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2007-06-22 |

Monsanto South Africa ordered to withdraw biotech advertisement

Biotech crops giant Monsanto has been ordered to withdraw an advertising claim that no negative reactions have ever been reported to genetically modified foods. The Advertising Standards Authority made the ruling this week in response to a consumer complaint lodged against a Monsanto South Africa print ad referring to GM grain products. [...] Though Monsanto had provided numerous studies contradicting claims that GM foods were unsafe, they made no reference to the ”no negative reactions” claim in the ad.?

2007-06-22 |

The entry of ”Golden Rice” into India

Our analysis of the Indian situation indicates that the VAD-argument is not credible as a justification or motivation for promoting ”Golden Rice” in India. We surmise that the central government authorities enthusiasm for ”Golden Rice” is propelled by other un-stated factors. One of these could well be the determination not to bypass the opportunity to secure the technological know-how embedded in the ”Golden Rice” for the public-sector research institutions working on transgenic crops. The introduction of ”Golden Rice”, in the teeth of the well argued opposition to it by activist CSOs and parts of the non-GM R&D establishment and the media, is likely to further erode public trust in the biotechnology promoting authorities and companies.

2007-06-22 |

Study shines new light on genome

Scientists have been forced to rethink how the human genome turns a single cell into a complex living being following the most intensive study of our genetic code ever undertaken. The research reveals that genes make up only a tiny fraction of the role played by the 3bn letters that constitute the entirety of the human genome. Large swaths of the genome, previously dismissed as ”junk DNA” because it was thought to serve no practical purpose, have been found to be highly active inside the cells in our bodies. Other sequences of genetic code are thought to be ”on standby”, awaiting a time further down the evolutionary path when they will be beneficial to human beings.

2007-06-22 |

UK organic sector fights GM contamination

Representatives from the UK organic sector have today urged the UK environment minister David Miliband not to allow organic food to be contaminated by genetically modified organisms (GMOs). A delegation representing 70 organic businesses urged Miliband not to increase the current threshold for GM contamination of organic food from 0.1 per cent to 0.9 per cent. [...] The organic sector is also angry that the government failed to consult it last autumn when finalising its proposals on the co-existence of GM, non-GM and organic crops in the UK. During the consultation, the government met with a number of GM companies, including AstraZeneca, BASF Plant Science, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, Du Pont, Monsanto and Syngenta, but did not speak directly with one organic business, according to today’s delegation.

2007-06-22 |

Monsanto and Bayer CropSciences agree to produce stacked RR-LL GE corn and soy

Agro-firms Monsanto and Bayer CropSciences have entered into a series of new agreements, which could result in crops that contain two of the leading herbicide technologies - Roundup Ready and LibertyLink. The long-term business and licensing agreements relate specifically to corn and soybean crops, the two largest field crops in terms of acreage in the United States. Bayer CropScience will grant Monsanto a royalty bearing, non-exclusive license for its LibertyLink herbicide tolerance technology for use in these crops, allowing Monsanto to market corn and soybean seeds which contain both its own Roundup Ready and Bayer’s LibertyLink.

2007-06-22 |

GM food needs labeling, Indonesian experts say

Experts and activists have called for the government to implement existing regulations on labeling genetically modified (GM) food. ”The consumers’ position is very weak because transgenic food can enter this country without safety testing and with no labels attached,” Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) researcher Ilyani Sudardjat told a workshop on applying precautionary principles to genetically modified foods in Jakarta on Thursday. Indonesia has had several regulations on the issue of GM or transgenic foods for more than 10 years.

2007-06-21 |

Greenpeace found GE ingredients in Glico and Metro products in China

Japanese food producer Glico and German retail chain Metro were found to be selling genetically engineered (GE) food products in China, according to a test by Greenpeace. The environmental group criticized the two companies for having a double-standard policy, and demanded them to adopt a non-GE policy in China.

2007-06-21 |

Monsanto maize approved for human consumption potentially toxic, warns new study

BRUSSELS, Belgium — New research into the health impacts of genetically engineered (GE) food already approved in Europe casts further doubt on the way these products are checked for safety by EU authorities before being approved for sale and consumption. The study, carried out by French scientific research institute CRIIGEN on the results of rat feeding trials using a GE maize made by biotech firm Monsanto, highlights 60 significant differences between the rats that were fed the GE maize and those fed normal maize (all for 90 days). The first group showed differences in their kidney, brain, heart and liver measurements, as well as significant weight differences. These could be warning signs of toxicity, but have not been further investigated.

2007-06-21 |

Monsanto sells units for USD 317M

Monsanto Co. said Tuesday that it completed its divestitures of the Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Co. and NexGen businesses, which now allows Monsanto to combine the Delta and Pine Land business with its existing operations and policies. Monsanto completed its $1.5 billion acquisition of Delta and Pine Land earlier this month. The deal received conditional approval in May from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which called for Monsanto to divest certain assets, including its Memphis-based Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Co. and its NexGen cotton seed brand.

