GENET-news

 Below you find the postings of the last seven days.

 

2013-05-22 |

Monsanto’s NK603 corn safety meets no consensus in Brazil’s biosafety commission

The document produced [by the National Biosafety Commission] is signed by four experts and repeats critics already answered by Séralini and colleagues in several interviews and on a letter to editors published by the same Food and Chemical Toxicology. CTNBio’s president paper was only discussed by its other members last April. After a hot debate, four members voted against it, stating that, since the way rapporteurs were chosen, the document failed to consider contradictory views that emerged inside the Commission. Fourteen members were in favour of the document, although one know that science is not made on a vote base.

2013-05-22 |

To fight hunger, Ghana must approve GE crops

Dr Margaret Atikpo, the focal person of the [Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology] Ghana Chapter, said government had passed the biotechnology bill after strenuous scrutiny and that was an indication that the Executive was satisfied with the benefits that the people would derive. [...] Dr Atikpo emphasised that biotechnology among its enormous benefits to food security would also to a large extent improve the welfare of farmers thereby reduce poverty. Professor Kwame Offei, Provost of the College of Agriculture, University of Ghana, on a Ghana Television Breakfast Show said modern biotechnology is an alternative to food security.
He said the country need to embrace it for the simple reasons that “it will increase yield and reduce use of chemicals on our farms”.

2013-05-22 |

Kenya’s GMO ban has no legal basis, official says

A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms into the country — calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law. Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot be enforced because it was imposed by the cabinet, which has no authority in law to do so. [...] According to David Wafula, Kenya coordinator at the Program for Biosafety Systems ― a partnership between USAID and the Kenya government supporting development and use of biosafety systems in agricultural innovation in Kenya ― the ban has not been published in the Kenya Gazette, an official government publication containing new legislation and notices required to be published by law or policy.

2013-05-22 |

Indian government hastily tables Bill on biotech regulation in Parliament

the Ministry of Science and Technology drafted the NBRA Bill. But it was soon withdrawn following severe criticism during public consultation. In 2009, the ministry drafted another version of the Bill, this time titled Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill. Contents of the draft were kept under wraps. In February 2010, the science ministry suffered a setback when the environment minister imposed a moratorium on Bt Brinjal and other GM crops in the country. This started a silent war within the government. There was discomfort in the Prime Minister’s Office too. But with the UPA term ending in 2014, a communication came from PMO to the science ministry, asking it to speed up the process of tabling the Bill.

2013-05-22 |

Maharashtra (India) farm widows and activists to oppose secrecy in GE crop approval

Widows of farmers who committed suicide in the Bt-cotton fields of Maharashtra-Vidarbha, along with tribal and agriculturists, are gearing up to intensify their agitation against the introduction of GM seeds into the food crops. [...] Last week, a state-appointed committee headed by Atomic Energy Commission -Member-Dr Anil Kakodkar quietly met at the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, deliberating over proposals submitted by 29 seed companies seeking no-objection certificate for carrying out field tests of GM food crops in Maharashtra. The secrecy-filled meeting with members of the committee refusing to furnish details has invited wrath from environmentalists, ecologists and farmland activists.

2013-05-22 |

Indian Association of Biotech-Led Enterprises - Agriculture Group urges Union and Karnataka government to approve GE crop field trials

The Association of Biotech-Led Enterprises - Agriculture Group (ABLE AG) - the industry body representing agri-biotechnology companies, has sought action from the Minister of Environment & Forest Jayanthi Natarajan and the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee to permit field trials of biotechnology-enhanced seeds in the kharif season sowing, which is already under way, for continued R&D efforts by private and public sector institutions. [...] Member companies of ABLE AG are Advanta India, BASF India, Bayer BioScience, Devgen Seeds, Dow AgroSciences, JK Agri Genetics, Mahyco, MetaHelix, Monsanto, Nath Biogene, PHI Seeds and Syngenta India. Some of them have R&D centres in Bangalore while others are associated with Karnataka for purposes of transgenic crop trials.

