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2009-07-07 |

Non-GE method to control aflatoxin in maize works well in Nigeria

The elimination of deadly aflatoxin, which contaminates food crops in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a step closer now scientists have shown that a control method works well in large-scale field trials. [...] Scientists from the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the United States Department of Agriculture and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation in Kenya have been working together to develop a biological control method to reduce the amount of aflatoxin contamination in maize.

2009-07-07 |

Modern non-GE breeding ”has a brilliant future”

Without resorting to GM, researchers at the Brazilian agricultural institute Embrapa are breeding varieties of upland rice that not only ward off pests and increase yield, but also contain up to double the vital minerals (iron, zinc) found in unimproved varieties. They have tripled the amount of vitamin A in corn and boosted iron uptake in wheat. Cimmyt, a wheat- and maize-improvement center in Mexico, is breeding corn for pest resistance that has cut losses to weevils in half. The German biotech company BASF has launched an improved, non-GM strain of corn that resists striga, a weed that ravages African fields, and is working to breed high-yielding commercial strains of wheat that also resist fungus and drought.

2009-07-07 |

Philippine farmers’ organization calls for ’fair’ GMO ban implementation

Henry Mecha, secretary-general of the Small Farmers and Landtillers Association of the Philippines, said in a press release that there should be no exceptions in the implementation of anti-GM ordinances if LGU’s choose to ban non-organic crops and products to be cultivated, brought, or consumed in their areas. Mecha also urged LGU leaders to encourage farmers to join their initiative by providing them the technology, including pre and post harvest facilities so they will no longer depend on imported products that could be GM’s, the press release said.

2009-07-07 |

Pests could overcome Bt toxin mix in stacked GE cotton events

Laboratory studies suggest that it may be possible for insects to overcome two disparate toxins produced by genetically modified cotton. The results strike a cautionary note at a time when developers are racing to create crops that produce many different pesticides. Insects can become resistant to individual insecticides in much the same way as bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. One way to reduce this threat is to adopt a ’pyramid’ approach and create crops that produce multiple toxins that target the same pest.

2009-07-06 |

Malta stands firm against GMOs, pushes for nationalisation of GMO regulation

During the Environment Council meeting, Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs George Pullicino, representing the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the environment, questioned the current EU process to authorise the cultivation of GMOs. Mr Pullicino called for a new process that would allow member states a freer hand in deciding on these matters at local level. He stressed that decisions would be able to factor in local specificities, allowing European citizens to better understand the decisions.

2009-07-06 |

GMO corn: France rejects report by EU food agency

France on Friday rejected a report by the European Union’s food safety watchdog that said a controversial strain of genetically-modified corn was safe. In a joint statement, the French ecology and agriculture ministries said the Italy-based European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had failed to take into account requests to change the way it evaluated the risk. ”The conclusions of the council of European environment ministers must be respected,” the statement said, referring to a December 4, 2008 decision, approved unanimously, that had called on the agency to overhaul its assessment methods.

2009-07-06 |

China should tighten GM rice tests on exports - EU

China needs to tighten controls to ensure that none of its rice exports contain traces of a biotech strain not authorised in the European Union, the EU’s executive Commission said in a report on Wednesday. The report was based on a visit made to China by an EU inspection team in late November and early December 2008 to check Chinese controls for the presence of Bt-63 rice, a variety that has been modified to resist particular insect pests.

2009-07-06 |

Organization for Competitive Markets accuses Monsanto of excess seed prices

The Organization for Competitive Markets [...] Director Fred Stokes [...] said farmers and ranchers have to buy from monopolies, singling out Monsanto in particular, who ”gouge” their customers. [...] ”Their prices are out of line,” Stokes said, adding that the excess price comes out of the ”bottom line” of the farmer. According to written information from OCM, the group believes Monsanto uses an exclusive licensing agreement strategy to harm local competition.

2009-07-06 |

The need for seed - Monsanto Scott Learning Center

Acres of genetically enhanced cotton, corn and soybean plants will soon fruit on the experimental grounds of this tiny town, attracting flocks of farmers through Sept. 30 to Monsanto’s Technology Showcase. [...] company representatives have said genetically modified seed — such as that which the showcase will feature — is expected to drive future growth. Jay Mahaffey, manager of event-host Monsanto Scott Learning Center, said the showcase attracts about 2,000 visitors annually.

2009-07-06 |

Blue GE roses approved for commercial release in Australia

Australia’s Gene Technology Regulator has granted a licence to Florigene for commercial release of a genetically modified Hybrid Tea rose which expresses genes for the colour blue. [...] Six years after it was founded in Melbourne in 1986, Florigene gained patents over use of a petunia gene which imparts blue flower colour. In 1994 it successfully implanted the gene into carnations to create a GM range which has been commercially available worldwide for some years. In 2003 the company was acquired by the Suntory group of companies but its research is still conducted in Melbourne.

2009-07-03 |

Has the Catholic Church endorsed GE crops?