2007-06-21 |

News on GE crop research & development

DuPont today announced it has opened its newest seed research center in Brazil. [...] The research center will focus on winter nursery capabilities for corn and soybean breeding, drought tolerance and heat stress research, as well as local product development efforts. It will be instrumental in bringing new hybrids to market faster as a centralized site for doubled haploid inbred development - an approach that accelerates product advancement.

2007-06-21 |

Californian (USA) Congress may end ban on genetically modified crops

Congress is now considering a bill that would eliminate bans on genetically modified crops. Four California counties have such bans in place. It used to be organic farmers only worried about pesticides and chemicals. But now they argue that genetically engineered crops threaten the purity of fruits and vegetables and the products they make. It takes organic farmers, like Petaluma-based Spring Hill Jersey Cheese, three years to get approval to call themselves organic.

2007-06-21 |

A six-inch tall GE tree: Researchers demonstrate way to control height

This is a ”proof of concept” that tree height can be readily controlled by genetic engineering techniques. It opens the door to a wide variety of new products for the ornamental and nursery industries, experts say, if regulatory hurdles can be overcome – a big ”if.” [...] The advances for cereals have been part of the ”Green Revolution,” in which plants such as rice or wheat were created that directed less energy to height growth and more to development of stout stems and plentiful seed. In orchards, semi-dwarf fruit trees produce more fruit that is easier to harvest. The improvements in cereal yields have been credited with preventing the starvation of millions.

2007-06-20 |

GM wheat trials win support from AWB

Australia’s export wheat marketer, AWB, has lent cautious support to the genetically modified (GM) wheat trials being conducted in Victoria. [...] He said the company was supportive of:
- Plans to keep GM and non-GM products separate.
- Need to ensure there is no contamination that could endanger any markets.
- Need to supply non-GM customers with non-GM wheat, even if GM wheat was grown commercially.

2007-06-20 |

Australian GM debate gets louder

State bans on genetically modified crops are putting the future of Australia’s agriculture sector at risk, Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran says. Victoria and Tasmania are reviewing their GM policies, but NSW has a moratorium on GM cultivation until at least March 3 next year. Last week, Mr McGauran said the effects of biotechnology were immense. ”As the world’s population increases, there is demand for more, and healthier, types of food,” Mr McGauran said.

2007-06-20 |

Brazil judge bans Bayer CropScience’s transgenic corn

A federal judge banned the use of Bayer CropScience Ltd.’s transgenic corn just a month after federal biosafety agents approved the product for retail sale, business daily Valor Economico reported Tuesday. Federal judge Pepita Durski Mazini of the environmental law department in the court’s Parana capital city office in Curitiba also blocked the official biosafety agency, CTNBio, from approving transgenic corn in its meeting scheduled for this week.

2007-06-20 |

EU to debate authorisation of GMO maize on Monday

EU food safety experts will debate next week whether to allow imports of a genetically modified (GMO) maize, bringing forward a vote on the biotech product by two weeks, industry and EU sources said on Tuesday. The maize, known commercially as Herculex RW and also by the code number 59122, is jointly made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co. and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds.

2007-06-20 |

’Zombie crops’ funded by British taxpayers to ’get round’ GM ban

”Zombie” GM crops - so called because farmers will have to pay biotech companies to bring seeds back from the dead - are being developed with British taxpayers’ money. The highly controversial development - part of a £3.4m EU research project - is bound to increase concerns about the modified crops and the devastating effect they could have on Third World farmers.
Environmentalists charge that it appears to be an attempt to get round a worldwide ban on a GM technology so abhorred that even Monsanto has said it will not use it.

2007-06-20 |

Russia's Duma drafts tough GM food bill

The Russian Duma’s Security Committee has drafted a bill banning production and sale of genetically modified food. Moscow authorities threw their support behind the legislation. Moscow Duma deputies were among the drafters while Mayor Yuri Luzhkov called on President Vladimir Putin to address the GM food issue head-on.

2007-06-19 |

Monsanto increases ongoing earnings per share

”We’re having extraordinary performance in an extraordinary year for agriculture,” said Hugh Grant, Monsanto chairman, president and chief executive officer. ”The performance of our business has set us up for strong growth this year and continues to create momentum for future growth.” ”Our leadership has come from our ability to deliver on our growth projections while maintaining our operational and financial discipline,” said Grant.

2007-06-19 |

Caritas opposes BT cotton, encourages farmers to use natural methods in Pakistan

Talking with UCA News, Ghulam, 36, said the popularity and publicity surrounding Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton convinced him to take the ”risk” he now regrets. ”While approved commercial varieties of cotton require water supply seven or eight times and only one sack of urea fertilizer during its six-month cultivation period, I had to purchase three sacks and adjust the furrows 11 times to irrigate this ’pygmy’ crop for seven months,” he said. The Catholic farmer was one of 35 participants, most of them farmers, at a press conference entitled ”Say No to Bt Cotton.” Speakers highlighted what they claimed were the harmful effects of Bt cotton and the perceived monopoly of multinational companies that sell such agricultural products. The Agriculture and Environment Development Program of Caritas Pakistan-Multan organized the May 31 event in Chishtian, Punjab province, 500 kilometers southeast of Islamabad.

