsident, der Europa anführt
Joint Statement: COCERAL, FEDIOL and FEFAC welcome the provisional agreement between the EP and the Council on
New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) and call for its swift adoption
https://fefac.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Joint-Statement_FEFAC_COCERAL_FEDIOL_NGTs-22Dec25.pdf
ECVC statement: EU approve the deregulation of GMOs obtained by NGTs: a strategic error for Europe’s food and seed
sovereignty
Schirmacher H.: NGT: Bundesregierung gibt ihr erstes German Vote in Brüssel ab
https://table.media/agrifood/news/ngt-bundesregierung-gibt-ihr-erstes-german-vote-in-bruessel-ab
DGS Redaktion Quelle BMLEH, BMFTR: Deutschland unterstützt Kurswechsel zu neuen genomischen Techniken
Karberg S.: Kennzeichnung für einige Gentechnik-Lebensmittel fällt weg: Gleiches wird nun endlich gleich benannt
Only some selected press releases or media reports are listed here. The daily up-date of the press releases and
media reports are ►here: December week 51
Publications – Publikationen
Seelam, R, Sivarathri B.S., Roa G.A., Lambert A.M., Joshi P. (2025): Scientists’ contributions to agriculture: How the world
looks without research
Continuous scientific research is essential to modern agriculture, enabling farmers to increase productivity while addressing climate change, pests, soil degradation, and sustainability. Without it, outdated practices would prevail, leading to crop losses, environmental damage, rising food prices, and greater hunger. Long-term investment in agricultural research underpins food security, public health, economic stability, and environmental protection for societies worldwide.
Parikesit A.A.,Ansori A.N.M., Adhityo Wicaksono A. (2025): CRISPR Technologies - Advances in Genome Editing, Applications,
and Ethical Implications
CRISPR Technologies – Advances in Genome Editing, Applications, and Ethical Implications provides a comprehensive overview of one of the most revolutionary tools in contemporary biotechnology. In this volume, we explore the latest developments in CRISPR-Cas systems, highlighting their diverse applications, ranging from gene therapy and precise genome editing to agriculture and synthetic biology. It carefully considers the ethical, societal, and regulatory issues that arise from the rapid development of technology and promotes thoughtful discourse on the responsibility for innovation. The reader will gain insight into the molecular basis of CRISPR, its transformative role in disease therapy, and its potential to revolutionize fields such as bioinformatics and drug design in the future. With a focus on the applied aspects, the volume presents how CRISPR-assisted diagnosis and therapy lead to the fast-tracking of personalized medicine and move closer to understanding genetic diseases. It elaborates on integrating CRISPR with novel technologies, such as artificial intelligence and computational biology, to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of genome editing. By striking a balance between scientific treatment and readable description, this volume emerges as a priceless source for researchers, students, and professionals seeking to learn about the hopes and prospects of 21st-century genome editing technologies. Due to its detailed coverage and prescient vision, it is an essential read for all with an interest in the future directions of genetics and biotechnology.
https://www.intechopen.com/books/1004867
Sharma S., Saroha N.K., Sehrawat A., Tang G.,Singh D., Teotia S. (2025): Emerging tools in plant genome editing.
Front. Genome Ed. 7:1588089.| https://doi.org/10.3389/fgeed.2025.1588089
Plant genome editing has undergone a transformative shift with the advent of advanced molecular tools, offering unprecedented levels of precision, flexibility and efficiency in modifying genetic material. While classical site-directed nucleases such as ZFNs, TALENs and CRISPR-Cas9 have revolutionized genome engineering by enabling targeted mutagenesis and gene knockouts, the landscape is now rapidly evolving with the emergence of novel systems that go beyond the conventional double strand break (DSB)-mediated approaches. Advanced and recent tools include LEAPER, SATI, RESTORE, RESCUE, ARCUT, SPARDA, helicase-based approaches like HACE and Type IV-A CRISPR system, and transposon-based techniques like TATSI and piggyBac. These tools unlock previously inaccessible avenues of genome and transcriptome modulation. Some of these technologies allow DSB-free editing of DNA, precise base substitutions and RNA editing without altering the genomic DNA, a significant advancement for regulatory approval and for species with complex genomes or limited regeneration capacity. While LEAPER, RESCUE and RESTORE are the new advents in the RNA editing tool, SATI allows DSB-free approach for DNA editing, ARCUT offers less off-target and cleaner DNA repairs and Type IV-A CRISPR system induces gene silencing rather than editing. The transposon-based approaches include TATSI, piggyBac and TnpB, and helicases are used in HACE and Type IV-A CRISPR system. The prokaryotic Argonaute protein is used in