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2007-02-05 |

Bt cotton in India: Ganesh and Brahma bow to a new god

But as is so often the case, neither side’s explanation fully captures the situation on the ground. For that we must turn to a brilliant new paper by anthropologist Glenn Davis Stone, ”Agricultural Deskilling and the Spread of Genetically Modified Cotton in Warangal,” from the February issue of Current Anthropology.
Since 2000, Stone has spent some 45 weeks doing field research on Warangal farmers’ cotton seed choice decision-making process. There is a granularity to his research, embedded in careful anthropological theory, that puts most conventional ”investigative reporting” to shame. And unlike so many commentators on the topic of genetic modification, he comes neither to promote nor condemn. His purpose is to understand.

2007-02-02 |

Commercialization of Bt cotton seen

The commercialization in three years of the genetically-modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton marks the revival of the local cotton industry that largely depends on import for its sustenance. After two years of going through import procedures for Bt cotton seeds to be shipped from China, the Philippines will finally be able to conduct field testings on the Bt cotton where authorities bank their hope on displacing the country’s yearly P2.4-billion cotton lint imports and raising farmers’ yield and income.

2007-02-02 |

EU considers overhaul of transparency rules

The European Commission is looking into how it can overhaul rules on public access to EU documents as citizens" requests for information increase year on year. Statistics show that the council - member states" secretariat - and commission turn down one third of the applications for information access, while the parliament refuses around 20 percent. [...] ”There is a culture of secrecy running through the European Commission, and the public and groups like Friends of the Earth must fight for every piece of paper to be made public,” said a Friends of the Earth campaigner last year after the ombudsman agreed that the commission had been wrong in refusing to release documents on scientific concerns about the safety of genetically modified foods.

2007-02-02 |

Can food from cloned animals be called organic?

There"s nothing like a tender steak from a free-range, grass-fed, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, organic and -- oh, yes -- cloned cow. Or is there? [...] In the opinion of some in the biotechnology arena, the federal definition of organic food would allow them to label food from clones as organic, as long as those clones were raised organically.

2007-02-02 |

New Zealand"s records fail to keep up with seed imports

The nation’s biosecurity system of checking seed imports at the border is being manipulated, says a former secretary of the Justice Department. David Oughton, who was called in to run an inquiry into how two consignments of seed contaminated with genetically engineered seed entered the country late last year, said yesterday the manipulations were not from any ulterior motive ”but merely to clear the records”. He said biosecurity computer records showed 30 corn consignments during the past 12 months with incomplete records.

2007-02-02 |

Marriott eliminates trans fats, is largest hotelier to join ban

In a move affecting the cooking of more than 6 million pounds of french fries a year, Marriott International is eliminating frying oil containing trans fats from its more than 2,300 hotels in the United States and Canada. [...] For decades, restaurants have been using vegetable oils that have gone through a process called hydrogenation, which increases shelf life but produces trans fats. The new oils are made with genetically modified soybean oil that contains lower levels of an acid that reduces shelf life.

2007-02-02 |

Ancient genes used to produce salt-tolerant non-GM wheat in Australia

Two recently discovered genes from an ancient wheat variety have led to a major advance in breeding new salt-tolerant varieties. [...] “The two genes originally came from a wheat ancestor, Triticum monococcum,” says research team leader, CSIRO Plant Industry’s Dr Rana Munns. “They were unwittingly crossed into a durum wheat line about 35 years ago and are normally not present in any modern wheat.”