2013-05-21 |

GM crops: Fooling – er, “feeding” – the world for 20 years

Myths and outright lies about the alleged benefits of genetically engineered crops persist only because the multinationals that profit from them have put so much effort into spreading them around. They want you to believe that GMOs will feed the world; that they are more productive; that they will eliminate the use of agrichemicals; that they can coexist with other crops, and that they are perfectly safe for humans and the environment. False in every case, and in this article we’ll show how easy it is to debunk these myths. All it takes is a dispassionate, objective look at twenty years of commercial GE planting and the research that supposedly backs it up. The conclusion is clear: GMOs are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

2013-05-21 |

The inconvenient truth about GM: non-GM breeding is more successful

what emerges from [Sir Gordon Conway’s] book, One Billion Hungry, from this week’s breakthrough, and from a host of other evidence, is how little – so far, at least – GM technology is contributing to beating hunger. involved in the NIAB’s quantum leap, which was due to conventional breeding techniques. Nor was it involved, to give an example from Prof Conway’s book, in developing new varieties of African rice, called Nerica, which are up to four times as productive as traditional varieties, contain more protein, need a much shorter growing season, resist pests and diseases, thrive on poor soils and withstand drought. The same is true of another of his superstars, Scuba Rice, which beats flooding by surviving 17 days underwater and still achieving enhanced yields – and, within three years, had been taken up by 3.5 million Asian farmers.

2013-05-21 |

Monsanto Protection Act may soon be repealed thanks to Senator Merkley

The notorious ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ rider stuffed into the non-related Senate spending bill may soon be repealed thanks to the massive amounts of activism and outrage that have now amounted into a legislative charge towards action. Action that has turned into legislation progress through Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who has announced an amendment that would remove Section 735 (the Monsanto Protection Act as its known) from the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013 Senate spending bill.

2013-05-21 |

Former Monsanto employee put in charge of GMO papers at

Just months after a study was published showing that two Monsanto products, a genetically modified maize and Roundup herbicide, damaged the health of rats, the journal that published the study appointed a former Monsanto scientist to decide which papers on GM foods and crops should be published, a new article reveals. Monsanto and GM foods suffered a storm of bad publicity after a study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology in September 2012 reported that a GM corn and Roundup caused organ damage and increased rates of tumors and premature death in rats.

2013-05-21 |

U.S. Biotechnology Industry Organization: It’s not too late to change the conversation on GMOs

When it comes to winning hearts and minds about the merits of genetically engineered ingredients (and whether to alert consumers to their presence on food labels), it’s fair to say that the biotech industry has not done a great job. But it’s not too late to change the conversation, Cathy Enright, executive vice president for food & agriculture at the Washington DC-based Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), tells FoodNavigator-USA. “We haven’t spent enough time talking about the technology, the benefits and the products. It’s safe, and it can create a cleaner environment, but we need to do a better job of explaining why.”

2013-05-21 |

Best public relations money can buy - A guide to food industry front groups

Best Public Relations Money Can Buy: A Guide to Food Industry Front Groups describes how Big Food and Big Ag hide behind friendly-sounding organizations such as: the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, the Center for Consumer Freedom, and the Alliance to Feed the Future. The idea is to fool the media, policymakers, and general public into trusting these sources, despite their corporate-funded PR agenda. With growing concern over the negative impacts of our highly industrialized and overly-processed food system, the food industry has a serious public relations problem on its hands. Instead of cleaning up its act, corporate lobbyists are trying to control the public discourse. As a result, industry spin is becoming more prevalent and aggressive.

2013-05-15 |

A million acres of glyphosate-resistant weeds in Canada?

More than one million acres of Canadian farmland have glyphosate-resistant weeds growing on them, including 43,000 in Manitoba, according to an online survey of 2,028 farmers conducted by Stratus Agri-Marketing Inc. based in Guelph, Ont. The shockingly high Canadian numbers met with skepticism from some experts who suggest farmers might be mistaking hard-to-kill weeds with glyphosate resistance. But others say the farmers are probably right. Even though there hasn’t been a single documented case of a glyphosate-resistant weed in Manitoba, the 281 Manitoba farmers surveyed said they believe there’s glyphosate-resistant kochia on 23,000 acres in this province.

2013-05-15 |

USDA to tackle 2,4-D-resistant engineered crops without needed regulations

It is encouraging that USDA will produce an Environmental Impact Statement for crops resistant to 2,4-D or dicamba. These crops, through the herbicides they are designed to use, have potential to cause substantial environmental and human harm, especially due to drift and volatility. Weed scientists have projected dramatically increased use of these herbicides, and herbicides in general, if these crops are approved. Dicamba and 2,4-D herbicides have been known to travel considerable distances from the fields where they are applied, harming fruit, vegetable and other crops, and natural areas that provide pollinators and other beneficial organisms for crops.

