What if we actually could feed the ENTIRE world?

We talked about the possibilities of RNA technology here 👇

Who wants to live forever?

The one about a podcast on synthetic biology that blew my mind... The software of life and infinite possibilities...

MacrodesiacTim Vollans

And that same technology is already yielding results...  👇

RNA breakthrough creates crops that can grow 50% more potatoes, rice

UChicago-led research could yield increased food production, boost drought tolerance

University of Chicago NewsLouise Lerner

Manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops, as well as increasing drought tolerance, announced a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University and Guizhou University.

That high drought tolerance could be crucial if the forecasts of global warming are to be believed...

How's it work?

In initial tests, adding a gene encoding for a protein called FTO to both rice and potato plants increased their yield by 50% in field tests. The plants grew significantly larger, produced longer root systems and were better able to tolerate drought stress. Analysis also showed that the plants had increased their rate of photosynthesis.

“What’s more, it worked with almost every type of plant we tried it with so far, and it’s a very simple modification to make.”

The scientists repeated the experiments with potato plants, which are part of a completely different family. The results were the same.

“That suggested a degree of universality that was extremely exciting,”

Spot the difference 👇👇👇

Spectacular.

Here's a great 2 minute video on how crop yields have improved over the years
👇👇👇

And we might have found another Brexit dividend...

“Much as I have to swallow hard and say it through gritted teeth, Brexit has at least one dividend,” says Jonathan Jones, a plant biologist at the Sainsbury Laboratory

Divergence of food standards. Now, this sounds like a bad thing, but there's no reason to think it will be...

“Let's start now to liberate the UK's extraordinary bioscience sector from (EU) anti-genetic modification rules, and let's develop the blight-resistant crops that will feed the world,” Johnson said in his first speech as prime minister.

As UK veers from EU anti-biotech regulations and opens doors to gene editing, landmark study on broccoli and other brassicas highlights innovation

Field trials investigating healthy compounds in agronomically important brassica crops have underlined the “immense potential” of gene editing technology,

Genetic Literacy Project

There are so many of these studies throwing up breakthroughs, and the UK is positioning itself at the head of the queue...

The EU have recognised the need to rethink these rules 👇👇👇

EU calls for rethink of GMO rules for gene-edited crops

The European Commission launched a review of EU rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on Thursday, opening the door to a possible loosening of restrictions for plants resulting from gene-editing technology.

ReutersPhilip Blenkinsop

The European Commission launched a review of EU rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), opening the door to a possible loosening of restrictions for plants resulting from gene-editing technology.

Prompted by a 2018 ruling from the European Union's top court that techniques to alter the genome of an organism should be governed by existing EU rules on GMOs, the Commission concluded that its 2001 legislation was "not fit for purpose".

If it's taken 3 years just to launch a review, how long will it take to disentangle this from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and reach a majority agreement among the 27 nations?

If only the EU could learn to take risks.... 👇

Brand new EU

“The British took risks by financing the private sector. The Americans took risks. We don’t know how to do that yet,” Can the EU escape the trap of sluggish growth & minimal innovation?

MacrodesiacTim Vollans

Trade WITH the trend: The Evergrande edition

We've covered the Evergrande situation at length so I won't bore you with it again.

However, I did want to highlight the importance of trading the right durations and Evergrande was a great example recently.

Evergrande announced the discussion of a 'special dividend plan' on July 15th, which resulted in a gap higher on the open.

This will always cause some excitement, as momentum traders get excited and try to get involved on the pullback.

However, it was only ever under discussion, and once the plan was inevitably abandoned today (can't pay a special dividend if you've run out of money), the stock had already fallen.

There's a reason these old clichés stand the test of time.

Remember how all cars are going to be fitted with breathalysers to stop drink-driving? 👇👇👇

EU confirms all new cars will be fitted with breathalysers from 2022

The European Commission approved rules which will see breathalysers and speed limiters fitted as standard.

Yahoo NewsGeorge Martin

All new cars sold in the EU will be fitted with breathalysers from 2022 onwards after Brussels passed a new road safety law.

The new rules mean several safety features will now be mandatory on every new car sold within the EU, including speed limiters and breathalysers.

Sometimes, regulations are required.

Safety comes first and free markets can't solve EVERY problem.

Why's that Don?

You've seen a study that shows Uber has cut drink-driving fatalities in the U.S?

Sure...

Overall, our results imply that ridesharing has decreased US alcohol-related traffic fatalities by 6.1% and reduced total US traffic fatalities by 4.0%.

I have NO idea how they controlled for every other factor, but keep an eye out for Uber adding 'life-saving technology' to their earnings report next week...