The Catholic Church endorses genetically modified crops. There are some people around the world who think religion and science shouldn’t get along. For some reason, they believe the men of the cloth should disagree with the men of lab coat. They’ll be disappointed to learn that the Pontifical Academy of Sciences--an arm of the Vatican--has given its blessing to genetically modified crops.

2009-07-03 |

Scientists risk becoming ’PR hacks’

Leach supports the role of science media centres, which help scientists to contribute their informed opinion to public debates. She sees this as quite different from teaching scientists the tools of public relations. ”Of course they can talk about what they’re doing, but why train them up as PR hacks,” says Leach, who has written an article on framing in a recent edition of Issues Magazine. Leach says scientists already ”spin” their work to funders and to their peers within science.

2009-07-03 |

Future of GE wheat lies with growers and providers

As the wheat industry continues its long progress toward the development of a commercially viable biotech wheat seed, it’s important to recognize where the industry has been, as well as where it hopes to end up. U.S. Wheat Associates Vice President, Director West Coast Office John Oades said discussions over biotech wheat varieties have been going on in one way or another for more than a decade. Many segments in the industry have had differing opinions, he said, on just what the solution should be to the question of biotech wheat. The industry as a whole, though, has come a long way from the early days of biotech research.

2009-07-03 |

Transgenic food production in Cuba: The need for a participatory and serious debate

The news that the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) will soon be introducing certain transgenic species and plants on a commercial scale in Cuba has met with optimism by some and concern from others. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the population has not been informed. Unlike some other countries, there has not been a national debate in Cuba about the production and consumption of transgenic foods. Some even say that we have been consuming transgenic food for some time without knowing it. It seems that CIBG will soon be receiving a license to cultivate transgenic corn in Cuba on thousands of hectares and that the introduction of the technology has the complete support of the State.

2009-07-03 |

All India Crop Biotechnology Association for GE crop revolution

Members of All India Crop Biotechnology Association (AICBA) Wednesday called for adoption of innovative technologies to boost crop productivity to meet food security needs. [...] AICBA director Sajiv Anand said, ”India must invest in agriculture biotechnology to increase productivity, produce more affordable and better quality food and improve farmers’ income. Growing adoption of GM crops could contribute to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goal to help reduce poverty and hunger by half by 2050.”

2009-07-03 |

Adoption of genetically engineered crops in the U.S.: Extent of adoption

Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, developed to survive application of specific herbicides that previously would have destroyed the crop along with the targeted weeds, provide farmers with a broader variety of options for effective weed control. Based on USDA survey data, HT soybeans went from 17 percent of U.S. soybean acreage in 1997 to 68 percent in 2001 and 91 percent in 2009. Plantings of HT cotton expanded from about 10 percent of U.S. acreage in 1997 to 56 percent in 2001 and 71 percent in 2009. The adoption of HT corn, which had been slower in previous years, has accelerated, reaching 68 percent of U.S. corn acreage in 2009.

2009-07-02 |

GM maize for Kenyan trials by 2010

Kenya will soon start confined field trials of drought-tolerant transgenic maize variety in a project spearheaded by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. The project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is in the process of seeking regulatory approval for the confined field trials from the National Biosafety Committee (NBC). [...] In the WEMA project, Monsanto will accelerate the breeding process through what is known as marker-assisted breeding, which allows researchers to find and track genetic material associated with drought tolerance and focus on developing those lines.

2009-07-02 |

’Genetic modified food safe – so far’: Israeli scientist

An Israeli scientist defended the genetic engineering of food for human consumption as a means of improving the production and nutrition of plants, as well as reducing the need for pesticides. Gad Galili, head of the Mel Dobrin Centre for Nutrition at the Weizmann Institute of Science, said no health risks have been associated with genetically modified (GM) crops after more than 10 years of commercial production on some 120 million hectares of land. He was a guest speaker at a panel discussion on nutrition and health, sponsored by Weizmann Science Canada and designed for women.

2009-07-02 |

President and Congress of Paraguay face off over agrochemicals

A study carried out by the BASE Investigaciones Sociales (BASE-IS), a local social research organisation, shows that most of the soy grown in Paraguay is the genetically modified Roundup Ready (RR), produced by the U.S. biotech giant Monsanto. [...] The expansion of monoculture plantations has led to the expulsion of small farmers from the countryside, with rural families finding themselves hemmed in by soy fields, and the resultant spraying of toxic chemicals, which takes a toll on their crops, livestock and health.

2009-07-02 |

Anti-GMO ordinance of Negros Occidental (Philippines) pending review

Board member Nehemias dela Cruz said he will move for a moratorium of the Ordinance for two years. ”The total ban on GMO products is sweeping. We need to study and prepare, thus a moratorium is necessary. Those who are very vocal on organic farming here in Negros only had gardens. I’m a corn farmer. I have a vast plantation. If I won’t use pesticides which is GMO, my corn plantation will be filled with corn borers,” he said. There’s a lot of products that are GMO. Just like the Insulin for Diabetic persons. ”Insulin is GMO. If you ban it, a lot of people with Diabetes will also suffer,” he said.