2013-05-15 |

Genetically modified foods: A 30-year history of promise still unrealized

I learned from Nature that work continues on genetically modified cassava, an important staple for the poor in tropical regions of the world, and that “Golden Rice” with GM-driven beta carotene enrichment may clear its last regulatory hurdles next year. But rather more excitement seems to surround the work on a new stone-free plum that makes for cheaper processing, and a non-browning apple that can be sold pre-sliced. I would like to hope, with Nature’s editors, that our first 30 years’ experience with GM foods might lead us to redirect our efforts in more helpful and less harmful ways. But making that shift is a social problem, not a scientific one, and it’s hard to see a new way forward from today’s messy middle ground.

2013-05-15 |

Swedish researchers busting the myths about GMOs in agriculture

It is now four decades since the first experiments with recombinant DNA that led to a brief voluntary moratorium. It is also about two decades since the first genetically modified plant was commercialised. [...] The precautionary measures taken at an early stage in these developments were justified by lack of knowledge about a new technology and our inability to predict its negative consequences for environment and society. In particular in Europe, this is the way biotechnology is often still discussed. We think it is time to dismiss three myths that are common in those discussions.

2013-05-15 |

USAID and Syngenta collaborate to improve global food security

The U.S. Agency for International Development today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Syngenta International AG to support agriculture and food security activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Under this MOU, USAID and Syngenta will further collaborate in research and development and smallholder capacity building, working with key agriculture and food security partners including scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and other donors. Syngenta and USAID already work together in many countries and will broaden their relationship through this MOU.

2013-05-15 |

U.S. tax dollars promote Monsanto’s GMO crops overseas reveals Food & Water Watch

U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co and other seed makers, a report issued on Tuesday said. A review of 926 diplomatic cables of correspondence to and from the U.S. State Department and embassies in more than 100 countries found that State Department officials actively promoted the commercialization of specific biotech seeds, according to the report issued by Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer protection group. The officials tried to quash public criticism of particular companies and facilitated negotiations between foreign governments and seed companies such as Monsanto over issues like patents and intellectual property, the report said.

2013-05-14 |

GE crop risk assessment challenges: An overview

The move to stacked varieties expressing multiple traits, coupled with the above changes in the intensity of chemical use required to bring GE crops to harvest, raises new questions about new routes of exposure and about cumulative levels of exposure to GE proteins, potential allergens and pesticides [...] These changes pose serious risk assessment challenges that are, for the most part, being ignored by the industry and regulatory authorities. New information is essential to convince regulators that they must invest substantially more public resources in the independent testing of GE crop safety.

2013-05-14 |

U.S. company run by high schoolers is trasmforming mosquitoes into a “flying syringe”

Provita, a company staffed entirely by kids under 18, is working on a project (with funding from the Gates Foundation) to use mosquitoes to help carry important vaccines. Joshua Meier, CEO of biotechnology company Provita Pharmaceuticals, spends about 20 hours a week on research projects in the various labs at his disposal. In January, the company gave a presentation to the FDA on its work with the flying syringe, a tool that uses mosquitoes as a vector to deliver vaccines to those who need them. Provita has also submitted a grant idea to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2013-05-14 |

Genetically modified dragonflies can reduce harmful effects of carbon dioxide atmospheric build up

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in conjunction with the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University is proud to announce the Grand Prize Winner of the Searching for the Next Einstein contest. [...] This year’s winner is Charles Rose from London, Ontario for his BIG IDEA to genetically modify dragonflies which can help reduce the harmful effects of the Carbon Dioxide buildup in the atmosphere. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been associated with global warming and climate change and it may influence the plant ecology on earth, affecting not only the economy of nations but also all forms of wildlife.

2013-05-14 |

Dutch scientists engineer the $325,000 in vitro burger

As a gastronomic delicacy, the five-ounce hamburger that Mark Post has painstakingly created here surely will not turn any heads. But Dr. Post is hoping that it will change some minds. The hamburger, assembled from tiny bits of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory and to be cooked and eaten at an event in London, perhaps in a few weeks, is meant to show the world - including potential sources of research funds - that so-called in-Vitro meat, or cultured meat, is a reality. “Let’s make a proof of concept, and change the discussion from ‘this is never going to work’ to, ‘well, we actually showed that it works, but now we need to get funding and work on it,’ ” Dr. Post said in an interview last fall in his office at Maastricht University.

2013-05-14 |

Into the wildwood - GM chestnut may soon be liberated deliberately in the USA

The chestnut population of North America was reckoned then to have been about 4 billion trees. No longer. Axes and chainsaws must take a share of the blame. But the principal culprit is Cryphonectria parasitica, the fungus that causes chestnut blight. In the late 19th century, some infected saplings from Asia brought C. parasitica to North America. By 1950 the chestnut was little more than a memory in most parts of the continent. [...] Until now, the genetic modification of trees has had strictly commercial aims: speeding up the growth and extending the environmental tolerance of species intended for plantations. [...] The Forest Health Initiative’s goal, though, is to heal wild forests, not hurt them. If its experiments do produce a strain of chestnut that could do the job, it will be interesting to see how enthusiastically greens embrace it.

