GENET-news

 Below you find the postings of the last seven days.

 

2010-08-30 | permalink

Syngenta Foundation and USDA experts urge Ghanaians to use and apply modern biotechnology

He said though Parliament was yet to pass the bill, Ghanaian farmer-based organisations had been clamouring for the GM technology to enable them improve their production in order not to be outdone by their Togolese, Nigerians and Burkinabe counterparts who would flood the local markets with such products. Prof. Alhassan said some GM products had arrived in the country adding that it was not true that such products were unsafe for human health and questioned: if they were unsafe, would people not develop some side-effects?

2010-08-30 | permalink

Outrage at South African organisations over claim that anti-GM campaign

Civil society organisations have reacted with outrage to claims that the international campaign against genetically modified crops is partly responsible for food shortages and food insecurity in Africa. "Food insecurity in developing regions such as Africa is partially a result of the anti-GM campaign," David King, director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University in Britain, said during the 15th World Congress of Food Science and Technology held between Aug 22-26 in Cape Town, South Africa.

2010-08-30 | permalink

U.S. coalition demands FDA deny approval of controversial genetically engineered fish

A coalition of 31 consumer, animal welfare and environmental groups, along with commercial and recreational fisheries associations and food retailers submitted a joint statement criticizing an announcement this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it will potentially approve the long-shelved AquAdvantage transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption.

2010-08-30 | permalink

Monsanto Australia steps up its education campaign for acceptance of GM wheat

Global biotechnology company Monsanto has begun an education and advocacy campaign to change the opposition many Australia consumers have to genetically modified food. [...] Monsanto's head in Australia, Peter O'Keefe [...] said something had to be done to turn around the poor global performance of wheat against other crops, which he said was caused partly by public opposition to GM crops and "crippling" government policies in Australia.

2010-08-27 | permalink

Gates Foundation invests in Monsanto

Farmers and civil society organizations around the world are outraged by the recent discovery of further connections between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and agribusiness titan Monsanto. Last week, a financial website published the Gates Foundation’s investment portfolio, including 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated worth of $23.1 million purchased in the second quarter of 2010. This marks a substantial increase from its previous holdings, valued at just over $360,000.

2010-08-27 | permalink

Washington (USA) farmers start anti GE-wheat campaign

Feeling their 1,012 petition signatures to stop genetically modified wheat have been ignored, three Waterville wheat growers may start a new petition drive this winter seeking labeling of any foods containing such products sold in the U.S. "At a minimum, we'd like to see labeling, but we really want Monsanto to stop developing GMO wheat," said Tom Stahl, one of the three growers.

2010-08-27 | permalink

Monsanto aquires 19.9% of Australian wheat breeding company InterGrain

InterGrain Pty Ltd and Monsanto Company today announced a technology collaboration agreement that is expected to lead to significant new advances in wheat technology for Australian growers. In connection with the collaboration, Monsanto has acquired a 19.9 percent minority interest in InterGrain, a leading cereal breeder in Australia. The WA State Government remains the majority shareholder, with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) remaining a shareholder as well.

2010-08-27 | permalink

Coming soon, the wheat revolution: DNA scientists pave the way for cheaper bread

British scientists have cracked the genetic code for wheat – paving the way for a new breed of crops resistant to disease. The experts will today share the map of the wheat genome online for free, allowing growers around the world to develop super strains of the crop. The development could also lead to massively increased production – and in turn lower bread prices.

2010-08-27 | permalink

Can Monsanto's omega-3 soybeans create heart-healthy and patented food?

Monsanto, the U.S.-based agrifood business, hopes to have Omega-3 soybeans in the Canadian marketplace within the next two years. [...] A controversy over Monsanto’s original patent applications involving the genetically enhanced soybeans erupted this year when an Australian expert in agricultural intellectual property suggested Monsanto’s patent might be seen as “an attempt by the company to exert control over the food chain.” Monsanto had applied for patents on the “derived benefits” of feeding animals its proprietary product.

2010-08-27 | permalink

USDA Chief Scientist announces next wave of GE crops

In the current decade we are coming to grips with the reality that science must focus on solving the ‘grand societal challenges’ – however you define them, that we face as a global society. Simultaneously we recognize that the contexts of contemporary biology are completely changing the way we do science. As the recent NAS report on “A New Biology for the 21st Century” points out, science will be increasingly interdisciplinary and team-driven rather than individual-investigator driven. Moreover, the work we do in biology will be increasingly cross-sector: Federal, state, university, corporate, non-profit, wherever the appropriate synergies exist.