2007-02-01 |

Island Dreams - Puerto Rico has designs on becoming the next hub for both biotech manufacturing and research

map of municipalities of Puerto Rico supporting life science business map of municipalities of Puerto Rico supporting life science business

Scanning down the list of companies packed onto the 100-mile-long island of Puerto Rico is like reading a who"s who of the drug industry; in the past few decades, nearly every U.S. firm has shipped at least part of its manufacturing to the commonwealth, largely to enjoy hefty tax breaks and an ample, affordable workforce. Firms providing support services have cropped up around the drug facilities, establishing the infrastructure for what is now widely recognized as a manufacturing powerhouse. [...] Yet all that investment in Puerto Rico isn"t happening in a vacuum. The commonwealth enjoyed decades of unmitigated success in attracting traditional drug companies, but competition for biopharmaceutical projects has quickly taken hold. Ireland and Singapore have become aggressive suitors for biotech business, and it is becoming apparent that Puerto Rico will need to step up its game to continue to be a major player. Puerto Rico "now realizes that Singapore wants what they have" and is going after it full force, says Paul Romness, an economic development consultant at Odell Simms & Associates.

2007-02-01 |

Speaking out for the consumer of Jamaica

MONTH after month he lobbies for consumers" rights... unpaid. For Carlton Stewart, the president of the National Consumers League (NCL), it is the intrinsic rewards that motivate him. Stepping inside his office on Beechwood Avenue - a small, sparsely furnished, wooden structure where he works along with two paid staffers - provides sufficient evidence that he is not about making money. [...] One of his main concerns is the issue of genetically modified food which he says is proudly displayed on shelves, many times with labels that do not reveal the truth about the actual contents of the packages.

2007-02-01 |

Local experts discuss bio-safety issues in Antigua & Barbuda

Data entry and IT specialists of various government agencies were being trained last week on live genetically modified organisms (LMOs) which can potentially endanger Antigua & Barbuda’s eco-system if not handled properly. The training session, held last Thursday at the City View Hotel, was facilitated by Dr. Malachy Dottin, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Global Environment Fund (GEF) Cartagena Protocol Advisor and Stephen Vitoria, UNEP/GEF Regional Advisor on Information Technologies. The training was themed, “Building Capacity for Effective Participation in the Biosafety Clearing House.”

2007-02-01 |

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (New Zealand) releases imported corn seed report

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Director-General Murray Sherwin today released the final report by David Oughton into the circumstances associated with the imports of genetically modified corn seeds in late 2006. The report Inquiry into the Circumstances Associated with the Imports of Certain Corn Seeds in Late 2006 was commissioned by the Director-General to examine how two consignments of Zea Mays seeds entered New Zealand during October and November 2006 with accompanying genetic modification (GM) testing certificates which indicated conflicting test results. All crops have now been destroyed.

2007-02-01 |

Maseca, Minsa accused of using GM corn in Mexico

Greenpeace environmental organization accused Mexican cornmeal companies Maseca and Minsa of introducing transgenic corn into the market; an action denied by the companies. Greenpeace Mexico consumer campaign coordinator Areli Carreon showed press official documents and lab tests confirming production of tortillas with transgenic, or genetically modified, corn.

2007-02-01 |

Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta seeks to reverse expropriation of Brazilian research farm

The Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta is trying to prevent the expropriation of a farm used for testing transgenic seeds in Brazil. The state government of Parana confiscated the 143-hectare property near the famous Iguaçu waterfalls last November after the governor decided the property would become an educational centre for environment-friendly agriculture.

2007-01-31 |

Cloning Barbaro - On racehorse cloning

Will there ever be another horse like Barbaro? Maybe so, if it were up to cloning researcher Katrin Hinrichs. Theoretically, you could take a tissue sample from the now-dead racehorse, culture some cells and freeze them for future Barbaro clones, she said. ”It just seems to make sense to do that when you have an animal that’s genetically valuable,” the veterinarian who heads Texas A&M’s Equine Embryo Laboratory told me today. Not that you’d ever put a Barbaro clone in a race. First of all, the rules of thoroughbred racing bar horses produced through cloning, or even through artificial insemination. But there’s a more fundamental reason why clones don’t make good racers, Hinrichs said.

