15 September 2026

The Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (ABCA) convened at Parliament House in Canberra today, bringing together leading industry organisations from the farming, agricultural, biotechnology, and scientific sectors. The meeting provided a forum to address current and important issues related to biotechnology and Australian agriculture.

Ensuring global food and nutritional security remains a significant challenge. Threats include climate variability, geopolitical uncertainty, evolving consumer expectations, and increasing pressure on agricultural productivity and sustainability. Australian farmers remain at the forefront of these challenges and require access to the full suite of innovations available to improve resilience, productivity, and environmental outcomes. Against a rapidly evolving global regulatory and trade landscape, the Council reaffirmed the importance of ongoing regulatory modernisation. This is essential to ensure Australian agriculture remains internationally competitive and that farmers can access the latest biotechnological innovations in a timely and predictable manner.

Presentations from key policy and regulatory agencies, including the Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing, the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR), and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), highlighted recent advancements in regulation and reform. ABCA members welcomed the recent release of the FSANZ guidance document, Definitions for Gene Technology and New Breeding Techniques. The Council also emphasised the importance of completing the recommendations arising from the Third Review of the National Gene Technology Scheme, given their significance for agricultural innovation, medical research, and Australia’s broader biotechnology sector.

Tress Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer of InterGrain, a leading Australian cereal breeding company, provided the Council with her perspectives on the role of gene editing in transforming wheat and the importance of effective communication around biotechnology. Her presentation sparked a roundtable discussion on the opportunities and challenges of engaging stakeholders in emerging agricultural innovations.

Reaffirming its commitment to advancing public awareness, informed policymaking, and a robust efficient regulatory framework, the Council remains dedicated to ensuring that accurate, evidence-based information guides the continued development and deployment of agricultural biotechnology in Australia.

USDA approves genetically modified American chestnut tree developed at SUNY ESF
Source: Syracuse.com – 05 September 2026

After more than six years of review, the USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service determined that ESF’s blight-tolerant Darling 54 genetically modified chestnut is unlikely to pose a threat to other plants…Additional reviews need to be completed by the Environmental Protection Agency before American chestnuts can be distributed to individuals or used for wider restoration projects. 

Source: Nature – 08 September 2026

Climate change is altering agricultural production conditions by intensifying heat stress, precipitation extremes and pest pressures. One way of adapting to such changes involves development of plant varieties for increased resilience. Here we conduct a US national-level spatial analysis of the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) crop adoption over the past four decades to show that GE adoption is broadly associated with yield benefits. We show higher yields and lower yield volatility for corn and soybean, with partial attenuation of adverse climate effects on yield, and more modest effects for upland cotton, implying that GE development and associated forces have improved resilience to climate-induced stress.

Banana industry battling Panama disease as a GM solution emerges
ABC Radio National, Breakfast – 03 September 2026
The Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4) has spread to an eleventh banana farm. The soil-borne fungus is widely considered one of the world’s most devastating banana diseases as it can stay in the soil for decades. QUT researchers have developed this approved genetically modified disease resistant plant. How do the growers view that particular option?

See also: 
Growers fight to save Cavendish bananas as farms fall to Panama disease
ABC Rural News – 02 September, 2026

Fact vs misinformation: An official EU guide to GMOs and gene-edited foods
European Parliament (via Genetic Literacy Project) – 01 September 2026
he rules governing new gene editing techniques for plants – called “new genomic techniques” (NGTs) – are being changed at EU level. Gene-edited plants will be divided into two categories, depending on the type and number of edits involved. Those with few genetic changes that could have occurred through conventional breeding techniques will be considered conventional plants, while the rest will have to follow the same strict rules as GMOs. The new law was adopted by the European Parliament on 17 June 2026 and will apply from mid-2028.

How a genetically modified, disease-resistant Australian banana could prevent a global crop collapse

Source: ABC Science 

In a small plot in the Northern Territory, banana plants have thrived for almost a decade in soil that should kill them. According to those who have tried the fruit, they taste exactly like a banana should. But the plants near Humpty Doo have a secret hiding in their DNA: a genetic modification that protects bananas from a disease that is on the verge of wiping out crops around the world. James Dale, an agricultural biotechnology researcher at the Queensland University of Technology, helped develop the disease-resistant banana — the world’s first genetically modified banana to be approved in Australia.

