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2007-05-11 |

Illegal genetically engineered maize let loose in Europe

The Dutch Food Safety Authority (VWA) announced today that it is recalling part of a cargo containing illegal Genetically Engineered (GE) maize imported from the United States of America. The VWA has also announced that it will step up inspections of US ships, from 10 to 25%. A press release issued by VWA confirms Greenpeace’ announcement made on 27 April 2007 (1) that the vessel Pakrac, which arrived in the port of Rotterdam on 10 April, brought maize containing GE Herculex RW maize gluten, produced by Pioneer/Dow. This type of GE maize is grown in the US, but is not allowed in the European Union.

2007-05-11 |

Indian GM field trials may be impossible under Supreme Court’s restrictions

While there has been a relaxation in principle of the ORDER of the 22nd December, in point of fact the restricitions that the GEAC are bound up in, place the most severe conditions on them and open up a whole arena of action for farmers and civil society groups. If the Union of India and its Regulator, do not comply, they will face contempt of Court. It will be virtully impossible for them to carry out field trials given our small landholdings, with isolation distances of 200m.

2007-05-11 |

Germany tightens restrictions on genetically modified corn

Genetically modified (GM) crops have long been controversial in Germany, where organic agriculture is booming. Now the cultivation of GM corn has been effectively banned by the government, according to media reports.
In its Wednesday edition, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel reports that it has obtained a letter sent from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the agricultural company Monsanto, which sells the GM corn MON 810 -- which has been legal in Germany up until now -- as seed. In the letter, the ministry writes that GM corn from the MON 810 product line can only be delivered to third parties if the firm also provides an accompanying monitoring plan which researches the effects on the environment.

2007-05-11 |

Russian researchers present new data on negative influence of GMO on human health

”Results of our research of GMO influence upon living organisms make doubtful their harmlessness for living organisms,” President of the National Association for Genetic Safety Alexander Baranov said at a news conference held at the REGNUM press center in Moscow today. ”This must become the ground for serious refection at official governmental institutions,” Baranov said. Members of the association presented results of research conducted at Vavilov Agriculture University (Saratov). The research registered pathological deviation by guinea-pigs that ate GMO.

2007-05-10 |

Cuba lifts ban on U.S. long-grain rice

Cuba has lifted a ban on imports of U.S. long-grain rice that it put in place last year because of fears about genetic contamination. Raul Sanchez, director of the U.S. division of the island’s food import company Alimport, said Friday the ban was lifted earlier this month and that in recent weeks Cuba has imported 30,000 tons of long-grain U.S. rice and expects to import 10,000 more soon.

2007-05-10 |

Canadian organic farmers may appeal ruling

Organic farmers are considering taking their fight to bring a class action suit over genetically modified canola to the Supreme Court of Canada after their latest disappointment. On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal of a 2005 Queen’s Bench ruling that denied their attempt to have a lawsuit against Monsanto and Bayer CropScience certified as a class action.

2007-05-10 |

GE crops and climate change (4): GE rice for carbon credits

Arcadia Biosciences announced today that it has agreed with the government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Ningxia) of China to establish the groundwork for a carbon credit methodology applicable to rice crops. Such a system represents a novel way to significantly reduce greenhouse gases through the adoption of Nitrogen Use Efficient crops by growers. Arcadia will work with the Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (NAAFS) to develop the methodology.

2007-05-10 |

GE crops and climate change (3): the Vatican

Vatican officials closed a conference on climate change Friday that heard from scientists, ministers and religious leaders about the negative - and sometimes positive - impacts of climate change. ”Not all the scientific world is crying disaster,” Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told Vatican Radio at the start of the two-day conference he hosted. [...] Four years ago, Martino hosted a similar conference on genetically modified foods - which he supports - and the Vatican has yet to issue any document on that similarly charged topic.

2007-05-10 |

GE crops and climate change (2): the Australian debate

Allowing authorities to release genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the event of an emergency would be too risky, the Greens say. Parliamentary secretary for health Dr Brett Mason said the Gene Technology Amendment Bill 2007 would give the health minister the right to release such organisms on the advice of experts in the event of a GMO release gone wrong.

2007-05-10 |

GE crops and climate change (1): non-GE approaches

Big Sorghum is moving up on Big Oil in Texas. Ten-foot tall stalks of bioenergy sorghum, planted on thousands of acres, could march across Texas just as oil derricks once did, replacing black gold with green gold. [...] In addition to growing corn for biofuels, Texas can capitalize on decades of sorghum research at the Experiment Station, Murano said. The giant sorghum varieties being grown in experimental plots today are drought-tolerant, can be grown across the state, and offer high yields in ethanol.