2009-07-02 |

Nigeria will not be a dumping ground for GE products says Minister of Environment

AS the debate on the use of biotechnology for better agricultural yields and the much-sought food security for Nigeria ranges on, the Federal Government says it would not allow the country to be made a dumping ground for hybrid products. [... Minister of Environment] words: ”Some of the products of biotechnology constitute risks to human health. The world is waiting to push their biotechnology products into Nigeria but the country will not be a dumping ground for such products. Biotechnology products that will be admitted into Nigeria must meet standards and regulations to ensure that our national interest is not compromised.

2009-07-02 |

Uganda might not be ready for genetically modified crops

According to Makerere University Faculty of Science Lecturer and crop science expert, Prof Patrick Rubaihayo, Uganda is not yet ready to consume and export genetically modified plants, given its natural soil fertility. ”We should not even be talking of introducing GM foods in the country,” he said in an interview during a workshop organised by Uganda National Academy of Sciences and Uganda National Council for Science and Technology in Kampala.

2009-07-01 |

Blue Mountains City (Australia) may become GM-free zone

One of the first councils to consider pulling it from shelves is about to vote on a damning report that calls for genetically modified (GM) crops to be scrapped in the area and for stringent new labelling laws on packaging. Scientists maintain genetically modified foods are safe. But the Looking After People GM Food Production report, which is before Blue Mountains City Council, recommends banning crops and lobbying the Federal Government to bring in mandatory labelling. If the report is adopted formally, the Blue Mountains would become a GM-free zone.

2009-07-01 |

Against the dogma: interactions between genes and life experience are not trivial

One of the most celebrated findings in modern psychiatry — that a single gene helps determine one’s risk of depression in response to a divorce, a lost job or another serious reversal — has not held up to scientific scrutiny, researchers reported Tuesday. The original finding, published in 2003, created a sensation among scientists and the public because it offered the first specific, plausible explanation of why some people bounce back after a stressful life event while others plunge into lasting despair. The new report, by several of the most prominent researchers in the field, does not imply that interactions between genes and life experience are trivial; they are almost certainly fundamental, experts agree.

2009-07-01 |

Plants engage in self-recognition and warn of danger

Plants engage in self-recognition and can communicate danger to their ”clones” or genetically identical cuttings planted nearby, says professor Richard Karban of the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, in groundbreaking research published in the current edition of Ecology Letters. [...] The sagebrush communicated and cooperated with other branches of themselves to avoid being eaten by grasshoppers, Karban said.

2009-07-01 |

GE maize strain MON810 safe: EU food agency

Only a handful of genetically modified crop have been approved for cultivation in the European Union, but of them only the controversial MON810 maize strain is so far being grown, according to the European Commission. It was approved back in 1998. When EU environment ministers in March refused to force countries to lift their ban on MON810 only Britain, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden supported the EU executive’s bid.

2009-07-01 |

Anti-biotech groups obstruct GE tree development

The potential of forest biotechnology to help address significant social and environmental issues is being ”strangled at birth” by the rigid opposition of some groups and regulations that effectively preclude even the testing of genetically modified trees, scientists argue in a new report. [...] the potential will be lost to use this powerful tool to create trees that grow faster, better resist drought or disease, restore threatened species, reduce costs, contribute to renewable energy, sequester carbon, improve environmental cleanup, and produce badly needed products for global consumers, the scientists said.

2009-07-01 |

U.S. company applies for releasing 260,000 GE eucalyptus trees on 134 ha

The U.S. government is set to approve a request from ArborGen, the genetically engineered (GE) tree research and development giant, for permission to plant 260,000 GE cold tolerant eucalyptus trees in 29 ”field trials” across seven southern U.S. states. Approval of such a large-scale planting of these dangerous flowering GE forest trees in the U.S. is completely unprecedented. The GE eucalyptus, to be planted in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, would be allowed to flower and produce seeds, enabling them to potentially escape into native ecosystems and forests.

2009-06-30 |

Parliamentarian decision on GMO ban still hanging in Negros Occidental (Philippines)

The fate of the controversial ordinance banning the entry of genetically-modified organisms into Negros Occidental, the implementation of which was opposed by livestock and poultry growers, as well as sugar producers remains hanging, after none of its members raised the issue in two regular sessions of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Vice Governor Emilio Yulo III yesterday said he has already provided copies of the recommendation of the ad hoc committee tasked to study the questioned ordinance, to each member of the SP. Yulo said the ordinance remains valid, unless it is repealed, amended or modified.

2009-06-30 |

Welsh Assembly (UK) proposes tough GM controls

The Welsh Assembly has proposed tough measures to control genetically modified crops, including GM-free zones and a ban on GM crop growing in national parks. Assembly officials set out the proposals at the launch of a consultation on protecting conventional and organic crops from contamination with GMs. The measures also included the imposition of strict liability on GM crop growers.

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