November 2019
The ILSI Research Foundation brings scientists together to improve environmental sustainability and human health. In our monthly newsletter, learn how we are advancing, disseminating, and translating science into action.

Gene drive mosquitoes have been proposed as a possible means to reduce the transmission of malaria in Africa. Because this technology has no prior use-history at this time, environmental risk assessments for gene drive mosquitoes will benefit from problem formulation—an organized and ordered process to identify protection goals and potential pathways to harm to the environment, or animal or human health. Published in Malaria Journal on October 15, 2019, this summary paper captures the findings from four African consultations organized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, with support from international partners such as the ILSI Research Foundation, to identify risk hypotheses and data needs for future environmental risk assessment of gene drives in the mosquito  Anopheles gambiae .
Related Publication: OECD Consensus Document of the Biology of Mosquito  Aedes aegypti

Preparation of the  OECD Consensus Document of the Biology of Mosquito Aedes aegypti  was co-led by Mexico, Brazil, and the ILSI Research Foundation, with additional expertise provided by Australia, France, India, Kenya, and the United States. Published in June 2018 by the OECD Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology as a resource to help support environmental risk assessment, the document provides information on  Aedes aegypti  taxonomy, morphology, life cycle, reproductive biology, genetics, ecology, interactions with other species, and the environment.
Busting Food Sustainability Myths – Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Opportunities in Fruit & Vegetable Supply Chains

The vast majority of American consumers do not come into contact with the realities of agriculture and food production on a regular basis. On November 21, 2019, the Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains: Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Opportunities project will host a breakout session at the Sustainable Agriculture Summit , during which misunderstandings about "sustainable foods" will be explored through a creative presentation of results from the project's interdisciplinary research. 
Related Publication: Protocol for US Fruit and Vegetable Crop Modeling

Fruits and vegetables are important parts of a healthy diet, and climate change will affect their production. To help inform its assessment of climate change impacts on fruit and vegetable cultivation in the U.S. and explore potential adaptations, the Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains: Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Opportunities project has published its protocol for U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Crop Modeling . The protocol has methods for potato and tomato, and will be expanded to the project's other crops in the future. 
Photos and Presentations from the Symposium on Risk Assessment of Plants Developed Using New Breeding Technologies

Co-organized by the Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture, Government of the Philippines, the ILSI Research Foundation, and the Biosafety Coalition of the Philippines, the Symposium on Risk Assessment and Regulation of Genome Edited Plants took place in Manila on October 8-9, 2019. Attended by over 130 scientists, risk assessors, and regulators, the event provided an opportunity to learn how genome editing of plants is being applied to address important agricultural challenges in the Philippines, and how risk assessment and regulation of products of new plant breeding techniques like genome editing are being considered in key countries, such as Australia, Germany, Japan, and the United States. With the speakers' kind permission, a number of presentations, along with a selection of photos of the event, are now available on our website.