Commercial release of cotton genetically modified for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance (Bollgard® 3 ThryvOn™ cotton with XtendFlex® Technology)

Source: Office of the Gene Technology Regulator

Australia’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued license DIR 216 to Bayer CropScience Pty. Ltd., authorizing the commercial release of cotton genetically modified (GM) for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. 

The GM cotton contains 4 introduced genes from a common soil bacteria that confer insect resistance to common pests of cotton. Three of these genes provide protection against bollworms and one provides protection against certain bugs, aphids and thrips.  The GM cotton also contains 3 introduced genes for tolerance to herbicides glyphosate, glufosinate, and dicamba. The genes enable the GM cotton plants to grow in the presence of these herbicides, which can be used to control weeds in the GM cotton crop. 

Colorado foundation, Bioceres to develop HB4 wheat commercially

Source: Capital Press – 24 September 2025

Argentina-based Bioceres Crop Solutions Corps and the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation will jointly develop and commercialize HB4 wheat in the United States.  HB4 is a transgenic wheat trait that incorporates drought tolerance transferred through a sunflower gene. According to Bioceres, HB4 wheat demonstrated up to a 43% yield improvement in targeted environments. As part of the collaboration, Bioceres will grant the research foundation “exclusive, sublicensable rights” to the HB4 trait in the U.S. territory.

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center shifts focus to gene editing for wheat resilience as GM varieties stall

Source: Economic Times – 21 September 2025

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is ramping up investments in gene editing technology to enhance wheat crop resilience, with Director General Bram Govaerts calling it a “future” technology amid ongoing regulatory and technical challenges facing genetically modified wheat. 

ABCA Communique – 07 March 2025

Dr Joe Smith | Chair

The Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (ABCA) convened at the National Press Club in Canberra today, bringing together leading farming, agriculture, biotechnology, industry, and science organisations, as well as key stakeholders. The meeting provided a forum to address current and significant issues related to biotechnology and Australian agriculture. Read more.

Source: Farm Journal, AgWeb

Nearly three dozen Nobel laureates have joined more than 1,000 scientists in urging members of the European Parliament to embrace science-based gene editing technology. New Genomic Techniques, they write in a petition, “hold immense promise for sustainable agriculture, enhanced food security, and innovative medical solutions.” As farmers who worry about the future of food production in an era of climate change, we join this distinguished group in asking the policymakers of the EU to open their minds to the amazing potential of this technology.

Source: Genetic Literacy Project

The glacial pace of the U.S. FDA’s approval process for genetically engineered food animals has inhibited innovation for decades. It wasn’t until 2021 that the first of them — the AquAdvantage Atlantic salmon tweaked using transgenic engineering (which makes it a “GMO”) to grow twice as quickly as the unaltered variety — finally went on sale in the US. The FDA review of the fish took more than 20 years. (Compare that to the five-month review of human insulin, the first biopharmaceutical, which was approved in 1982.)

Source: New Scientist 

Researchers have engineered cows’ muscle cells that can multiply without the assistance of an expensive and energy-intensive growth-boosting substance. If scaled up, they are optimistic this could slash the production costs of lab-grown meat, but they stress that it is still early days. Lab-grown, or cultivated, meat can be produced from animal cells. Approved for sale in countries such as the US and the Netherlands, it has been touted as a more ethical and sustainable substitute to conventional meat, by avoiding the slaughter of animals and using fewer resources, such as water. But the current, small-scale methods of producing lab-grown meat have still proven to be extremely energy intensive and expensive.

Source: Science Nigeria

In a groundbreaking move, the Federal Government of Nigeria has given the green light for the commercial release of (GM) maize varieties designed to combat insect infestations and thrive in drought conditions. These transformative maize varieties, collectively known as ‘TELA’ maize, received approval on January 11, 2024.

The four approved varieties, SAMMAZ 72T, SAMMAZ 73T, SAMMAZ 74T and SAMMAZ 75T, are heralded for their drought tolerance and resistance to stem-borers and fall armyworm, offering a yield advantage of up to 10 tonnes per hectare under optimal agronomic practices.

Genetic Literacy Project – 25 August 2023

On February 7–8 a small group of researchers met at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in an informal (and partly hybrid) meeting entitled “How Can Agrigenomics Help to Address Climate Change?” The workshop featured speakers from around the world convened to discuss how best to demonstrate proof of concept for selected applications and start to flesh out plans to reduce them to practice at scale.

Each of these concepts has the potential to remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere within the foreseeable future. Cutting emissions is important but reducing atmospheric carbon concentrations is essential. If we can’t figure out how to do that the fight is lost.