2007-01-31 |

Someone (other than you) may own your genes

From the moment the first biotech patents were granted in 1980, the industry was hailed as a new frontier — uncharted territory where a new generation of scientist-inventors could reap the traditional rewards of innovation. But even as the gold rush began, critics as varied as scientists and human rights advocates declared that biotech’s new intellectual property frontier was already occupied. Claims of novelty and innovation as the basis for life patents, they said, disregarded the realities of not only nature, but also of research practices, democratic decision-making and global governance. [...] The title of an intriguing paper he wrote on the subject, “Acceptable Intellectual Property,” is a wordplay on the well-known concept of “acceptable risk” — that is, the level of risk a society considers acceptable, given existing social, economic and cultural conditions.

2007-01-31 |

Christchurch (New Zealand) venue for GM Brassica hearing

Christchurch will be the venue for an ERMA New Zealand Authority hearing on a Crop and Food Research application to field test four genetically modified brassica species. ERMA New Zealand Chief Executive, Rob Forlong, said the hearing would begin on 11 April at the Millennium Hotel in Christchurch.

2007-01-31 |

Biotech seed industry now second only to pineapple on Hawaii

After reviewing the newest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, local growers of designer gene crops are declaring that they have become the second biggest crop category in Hawaii. Hawaii’s genetically engineering seed industry is now valued at $70.4 million, according to the National Agricultural Service Hawaii Field Office, exceeded only by pineapple at $79.3 million. Sugar cane has slipped to third place with a value of $58.3 million.

2007-01-31 |

Modified rice seen in U.S. Clearfield seed type

The contamination of U.S. long-grain rice supplies by a genetically engineered variety appears to be more widespread than previously believed, the State Plant Board said Thursday. Traces of Bayer Crop-Science’s experimental variety LLRICE601 or two of its Liberty Link siblings have been detected in 10 samples of Clearfield 131 rice seed, the agency said. Since August, the U.S. rice industry has been aware that trace amounts of LLRICE601 were present in U.S. rice supplies. Until Thursday, however, such contamination was thought to be limited to only one variety, Cheniere.

2007-01-31 |

A growing dispute on GE crop coexistence in Maine (USA)

Spencer Aitel grows corn, grains and alfalfa on his 275-acre organic farm in China. He stakes his reputation, and his family’s livelihood, on the fact that his crops are free of pesticides and added ingredients. Galen Larrabee also grows corn, about 400 acres worth, on his farm in Knox. He uses a genetically engineered variety of the grain that he says has increased yields. The two farmers soon may find themselves on opposite sides of a growing agricultural divide in the state over the use of genetically modified foods. It’s a debate that appears headed to the Legislature.

2007-01-31 |

Cloning Barbaro - On racehorse cloning

Will there ever be another horse like Barbaro? Maybe so, if it were up to cloning researcher Katrin Hinrichs. Theoretically, you could take a tissue sample from the now-dead racehorse, culture some cells and freeze them for future Barbaro clones, she said. "It just seems to make sense to do that when you have an animal that"s genetically valuable," the veterinarian who heads Texas A&M"s Equine Embryo Laboratory told me today. Not that you"d ever put a Barbaro clone in a race. First of all, the rules of thoroughbred racing bar horses produced through cloning, or even through artificial insemination. But there"s a more fundamental reason why clones don"t make good racers, Hinrichs said.

2007-01-30 |

BIO and IICA enter into Memorandum of Understanding to promote agricultural biotechnology in the Americas

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) today entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate for the continued adoption of agricultural biotechnology in the Americas as part of IICA’s Hemispheric Biosafety and Biotechnology Program (HBBP). As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, both organizations will promote agricultural biotechnology initiatives that benefit the Americas around the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Plant Protection Convention, and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements.

2007-01-30 |

Brazil eyes ethanol export boom after Bush speech

Ethanol producers in Brazil, the world"s biggest and cheapest exporter of the alternative fuel, see a fantastic business opportunity in US President Bush"s aim to cut his country"s gasoline use by 20 percent over a decade. "We"ve never had such a great opportunity to substitute petroleum," said Luiz Carlos Correa Carvalho, director of Canaplan consultancy at Piracicaba in Brazil"s main sugar cane growing state of Sao Paulo.

