General Motors names new CEO of troubled self-driving subsidiary Cruise

Robotaxi service recovering from gruesome collision with pedestrian that triggered suspension of California license

General Motors on Tuesday named a veteran technology executive with roots in the video game industry to steer its troubled robotaxi service Cruise as it tries to recover from a gruesome collision that triggered the suspension of its California license and the removal of all its robotaxis from the state’s roads.

Marc Whitten, one of the key engineers behind the Xbox video game console, will take over as Cruise’s chief executive nearly nine months after one of the service’s robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian – who had just been struck by a vehicle driven by a human – across a darkened street in San Francisco before coming to a stop.

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‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of ‘lifesaving’ Golden Rice

Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of Golden Rice, which was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

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Rules on GM farming and cars to be top of UK bonfire of EU laws

Minister reveals plans to change laws inherited from EU, with rules on medical devices also in crosshairs

Rules on genetically modified farming, medical devices and vehicle standards will be top of a bonfire of laws inherited from the EU as the government seeks to change legislation automatically transferred to the UK after Brexit.

Thousands of laws and regulations are to be reviewed, modified or repealed under a new programme aimed at cementing the UK’s independence and “Brexit opportunities”, David Frost has announced.

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‘Let’s get rid of friggin’ cows’ says creator of plant-based ‘bleeding burger’

Impossible Foods working on milk and fish substitutes as Patrick Brown pledges to put an end to animal agriculture industry

Patrick Brown is on a mission: to eradicate the meat and fish industries by 2035. The CEO of Impossible Foods, a California-based company that makes genetically engineered plant-based meat, is deadly serious. No more commercial livestock farming or fishing. No more steak, fish and chips or roast dinners, at least not as you know them.

In their place, his company’s scientists and food technicians will create plant-based substitutes for every animal product used today in every region of the world, he promises.

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US FDA declares genetically modified pork ‘safe to eat’

Developer says it plans to focus on using pig organs for human transplant rather than selling for meat

Genetically modified (GM) pigs have been approved for food and medical use in the US, drawing mixed reactions. The pigs are only the second GM animal to be approved for food after GM salmon in 2015.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved the GM pigs, which have been engineered to eliminate alpha-gal, a sugar found in pigs that can cause allergic reactions.

The FDA said it was the first time it had approved a GM animal for human food and medical use.

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Gene manipulation using algae could grow more crops with less water

Enhanced photosynthesis holds promise of higher yields in a drought-afflicted future

Tobacco plants have been modified with a protein found in algae to improve their photosynthesis and increase growth, while using less water, in a new advance that could point the way to higher-yielding crops in a drought-afflicted future.

The technique focuses on photosynthesis, the complex process by which plants are able to use sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce nutrients that fuel their growth. Enhancing photosynthesis would produce huge benefits to agricultural productivity, but the complexities of the process have stymied many past attempts to harness it.

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Lords seek to allow gene-editing in UK ‘to produce healthy, hardier crops’

Changes could introduce gluten-free wheat and disease-resistant fruit and vegetables, say peers


Peers are preparing plans to legalise the gene-editing of crops in England, a move that scientists say would offer the nation a chance to develop and grow hardier, more nutritious varieties. The legislation would also open the door to gene-editing of animals.

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Block on GM rice ‘has cost millions of lives and led to child blindness’

Eco groups and global treaty blamed for delay in supply of vitamin-A enriched Golden Rice

Stifling international regulations have been blamed for delaying the approval of a food that could have helped save millions of lives this century. The claim is made in a new investigation of the controversy surrounding the development of Golden Rice by a team of international scientists.

Golden Rice is a form of normal white rice that has been genetically modified to provide vitamin A to counter blindness and other diseases in children in the developing world. It was developed two decades ago but is still struggling to gain approval in most nations.

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Candidate to run global food body will ‘not defend’ EU stance on GM

Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle tells US she would be more open to its interests in UN role

Europe’s candidate to run the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which guides policymakers around the world, has promised the US she will “not defend the EU position” in resisting the global spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

In a bid for US support, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle told senior US officials at a meeting in Washington on 15 May that under her leadership the FAO would be more open to American interests and accepting of GMOs and gene editing, according to a US official record of the meeting seen by the Guardian.

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