Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺

Current state of EU legislation on crop breeding summed up in one picture. Note that all plants carry the same mutation! One does not need to be a scientist to understand the this legislation makes no sense. #GMOs #CommonSense @testbiotech

This just makes me so sad. While yes there's a middle ground where we can accelerate some things efficiently with AI, seeing the replacement of mind, expertise, and a foundational essence of doing science (peer review) is just so saddening. Not to mention running someone's unpubbed work through AI.

I just published: The Church of Impact Factor is selling indulgences Bribery allegations at Cell Press. The open secret of scientific publishing is out. I'm shocked. I'm not surprised. #CellOnions #Elsevil #ScienceCrisis kamounlab.medium.com/the-church-o...

Enormous news. A melanoma vaccine, one of the most deadly cancers out there. Science is good and helpful and there should be more of it. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

I'm excited. Five more days until this job closes. Come do plant evolution here at Davis! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07777?utm...

Tenure track assistant/associate professor positions open in my university. Within life sciences, INCLUDING PLANT SCIENCES. Please RT jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

the tech industry is about to invent books

L'Académie Nationale des Sciences d'Ukraine a appelé la communauté internationale à continuer de boycotter les institutions russes, après que la Russie a détruit le bâtiment de l'Académie à Kiev lundi, tuant 2 personnes. www.science.org/content/arti...

Dear @erc.europa.eu , we DO already have common standards & frameworks. 'AI' likes to pose itself as 'special' but we do not need to reinvent the wheel. We already have established codes of conduct for research integrity. We just need to apply them. See below + more resources in thread🧵

Conventional #GMO crops have unexpected benefits in the face of climate change: reduced yield volatility, fewer climate related losses & even slowing the northward shift of US corn & soybean production. #climatecatastrophe www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I get really annoyed seeing so many people say "Since everyone uses AI to write papers..." or "Referee reports now are just written by AI..." Look: Everything I have written has, for better or worse, been my own writing. Don't project your cynical expectations on my work. Seriously, screw gen-AI.

so it’s not AI that will kill us, but stupid people believing what AI says…

📝 New article on Our World in Data: Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? One of the most common questions we’re asked about food systems is whether organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods.

Current state of affairs: Hey, I got this cool GM technology that could save the world Regulators: BANNED! Hey, I got this cool AI technology that could destroy the world Regulators: SURE, GO AHEAD!

Didn’t know Clippy had left us. Found his tomb in Toulouse. RIP little guy…

All AI does is stealing ideas from humans. NEVER upload your research project proposals to AI.

I am not scared of competing with AI in grant applications. AI has no idea, no innovation and no understanding. as a reviewer it’s like looking at a picture, once you notice it’s AI generated, you’re disappointed, feel betrayed, same for projects.

Just a rainbow. A sign of rain, of hope and diversity. Climate change is a huge challenge, but mankind can make it. If it wants and does what needs to be done. now.

We could actually stop climate change for $1 Trillion, but what are we doing instead? AI. www.goldmansachs.com/insights/art...

Hello world! You bored? My research group is documenting flower color variation and you can help! check out tribblelab.org/flower_color... and dm me with any technical difficulties or issues. Share with your friends! The more players the better.

#PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob W3-Professorship in Plant Breeding @unihalle.bsky.social wcms.itz.uni-halle.de/download.php...

Are there now finally some good standard imaging tools (camera in greenhouse, drone in field) that can identify heat or drought tolerant lines/varieties? I am asking for a friend 😉

Seems like the Désirée potato variety was produced quite in a rush! 🥔😅 Urgenta X Depesche

Uncountable numbers of turtles 🐢 had to be sacrificed in the process of producing this project. Sorry!

We are looking for a Scientist in #PlantCellBiology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social in Einbeck. The position is in our Doubled Haploid Research Unit, and the work can be done onsite or remote! This is a two-year contract. jobs.kws.com/job/Einbeck-... #PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob #PlantScience

The USDA is projecting the wheat harvest to be cut by almost half in the US. The state of Kansas is the largest producer of wheat and it is projected to harvest 44% less than from 2025. The American Farm Bureau sees a continued increase of Chapter 12 bankruptcies from 2025 as well.