2007-01-30 |

New approach needed for food aid

Rich countries should give more cash and less food if they really want to feed hungry people in the developing world, a University of Waterloo professor says. [...] "If you want to feed more of the 850 million people who go hungry every day reforming food aid might be a step in the right direction," Clapp said. And while many countries, such as Canada, the European Union and Australia have moved toward a cash-based system, the biggest food-aid donor in the world -- the United States -- has not changed.

2007-01-30 |

African leaders urged to support biotech

The co-ordinator of the West and Central Africa Programme for Bio-safety Systems (PBS) has urged African leaders to support the development of modern biotechnology, including genetically modified (GM) crops. Professor Walter Sandow Alhassan, a former director-general of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), made the call here today, following the publication of "The 2006 Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM crops."

2007-01-30 |

40% of food "is genetically modified" in the United Arab Emirates

Forty per cent of food in the UAE is genetically modified yet without proper labelling laws here, consumers are unaware their purchases are not completely natural. In a food test between the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, the Emirates has the highest incidence of genetically engineered (GE) contaminated food according to Greenpeace who are currently in the Arabian Gulf with their flagship vessel, the Rainbow Warrior.

2007-01-30 |

Deja Moo: Are we ready for cloned cattle?

Here we go again. Yet another technology in its infancy is likely to be introduced into the food supply, while industry remains cautious and consumers divided. The issue over cloned meat is not one of health and safety – the scientific evidence examined by US and EU regulators indicates a cloned cow is no different from regular meat. Instead the issue the industry must now face is whether it wants to test consumers" acceptance of such a new technology, given the current concerns – and controversy -- over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

2007-01-29 |

Monsanto contradicts ISAAA’s figures for GM plantings in SA?

We refer to the press releases by AgriSA and ISAAA, regarding the GM commercial plantings in South Africa for the period 2006. In such press releases, the claim is made that the GM commercial plantings in South Africa, have increased by 180%, from 500 000 ha to 1.4 million ha. Can you kindly explain to us how the GM maize plantings have jumped from just 609 000 ha in September 2006, (when Monsanto South Africa made your PR to promote your "Seeds of Hope Campaign" ) to what the ISAAA has been claiming just thee months later.

2007-01-29 |

Study explores the effect of Bt cotton in Warangal (India)

A new study in the February issue of Current Anthropology explores how the arrival of genetically modified crops affects farmers in developing countries. Glenn Davis Stone (Washington University) studied the Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh in India, a key cotton growing area notorious for suicides by cotton farmers. In 2003 to 2005, market share of “Bt cotton” seeds rose from 12 percent to 62 percent in Warangal. Bt cotton is genetically modified to produce its own insecticide and has been claimed by its manufacturer as the fastest-adopted agricultural technology in history. [...] “Warangal cotton farming offers a case study in ‘agricultural deskilling’,” writes Stone. The seed fads had virtually no environmental basis, and farmers generally lacked recognition of what was actually being planted, a striking contrast to highly strategic seed selection processes in areas where technological change is learned and gradual.

2007-01-29 |

Germany needs smarter investment to play catch up with US

Germany’s 2006 investment in biotech was expected to be less than 150 million euros. And a May report from the European Association for Bio-industries in Brussels says many of Europe"s 2,000 biotech companies need much more money if they’re going to be able to grow. But Strüven said it’s better for Germany to cut its losses in a field where it isn’t booming, and to move on. Just like it did, when it stopped trying to compete with Asia in digital and consumer electronics.

2007-01-26 |

Big increase in Philippine GM Bt corn hectarage helped raise domestic sufficiency

A hefty leap in the growing of genetically modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn by more than 100 percent to 200,000 hectares in 2006 is contributing to the Philippines’ achieving a significant level of corn sufficiency. [...] Dr. Emil Q. Javier, National Academy of Science and Technology president, said the Philippines needs to develop more GM or hybrid corn varieties particularly for the white corn which is a staple of Visayas and Mindanao natives. "The bigger challenge is in white corn. The private sector is now taking up the task of developing this," he said.

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