2010-08-26 | permalink

Could GE cold-resistant eucalyptus trees be the kudzu of the 2010s?

Although one form of eucalyptus is already on a U.S. Forest Service list of invasive plants, ArborGen in May won federal permits for seven test sites, including one 75 miles from Charlotte in Marlboro County, S.C. A U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis concluded the test hybrids aren't likely to create a pest plant. We say, remember kudzu. For decades the federal Soil Conservation Service promoted it. And then it was too late.

2010-08-26 | permalink

Scion (New Zealand) applies for 25-year field trial of GE pine trees

An environmental watchdog is calling for public submissions on a plan to field test genetically-engineered pine trees “in containment” at Rotorua. [...] State science company Scion wants to test genes influencing plant growth, reproductive development, herbicide tolerance, biomass utilisation, wood density and stability, in 4000 trees on a four hectare site. The field test will last for 25 years, though each tree will be grown only for a maximum of eight years.

2010-08-26 | permalink

Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and Government of Kazakhstan plan GE wheat and barley project

The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Kazakhstan; a partnership that will produce improved varieties of wheat and barley more tolerant to drought, salinity and nutrient deficiencies and toxicities for both countries. [...] ‘We will also use genetic modification techniques to improve wheat and barley using a cis-genic approach which involves the use of wheat and barley genes to improve stress tolerance in wheat and barley plants.’

2010-08-26 | permalink

“We truly are in need of a second ‘Green Revolution’ in wheat”

Since the late 1980s, the rate of grain yield improvement has slowed, and now appears to have reached a plateau. There are several reasons for this, including the perpetual evolutionary arms race against new pathogens, the resurgence of old pathogens, or perhaps merely the exhaustion of available genetic resources for yield improvement. “We truly are in need of a second ‘Green Revolution’ in wheat,” says Graybosch, a wheat geneticist.

2010-08-26 | permalink

DNA from transgenic plants found in milk and animal tissue

A recent Testbiotech survey shows that DNA fragments from transgenic plants are increasingly found in animal tissue such as milk, inner organs and muscles. Most recently, in April 2010, scientists from Italy reported DNA sequences stemming from genetically engineered soy in milk from goats. These DNA fragments are presumably, entering the blood stream from the gut and then from there reaching the udder and the milk. Traces of specific DNA were also identified in kids fed with the goat’s milk.

2010-08-26 | permalink

GM salmon may go on sale in US in 18 months after public consultation

US authorities today began the process to approve the first GM animal for human consumption. The Food and Drug Administration announced a 60-day period of consultation and public meetings over whether to permit a GM strain of salmon to be eaten by humans, even though it has been called a "frankenfish" by critics. The approval process could take less than a year, and if it gets the green light the fish could be on the market in 18 months.

2010-08-25 | permalink

Don’t be guided by emotions but science on Bt brinjal, IFPRI Director says

There is an urgent need to assess the potential of genetically modified crops as these are nutrient-enriched, drought- and disease-resistant varieties, an expert said here Tuesday at an international conference. Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, director of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, said: “On the Bt Brinjal issue, everybody should be guided by science, not by sentiments or emotions.”

2010-08-25 | permalink

Price of success for South Africa GE corn farmers is ruin

Maize farmers are facing difficult production decisions for the coming season. Due to overproduction and a low maize price, the country could lose up to 30% of its maize farmers. Solidarity has become increasingly aware of a looming crisis among South African maize farmers. Indications are that this crisis will reach a peak by the middle of 2011.

2010-08-25 | permalink

French activists uproot GM vines at research centre

For the second time in less than a year, genetically modified vines being tested by the French National Institute of Agricultural Research in its Colmar centre in eastern France have been uprooted and destroyed. Now that France no longer grows or tests GM corn, which used to be a regular summer target of the Faucheurs Volontaires (voluntary reapers) movement, attention has turned to the vines. This month Faucheurs destroyed transgenic vines being tested for protection against court-noué, the fanleaf virus transmitted by earthworms. In September 2009 a single activist had cut down 70 vines at the same site.

2010-08-25 | permalink

Italian free trade activist ”commands an army of farmers ... prepared to plant MON810”

Giorgio Fidenato declared war on the Italian government and environmental groups in April with a news conference and a YouTube video, which showed him poking six genetically modified corn seeds into Italian soil. [...] If the Italian government does not relent on the genetically modified seeds, he warned, he commands an army of farmers across Italy who are prepared to plant MON810 to force its hand.