2007-05-09 |

Taiwan animal rights group protests ”fluorescent pigs”

An animal rights group on Monday protested Taiwanese scientists’ genetically engineering two pink fluorescent pigs, calling the project ”absurd” and ”meaningless.” ”If they are doing it for the happiness of human beings or animals, then maybe it is worthwhile. But I don’t see any proper purpose for breeding fluorescent pigs,” Chu Tseng-hung, director- general of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan. ”If the experiment is only to create sensation and attract media attention, then it is meaningless and should not be encouraged,” he said.

2007-05-09 |

Biotechnology will dominate the 21st century: Namo Narayan Meena

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Shri Namo Narayan Meena said bio-technology will dominate the 21st century just as information technology dominated the last century. [...] The entire research activities of the country which was at a standstill, will get momentum and Genetic Engineering Approval Committee will be able to work speedily. Shri Meena assured along with treating this field as a priority area with investments, priority will be given to proper risk assessment and appropriate measures to mitigate its adverse impacts.

2007-05-09 |

GE crop research on Hawaii lacks real success

The University of Hawai’i is conducting genetically modified crop research on bananas, tomatoes, petunias and lettuce in an effort to develop hardier, disease-resistant plants. Researchers at UH’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources also are trying to develop sugar cane that’s genetically modified to produce a vaccine to protect against rotavirus — a viral infection that can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting in young children.

2007-05-09 |

Hormone-free milk ad is false

A milk marketing campaign by Associated Food Stores has riled several dairy farmers across the Beehive State and caught the eye of a state agency, forcing the Salt Lake City-based grocery cooperative to change its milk ads starting Sunday. At issue is what has been described by the state and irate dairy farmers as a ”misleading” milk ad run by 170 of Associated Food’s 400-plus independently owned and corporate-owned stores, including Macey’s, for the past two weeks.

2007-05-09 |

Genetically modified chicory brings hope to African malaria patients

Dafra Pharma International NV has commissioned Plant Research International (PRI) to start new research to optimize the production method of artemisinin via genetically modified chicory plants. This research should result in inexpensive, large-scale production of artemisinin under controllable conditions. [...] it must be the objective of Dafra Pharma International NV to achieve inexpensive, large-scale industrial production of artemisinin under controllable conditions via the root of the chicory plant in three to five years time. In the future this new inexpensive raw material should enable Dafra Pharma International NV to place its ACTs on the market for half a dollar per adult antimalarial treatment.

2007-05-09 |

India Supreme Court allows field trials of GM crops, poses conditions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops approved by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in 2006, but with riders. A special bench consisting of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice DK Jain and Justice Tarun Chatterjee said the GM crop fields should be at least 200 metres away from fields with normal crops. One lead scientist should be made responsible for the trials. The scientist, the bench said, should ensure that non-GM crop fields were not contaminated by pollen flow from GM crops. The GEAC should lay down a protocol for ensuring 0.01% mcontamination by GM crops, it added.

2007-05-09 |

Governor of Massachusetts (USA) wants to invest $1 billion in biotech

The buzz around biotech reached a peak yesterday when Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a plan for Massachusetts to invest $1 billion in life sciences initiatives, including controversial stem-cell research, to help the state attract business and add jobs. Patrick’s plan, designed to ”fill gaps in federal funding,” would finance research grants, support laboratory improvements at public colleges and establish a centralized stem-cell center that could be tapped by scientists worldwide.

2007-05-08 |

Novo Nordisk profits from high GE insulin prices in the U.S.

Insulin analogues sell at a premium over conventional insulin of 5 percent to 10 percent in Japan, 30 percent in Europe, and two to three times as much in the U.S., Jesper Brandgaard, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview. The switch to analogues, particularly in the U.S., helped reduce the impact of declining prices for drugs in Europe and Japan, he said.

2007-05-08 |

The next Human Genome Project: Our microbes

A proposed project to sequence the microorganisms that inhabit our bodies could have a huge impact on human health. Much as we might like to ignore them, microbes have colonized almost every inch of our bodies, living in our mouths, skin, lungs, and gut. Indeed, the human body has 10 times as many microbial cells as human cells. They’re a vital part of our health, breaking down otherwise indigestible foods, making essential vitamins, and even shaping our immune system. Recent research suggests that microbes play a role in diseases, such as ulcers, heart disease, and obesity.

2007-05-08 |

Biotech leader sees challenges ahead

The nation’s biotechnology industry holds its annual conference this week, with more than 20,000 attendees at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. One of the industry’s key leaders is former congressman James C. Greenwood, a Republican from Pennsylvania, who as president of the trade group BIO is its chief lobbyist in Washington. He spoke with Boston Globe reporter Stephen Heuser on a recent visit to Boston.