2007-06-19 |

Vidarbha farmers' widows meet Indian President, urge for blanket ban on BT cottonseeds sale

At long last a delegation of the hapless farmers’ widows of Vidarbha region who have committed suicides got an audience with the President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday to draw his attention to their hapless and helpless condition. Dr Kalam in rapt attention heard the woes of the widows who reportedly broke down while narrating their tale of woes and plight. The scheduled allotted time of five minutes for the meeting got stretched to 25 minutes. [...] The memorandum demanded, among other things, a blanket ban on Bt. cottonseeds in the dry land farming areas. It also urged a ban on misleading advertisements of Bt. cottonseeds.

2007-06-19 |

For health and happiness, the future lies in GM food: Indian experts

AT a stage when agriculture growth has come down from 4 to 2.6 per cent, experts say a lot is in store when it comes to genetically modified (GM) products. Apples that could fight tooth cavity, nicotine-free coffee, plant-based edible vaccines, Vitamin A-enriched golden rice, genetically modified tomatoes with much longer shelf life et al is the future, said R G Saini, a senior Geneticist from Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, at a workshop on agriculture biotechnology held at Chandigarh Press Club today.

2007-06-19 |

High-yielding Bt cotton seeds set to be costlier in India

The All-India Crop Biotechnology Association, a representative of 15 seed companies based in New Delhi, believes that Bollgard II cotton seeds, a higher variety of Bt cotton seeds, are more effective and need to be priced at a premium to Bollgard I cotton seeds. Bollgard seed contains a protein from a soil microbe called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), that protects the crop from bollworms and requires less pesticide. While Bollgard I protects against lepidopteran insect pests, Bollgard II with its unique double gene technology in addition offers protection against spodoptera caterpillar. The association has recently announced that various state governments and the seed industry have agreed in principle to an MRP (minimum retail prices) of Rs 925 per 450 gm packet against Rs 750 for Bollgard I cotton seeds.

2007-06-19 |

Andhra Pradesh (India) plans to regulate GM seeds

In a significant move, the Andhra Pradesh government plans to bring in a new legislation to regulate the sale and usage of ’genetically modified’ (GM) seeds. Speaking to media here on Thursday, the AP agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy said that the government is considering the possibility to bring in a legislation to control the usage including the sale of GM seeds.

2007-06-18 |

Kofi Annan to chair hunger-fighting group

FORMER United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has accepted a leadership role in a major initiative to boost crop production in hunger-plagued Africa. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa announced yesterday that he would chair the board of the organisation, which was established last year with a $150m grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations. [...] It would not try to change people’s eating habits, nor would it ”at this stage” focus on genetically modified foods.

2007-06-18 |

Cyprus to shelve GM food separately

Cyprus’ parliament has passed legislation requiring supermarkets to put genetically modified products on separate shelves from other food. The Green Party, which tabled the bill, said Friday that the legislation will make it easier for the public to ”distinguish these products” and help them make more informed purchases. Parliament unanimously approved the bill Thursday.

2007-06-18 |

EU risks WTO cases over biotech food, Mandelson says

The European Union must accept more genetically modified foods to avoid renewed complaints about market barriers at the World Trade Organization, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said. Any EU delay over the approval of gene-modified crops made by companies such as Monsanto Co. and declared safe by scientists risks prompting legal challenges from farm exporters such as the U.S., Canada and Argentina, Mandelson said. In a case brought by these three countries, the WTO ruled last year that a 1998-2004 EU ban on new gene-altered foods was illegal.

2007-06-18 |

Israel recommends biotechnology for Nigeria

The Israeli Head of Mission in Nigeria, Mr Yari Frommer, has called for the introduction of biotechnology in Nigeria’s agricultural system. Frommer told the our correspondent yesterday, in Abuja that only modern technology could assist the nation to achieve food security and increased food production. [...] ”It will be a success story in Nigeria because any technology that is being tested globally and approved as suitable for humans can be applied in any part of the world.

2007-06-18 |

Agri-biotech in sub-Saharan Africa: introduction

In many respects, sub-Saharan Africa represents a key battleground for agricultural biotechnology — between those who celebrate agri-biotech’s ability to help social and economic development by securing food supplies and alleviating poverty, and those who fear that the technology could impoverish African farmers or lead to a neocolonial domination of the continent’s agriculture.

2007-06-18 |

Training vital in managing GMOs in Zimbabwe

A TRAINING workshop on Biosafety Clearing House that was held recently by the Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe represented a significant step in scaling up efforts to safely manage genetically modified organisms and to fulfil Zimbabwe’s obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Scientists, policy makers, regulators and researchers participated at the training workshop held in Harare from June 5-7.

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GENET-news is providing a daily news service on a range of topics regarding genetic engineering. We are screening the worldwide English news, press releases and other publications to provide you with a strategic selection of information. GENET-news enables you to stay informed about all aspects of the global controversy around GE technologies and GE organisms. You can subscribe by  email.

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