2010-08-25 | permalink

Stunned U.S. government to appeal stem-cell ruling barring federal research funding

Stunned and disappointed Obama administration officials said on Tuesday they would appeal a federal court ruling that temporarily barred federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. [...] "This ruling should be appealed and I fully believe that it will be overturned. Embryonic stem cell research offers hope to millions of Americans who are suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases, and it must be allowed to proceed," [Democratic Senator Tom] Harkin said in a statement.

2010-08-25 | permalink

Judge's ruling ties up U.S. governmental funding for stem-cell research

A federal judge's decision temporarily blocking the Obama administration's rules on funding embryonic-stem-cell research marks the latest twist in a long-running battle over stem-cell policy. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction Monday, concluding that new federal guidelines violate a law barring federal money from projects that destroy human embryos and that a lawsuit filed by researchers challenging the rules is likely to succeed as it moves through the courts.

2010-08-24 | permalink

President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences tells China to develop its own GM food

The Chinese consume millions of tons of genetically modified soybean oil every year without fuss despite the fact that attitudes toward GM food remain as divergent in the nation as they are in the rest of the world. China needs to step up agricultural innovation, including development of its own GM varieties, in response to climate change and to reduce reliance on foreign technologies, top agricultural experts and scientists told China Business Weekly last week.

2010-08-24 | permalink

Post release monitoring protocol developed to keep tabs on the next generation of GE crops

With novel traits from first-generation transgenic crops now being discovered in the wild, notably in wild canola in Canada and the U.S., accurately estimating the environmental impact of these new crops is becoming increasingly important. The team of scientists - Hugh Beckie, Linda Hall, Marie-Josée Simard, Julia Leeson, and Christian Willenborg – used drought tolerant canola as a model crop to develop their post release monitoring protocol.

2010-08-24 | permalink

DuPont gains on 'Too Big For Britches' Monsanto as U.S. farmers switch seeds

Iowa farmer Tom Oswald says he used to prefer Monsanto Co.’s premium corn seeds because they “yield like crazy.” That was before they became too expensive. [...] “The aggressive prices drive your desire to see if someone else has got something, because you want to send a message,” Oswald said in an interview. Monsanto, the world’s largest seed maker, “got a little too big for their britches,” he said.

2010-08-24 | permalink

The Gates Foundation buys shares of Goldman Sachs and Monsanto

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation took advantage of sagging stock prices in the second quarter to add Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the most storied names in finance, to its portfolio [...] The foundation, known for concentrating on vaccines and AIDS in its charitable work, also added Ecolab Inc. and Monsanto Co. to its portfolio.

2010-08-24 | permalink

ECOWAS plans common regional biosafety regulation, Nigeria adopted Biosafety Bill

THE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission is currently developing a common biosafety regulation in line with the national biosafety laws and regulations for the sub-region. [...] The Director General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Bamidele Solomon [...] also disclosed that the national biotechnology bill has been passed at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 to give legal backing to the agency and its operations.

2010-08-24 | permalink

Very different approaches to food security

“Of the approximately 200 indigenous species of plants that were used by Kenyans as vegetables in the past, most were either collected in the wild, semi-cultivated or cultivated. Now many are either unknown or extinct,” Mary Abukutsa-Onyango said. In Kenya, a devastating cycle of drought and flood reflects the worst that climate change has to offer. These and other more insiduous impacts of warming temperatures threaten the health and survival of the nation's poorest and most at-risk inhabitants, namely women and children.

2010-08-23 | permalink

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan shines the spotlight on what's caused an estimated 150,000 farmer suicides in India

An interview with Khan's about his new film, "Peepli Live," which explores the deadly consequences of India's shift to a neo-liberal economic model. [...] The vast majority of the world's second most populated country still farms for a living, but are caught between deep debt and the erratic nature of seasonal change. Lured by the promise of greater production, farmers are pressured into mortgaging their farms to purchase genetically modified seeds, pesticides, and fertilizer from American companies like Monsanto.

2010-08-23 | permalink

India doesn't need a Biotech Regulatory Authority but a Biosafety Protection Authority

Reacting to reports on the Cabinet clearance given to the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, members of the Coalition for a GM-Free India strongly reiterated that this Bill should be stopped in its tracks. Repeating that this Bill has a pro-industry, anti-people mandate to set up a clearing house for approving GMOs in our food and farming, they said that they would step up pressure on the Government of India to discard this 'wrong bill by the wrong people for the wrong reasons'.

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