SPARDA tool as an endonuclease to edit DNA. The transient and reversible nature of RNA editing tools such as RESTORE and LEAPER introduces a new layer of epigenetics-like control in plant systems, which could be harnessed for tissue-specific and environmentally-responsive trait expression. Simultaneously, innovations like ARCUT and SPARDA utilize chemically-guided editing, minimizing reliance on biological nucleases and reducing off-target risks. Their modularity and programmability are enabling gene function studies, synthetic pathway designs and targeted trait stacking. These advances represent a novel synthesis of genome engineering and systems biology, positioning plant genome editing not just as a tool of modification but as a platform for designing adaptive and intelligent crops, tailored to future environmental and nutritional challenges. Although, many of these recent tools remain to be applied on plant systems, they are proven to be effective elsewhere and hold a great potential to be effective in creating climate-resilient crops.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genome-editing/articles/10.3389/fgeed.2025.1588089/full
Gaccione, L., Toppino, L., Bolger, M. et al. (2025): Graph-based pangenomes and pan-phenome provide a cornerstone for
eggplant biology and breeding. Nat Commun 16, 9919 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64866-1
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a major Solanaceous crop of Asian origin, but genomic resources remain limited compared to related species. Here, a core collection of 368 accessions spanning global diversity of S. melongena and wild relatives is phenotyped for agronomic, disease resistance and fruit metabolomic traits and resequenced. Additionally, 40 chromosome-level assemblies of S. melongena, its progenitor S. insanum and the allied species S. incanum enable the construction of two graph-based pangenomes, capturing broad genetic variation. We demonstrate the power of these datasets by identifying major loci controlling prickliness and resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae, driven by SVs affecting the LONELY GUY 3 gene and a resistance gene cluster, respectively, as well as a mutation in a GDSL-like esterase/lipase gene altering the levels of dicaffeoyl-quinic acids. These findings provide a cornerstone for pangenome-assisted breeding, enabling detailed analyses of genetic diversity, domestication history, and trait evolution in eggplant.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64866-1
Vickers C.E., Zerbe P. (20025): Harnessing plant agriculture to mitigate climate change: A framework to evaluate synthetic
biology (and other) interventions, Plant Physiology, 199 (3), kiaf410 | https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf410
Plant agriculture contributes substantially to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it also offers powerful opportunities for climate change mitigation. Here, we focus on how to identify and prioritize synthetic biology strategies to reduce emissions and sequester carbon through plant-based interventions. Effective solutions must process large volumes of carbon, be scalable, yield a positive life-cycle balance, and be economically viable, technically feasible, and deployable in field conditions without undue damage to what remains of nature on Earth. Using Fermi estimation, we quantify the per-hectare, annual, and 100-year CO2-equivalent (CO2e) drawdown potential of emerging synthetic biology strategies—including improved CO2 fixation, reduced yield losses, root-deposited biopolymers, engineered nitrogen fixation, and methane reduction—and benchmark them against nonengineered approaches such as biochar, forestation, and fast-growing biomass crops. We used a 100-year horizon to allow for both development and implementation of high-risk but high-impact synthetic biology strategies. We integrate factors such as per-hectare effectiveness, year-on-year sequestration, deployment area, and storage durability. We demonstrate that while per-hectare impacts vary by orders of magnitude (<1 to >30 t CO2e/ha/year), deployment scale is the dominant factor determining total impact. Targeted synthetic biology strategies implemented across existing agricultural systems could deliver ∼120 Gt CO2e drawdown over a century and contribute to an additional ∼140 Gt CO2e drawdown. Decreasing synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use and biochar implementation have the biggest CO2e impact potential. Early-stage quantitative evaluation is critical to guide R&D toward climate-relevant solutions and deliver a prioritized portfolio of near- and long-term strategies. A transdisciplinary approach—linking synthetic biology, agronomy, engineering, and social systems—is essential to realize impact. This work offers a framework for evaluating plant agriculture-based climate mitigation strategies and highlights a key role for synthetic biology in mitigation pathways. Regular re-evaluation of strategies should be performed to ensure that they are meaningful for climate change mitigation as other factors evolve.