2013-05-14 |

U.S. biohackers are kickstarting some unregulated experiments with GE trees

You may have heard of Kickstarter -- the darling crowdfunding site where artists, designers, moviemakers, and others pitch pet projects to an online funder audience. [...] Generally Kickstarter projects promote such innocuous products as comic books, and sensibly, Kickstarter even has its own ethical limits on what it will host: Guns, drugs, and porn are forbidden for obvious reasons. [...] But as reported this week three biohackers from California have hijacked the Kickstarter machinery [and] made Kickstarter the conduit for a nationwide release of untested, unregulated and unmonitored bioengineered organisms by mounting a Kickstarter funding project to use Synthetic Biology to engineer glow-in-the-dark plants.

2013-05-13 |

Azerbaijan conducts large-scale monitoring of products containing GMO

Large-scale monitoring of the products containing Genetically Modified Organisms will be conducted in Azerbaijan this month, director of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Institute of Genetic Resources, Zeynal Akberov told APA. He said monitoring to be jointly conducted in 5 directions by the ANAS, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents will cover two stages. During the initial monitoring, sown areas will be inspected and samples of some products will be analyzed in the laboratory at the second stage. The results of the research will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers.

2013-05-13 |

Homemakers United Foundation (Taiwan) wants removal of GM soybean items from schools

The Homemakers United Foundation (HUF) started a petition yesterday to demand all schools remove items made with genetically modified soybeans from their lunch menus and replace them with options made with food-grade soybean. The HUF urged parents to write letters to schools requesting the removal of GM soybeans from school lunches to avoid putting students at risk of the potential problems resulting from consuming GM foods. According to the HUF, over 90 percent of the soybeans imported annually are GM, and many countries do not allow these to be used as an ingredient in foods for human consumption.

2013-05-13 |

South African Nestlé baby food shuns GMOs, Purity GM baby food not

The African Centre for Biosafety has today released results of tests conducted on 7 baby formulas and cereals, by an independent and accredited GM testing laboratory. The results reveal that Purity baby cereals contain extremely high levels of GM content whereas Nestlé’s infant formulas and cereal indicate that Nestlé appears to be going GM free. Aspen’s infant formulas also indicate GM avoidance. Shockingly, comparisons also reveal that Purity’s GM baby cereals cost 250% more than non-GM cereals, exploding the myth that GM free food is an expensive and impractical luxury.

2013-05-13 |

UK supermarkets accused of caving in to cartels and GM food giants

Britain’s supermarket giants have been accused of caving in to the genetic modification lobby by dropping their decade-long stance against selling chickens fed on genetically modified crops. The move has been seen as a key victory for GM food giants such as Monsanto [and] as a precursor to the introduction of GM meat and poultry by “softening up” consumer resistance to the controversial technology. […..] non-GM feed producers in Brazil, a major source of animal feed to the UK, expressed surprise at the claims, saying they were producing record amounts of animal feed.

2013-05-13 |

European Patent on conventionally bred ‘red hot chili peppers’

The European Patent Office has done it again. Yesterday they granted a patent on pepper plants, such as chili, derived from conventional breeding (EP2140023). The patent covers the plants, fruits and seeds and even claims the growing and harvesting of the plants as an invention. The patent was granted despite the fact that the European Parliament and the German Parliament have asked the EPO to stop these patents, and over 2 million people have signed an online petition against patents on conventionally-bred seeds. There are two precedent cases pending at the EPO waiting for a final decision for over five years. No Patents on Seeds! is urging the Member States of the EPO to become actively involved in order to stop the EPO from granting further patents on plants and animals.

2013-05-13 |

U.S. Supreme Court rules for Monsanto in patent case on GE seed replication

The Supreme Court said Monday that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto Co.’s patents on soybean seeds resistant to its weed-killer by growing the beans without buying new seeds from the corporation. The justices unanimously rejected the farmer’s argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company’s Roundup herbicide. While Monsanto won this case, the court refused to make a sweeping decision that would cover other self-replicating technologies like DNA molecules and nanotechnologies, leaving that for another day. Businesses and researchers had been closely watching this case in hopes of getting guidance on patents, but Justice Elena Kagan said the court’s holding Monday only “addresses the situation before us.”

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