Considering this massive challenge, all new breeding technologies must be allowed immediately to have at least a chance to reduce the impact of climate change. This is more urgent than Covid19, immediate emergency actions by EU and Swiss parliaments must be the taken.

❗ French agriculture is experiencing one of the worst nationwide agricultural disasters since 1945 due to drought. 🔻 corn -41% 🔻 sorghum - 61% (promoted as drought tolerant! 🤔 ) 🔻 wheat -31% 🔻 potato -42% 🔻 legumes -30 to -70% A huge challenge for all. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Does anyone know how "easy" it will become to carry out field trials with NGT1 plants in Europe with the new legislation? When could the first trials take place?

I’m thrilled to share that our search for a tenure-track colleague in my *truly wonderful and collegial* Genetics, Genomics, Evolution and Development Division in the MCB Department at Berkeley @berkeleymcb.bsky.social is live! Please share this broad search widely: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05481

i have found it! The actual physical location of R Studio!

Extreme drought all over Europe 🚨 Rhine, Danube an Loire have reached extreme low flow 😔 Europe, we got a problem www.linkedin.com/posts/eu-in-...

how is it possible that all Meta products aren’t immediately banned in Europe???

I am tempted to accept the invitation to give a talk about an active Helitron in wheat at the Obesity conference 🤔

Happy to finally see this out in a peer-reviewed form 🧬🌱 Congrats to everyone who contributed! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

véraison in action 😎 wish you all a very nice day!

With Research Briefing: "Epigenetic changes and heat stress activate Helitron mobility" rdcu.be/foNSn Activation of an Helitron family in wheat leads to extrachromosomal circular DNA formation and novel somatic insertions, driven by a single autonomous element.

New OA Letter: "An active Helitron transposon family in wheat" rdcu.be/foNPA Heat stress and reduced DNA methylation can mobilize a Helitron family. Its mobilization is genetically linked to a specific full-length member catalysing the full Helitron life cycle. #PlantScience

Another nice example of natural GMOs: Horizontal gene transfer of mitochondrial genes from the host plant to the parasitic plant. royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Die #Feuer in Frankreich gehen weiter: jetzt mussten schon über 250.000 Menschen evakuiert werden. Hier eine Karte der Lage am Sonntagmorgen und mein Foto von der Fahrt nach Bordeaux am Freitagabend. Warum die #Erderhitzung die Brandgefahr eskalieren lässt: scilogs.spektrum.de/klimalounge/...

Please share! 🌱🤖 Permanent W2 Professorship in crop & plant sciences @ PhenoRob, University of Bonn. Especially encouraged: crop genome engineering, sustainable pest control, or sustainable disease control. Expertise in one area is enough. Apply by Sept. 30, 2026. www.uni-bonn.de/en/universit...

AI companies burning books. The aim is obvious: centralise all knowledge in a single place and limit access. Exactly like the monasteries did in the middle ages 😑

Our lab @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social is hiring two postdoctoral researchers to join our ERC-funded GRAFT project on mobile small RNAs in plants. 🔗 Details: jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/jobposting/b... 📅 Deadline: July 31, 2026 Please share!

Thrilled to have received an ERC Advanced Grant to investigate the mechanisms and biological impact of small RNA mobility in plants. A huge thanks to my team for making this possible, and to the reviewers for their support and confidence in the project. Looking forward to getting started!

Targeted DNA insertion remains a major bottleneck in plant engineering. We developed an avian R2 retrotransposon as an efficient plant genome editor to precisely insert large DNA payloads at targeted sites: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Congratulations to @kimuchenje03.bsky.social and the team! 🧵👇

Funny how the NGT vote in the EU parliament made like zero news here in Switzerland 🤔

can’t work because of Windows updates 🙄 i am loosing my precious time because Microsoft programmers can’t do a proper job…

My personal comment on the EUs decision on new genomic techniques in crop breeding 🧑‍🌾 #NGT @snsf.ch

Novel crop breeding techniques will finally be allowed in Europe! 🥳🧬🌱