2007-05-08 |

Double vision on biotech: Some see miracle cures, others a fearful future

Americans are highly confident about the biotech industry’s ability to find cures for diseases and develop new alternative fuels. But biotch executives have work cut out for themselves in convincing Americans - especially women - about the benefits of genetically modified foods, according to new survey results released yesterday in conjunction with the first day of the 2007 BIO International Convention in Boston. [...] Only 47 percent of voters surveyed view genetically modified foods as positive - while 43 percent said the practice is ”troubling.”

2007-05-08 |

GE liability bill of Maine (USA) reaches too far

Organic farmers have a need, and a right, to protect the integrity of their crops, which must adhere to standards to be certified as ”organic.” It is also important that Maine assist organic farmers in a reasonable fashion. Organic farming is not a major part of the state’s economy, but it does represent an economic niche in a state that depends on piecing many niches together to create a solid economic foundation. A bill aimed at the manufacturers of genetically modified seed, however, is a measure that steps beyond reasonable bounds. Part of the bill, sponsored by Rep. James Schatz, D-Blue Hill, would hold seed makers financially liable if cross-pollination occurs between genetically modified crops and organic crops growing in nearby, or not so nearby, fields.

2007-05-07 |

Indian Supreme Court convenes hearing on GM crops ban

The biotech industry has appealed to the Supreme Court to vacate its ban order on fresh approval of genetically modified (GM) crops. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan is slated to hear the industry’s petition on May 8. The apex court, in the course of its hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Aruna Rodrigues, PV Satheesh and others on September 22, 2006, had directed the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) not to clear any GM crop for fresh field trials. Earlier on May 1, 2006, it had also said the GEAC and not the Review Committee for Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) under the department of biotechnology should be responsible for field trials and approval of GM crops.

2007-05-07 |

Massachusetts (USA) towns consider GE crop bans

The resolutions in Becket, Great Barrington and Savoy all call for legislation in state and federal government that would institute a moratorium on the use of the seed and clear labels that identify both genetically engineered seeds and the food produced by it, and for protection of farmers from lawsuits by companies that own patents to the genetic engineering. Three other Berkshire County towns — Windsor, Sandisfield and Williamstown — have passed similar resolutions in the past four years. A total of 21 Massachusetts towns have passed the resolution, and another nine are considering it this year.

2007-05-07 |

EU must speed response to new GMOs - Farm chief

Europe must speed up its approval process for new biotech crops and foods to avoid future problems with key suppliers like Argentina, Brazil and the United States, Europe’s farm chief said on Friday. Shipments of maize feed products had fallen in the past few months due to efforts to keep out genetically modified (GMO) materials that were approved elsewhere but not in the 27 countries of the European Union. EU regulators had to consider what would happen if imports had to be blocked altogether from given origins to avoid unwanted contamination, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said.

2007-05-07 |

Wheat Summit II moves industry toward consensus

Wheat Summit II, a follow-up to the first Wheat Summit in September 2006, was held in Kansas City this week. About 70 representatives from all aspects of the wheat industry – growers to branded food companies – attended. [...] Collaboration achieved through the Wheat Summit process is aimed at having industry consensus in four major areas: domestic competitiveness; domestic farm policy; exports, transportation and infrastructure; and research and technology.

2007-05-07 |

Plan for GM crop field trials revived in Thailand

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has revived a plan to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops. Minister Thira Sutabutra yesterday said he had told the Agriculture Department to draft guidelines on how the open-field trials should be conducted to ensure the environment and human health were not affected.

2007-05-07 |

Greece continues to ban GM corn for planting

Just last week, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mr. A. Kontos signed a new revision of a January 2006 ministerial decree that prohibits commercialization and usage of GMO hybrid corn seed varieties of the MON 810 series in Greece. This revision raised the number of banned varieties from 31 to 47. The continuing GOG justification for the ban is that these hybrids pose a risk to the environment and to domestic conventional varieties. The research to support these contentions is unknown. Greece has yet to implement any coexistence legislation.

2007-05-04 |

Genetically engineered food: Consumers still kept in the dark

A wide coalition of international and Canadian groups including a former federal environment minister have joined forces to call on the Canadian government to give consumers mandatory labelling and stop blocking an international agreement on the labelling of Genetically Engineering (GE) foods. These calls come at a crucial time when a UN meeting (CODEX Alimentarius) gathers this week in Ottawa to discuss establishing an international standard for GE labelling. Codex Alimentarius is the international body that oversees food labelling.

2007-05-04 |

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rejects appeal on Canadian GM canola case

Two organic farmers from Saskatchewan have lost their latest bid for a class-action lawsuit against farm chemical companies involved in producing genetically modified canola. On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Dale Beaudoin and Larry Hoffman of L.B. Hoffman Farms Inc. against Monsanto Canada and Bayer CropScience. They are seeking damages from the two companies for allegedly contaminating their organically grown canola and their fields with genetically modified canola.

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