https://academic.oup.com/plphys/article/199/3/kiaf410/8266580
Kariyanna, B., Pramod Kumar, M. & Prabhulinga, T. (2026): Decoding the Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)
Resistance in Indian Cotton: Mechanisms, Challenges and Alternatives. Journal of Crop Health 78, 4 |https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-025-01265-y
Cotton is an important cash crop in India, confronts a significant threat from the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), a pest that has developed resistance to genetically modified cotton and various insecticides. Physiological adaptations, such as enhanced detoxification and altered target site sensitivity, high genetic diversity and growing long season with monoculture Bt cotton contributes P. gossypiella resistance against the various management strategies. The challenges posed by pest resistance impact cotton productivity and environmental sustainability, prompting a shift from conventional insecticide-centric methods to dynamic, adaptive pest management. This review investigates the mechanisms behind P. gossypiella resistance in Indian cotton, exploring genetic, physiological, and behavioral adaptations enabling the pest to withstand conventional control measures. Present analysis provides insights into the complex interaction between P. gossypiella and Indian cotton, offering a roadmap for sustainable pest management.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10343-025-01265-y
Seelam, R, Sivarathri B.S., Roa G.A., Lambert A.M., Joshi P. (2025): Scientists’ contributions to agriculture: How the world
looks without research
Continuous scientific research is essential to modern agriculture, enabling farmers to increase productivity while addressing climate change, pests, soil degradation, and sustainability. Without it, outdated practices would prevail, leading to crop losses, environmental damage, rising food prices, and greater hunger. Long-term investment in agricultural research underpins food security, public health, economic stability, and environmental protection for societies worldwide.
Liang X., Zhong D, Yan S., Feng Y. (2026): Effects of Continuous Bt Maize Cultivation on Soil Nutrient Content and Microbial
Communities. Plants 15, 112 https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15010112
The global population growth has driven the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops, with Bt maize, due to its insect resistance, becoming the second most widely planted GM crop. However, studies on the effects of continuous Bt maize cultivation on soil ecosystems are limited, and there is an urgent need to assess its ecological safety at the regional scale. To evaluate the potential effects of continuous cultivation of transgenic Bt maize on the soil ecosystem, a five-season continuous planting experiment was conducted using two Bt maize varieties (5422Bt1 and 5422CBCL) and their near-isogenic conventional maize (5422). After five consecutive planting seasons, bulk soil and rhizosphere soil were collected. The main nutrient contents of the bulk soil were measured, and high-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze microbial diversity and community composition in both soil types. The results showed that, compared with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422, continuous planting of Bt maize varieties 5422Bt1 and 5422CBCL did not affect the contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, or available potassium in bulk soil. Regarding the microbial communities in bulk soil, there were no significant differences in the α-diversity indices of bacteria and fungi after five consecutive seasons of Bt maize cultivation, compared with soils planted with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422. Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the dominant phyla of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the structure of microbial communities in bulk soil was primarily influenced by factors such as OM, TP, TN and AN, whereas the Bt maize varieties had no significant effect on the overall community structure. Regarding the rhizosphere soil microbial communities, compared with the near-isogenic conventional maize 5422, the evenness of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere soil of Bt maize decreased, leading to a reduction in overall diversity, whereas species richness showed no significant change. This change in diversity patterns further contributed to the restructuring of the rhizosphere soil microbial community. In contrast, the fungal community showed no significant differences among treatments, and its community structure remained relatively stable. Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the dominant phyla of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) indicated that continuous cultivation of Bt maize for five seasons had no significant effect on the structure of either bacterial or fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil. In summary, continuous cultivation of Bt maize did not lead to significant changes in soil nutrient contents or microbial community structures, providing a data foundation and theoretical basis for the scientific evaluation of the environmental safety of transgenic maize in agricultural ecosystems
https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/15/1/112
Köhnen, S., Ulbricht, P., Sturm, A. et al. (2025):The fru gene specifies male cooperative behaviors in honeybee colonies.
Nat Commun 16, 11203 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67392-2
Conspecific individuals can benefit from behavioral interactions, but whether cooperative behaviors require dedicated control in the nervous system is poorly understood. We examine the genetics underlying obligate cooperative male behaviors in honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) that are deeply hardwired. We screened for transcription factor genes and found that only the fruitless (fru) BTB zinc-finger gene was restricted to expression in males and in the nervous system. Reporter coexpression revealed Fru-positive neuronal cell populations that are involved in processing and integrating sensory information. Computer-assisted behavioral tracking of male bees with loss-of-function mutations in experimental colonies revealed that fru is specifically required for the rate and/or duration of social approach and feeding behaviors, suggesting that the gene scales bees’ participation in the collective nutrition task. Together, our study establishes a gene-based specification of behavior initiation and sustainment and provides insight into the connection between cooperation and defined neural populations.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67392-2
NEU: Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel 4.0
Deutschlands nationale Nährstoffdatenbank - jetzt kostenfrei verfügbar
Der BLS liefert eine wissenschaftliche Datengrundlage für Ernährungsforschung, Verzehrsstudien und Nährwertkennzeichnung. Mit Version 4.0 steht er erstmals ohne Lizenzbarrieren für alle zur Verfügung.