GENET news: Food

03.12.2008

Cloned meat, ’Golden Rice’ among top-100 science projects in South Korea

Would anybody’s idea of a gourmet meal ever include a T-bone steak from cloned cattle? Genetic scientist Seong Hwan-hu from the Rural Development Administration (RDA) is certainly hoping that day will come, as he is as a pioneer in the cloning of ”hanwoo,” a native breed that is a popular source of prime beef in the country.

03.12.2008

Fencing in Europe’s farmers

Today, radical environmental and consumer groups are taking advantage of public fear of modern agriculture, which they helped create, to oppose GM crops and products as dangerous ”Frankenfoods.” For more than a decade, they have blocked the planting of most genetically modified crops in Europe. Imports of GM foods have been hampered by the small number of approved products, expensive and complex requirements to track GM ingredients throughout the food chain and to label products containing such ingredients, and threatened boycotts of major producers and retailers selling such labeled products.

02.12.2008

Zambian Government orders importation of non-GE maize

GOVERNMENT has directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offload maize on the market and facilitate the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of the product to stabilise the prices of mealie meal. [...] Government had also directed the FRA to facilitate the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of non-genetically modified maize through private millers and grain traders.

02.12.2008

Nigeria eyes GE crops for food self-sufficiency

Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr Sayyadi Ruma on Wednesday said that Nigeria would develop the biotechnology sector to achieve food self-sufficiency and security between now and 2011. Ruma told a workshop on biotechnology and food security organized by the United States aid agency (USAID) in Jos, about 330km from Abuja that Nigeria still spent about US$3 billion annually on food importation, which he said was unhealthy for the nation.

02.12.2008

Zimbabwe doesn’t want GE products to flood the country

Dr Muchena said there is need to tightly monitor the imports for purposes of ensuring that genetically modified products do not floot the country as this will cost us exports markets in countries and regions that are still uncomfortable with Genetically Modified Products. The national biotechnology authority of Zimbabwe has been charged with ensuring that genetically modified products are used in a safe and responsible manner in pursuit of national development goals.

02.12.2008

A fruitless campaign

The global food crisis that came to the fore last spring may have been overshadowed by the global financial crisis that erupted this autumn, but it has certainly not been solved. That is one reason why many governments and philanthropic foundations are now looking to agricultural biotechnology to improve future food production. Despite the virulent opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops in some quarters, many believe that progress in areas such as drought-tolerant or nutritionally fortified plants could make a big difference in many of the poorest countries.

01.12.2008

Britain tries to block vital GM safeguard in the EU

Britain is this week single-handedly setting out to sabotage a vital safeguard against farmers unwittingly growing GM crops, a secret document seen by The Independent on Sunday reveals. The document – the final version of a negotiating text to be finalised by ministers from across Europe on Thursday – shows that the UK government is alone in opposing a provision that would keep GM contamination of seed to the ”lowest possible” levels.

01.12.2008

China develops non-GE soy market

Liu said that soybean processing enterprises might make joint efforts to develop non-genetic-modified products and explore international market. China exported a small quantity of non-genetic-modified soybean overseas at the beginning of this year at the price of 6,800 yuan/ton, much higher than the import price of genetic-modified soybean which was 4,300 yuan/ton. The soybean market will develop by leaps and bounds if China develops its brand in non-genetic-modified soybean, Liu noted.

01.12.2008

Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops in China

”See these plants? They can tolerate the cold,” Zeng says as he walks through a checkerboard of test fields sown with different rice varieties on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province. ”We can extract the cold-tolerant gene from this plant and use it in a genetically manipulated variety to improve its cold tolerance,” Zeng says. In a mountainous place like Yunnan, and in many other parts of the developing world, such advantages can tip the balance between hunger and a decent living. And China is now ready to tip that scale in favor of genetically modified crops.

26.11.2008

Koreans breed purple non-GE anti-cancer corn

A research team at the Kangwon National University headed by Prof. Rhee Hae-ik on Sunday said they developed a purple strain of corn that is 10 times richer in anthocyanins, a natural pigment well known for its ability to prevent cancer, than ordinary varieties. [...] But Rhee said while the purple tomatoes were genetically modified -- genes of a different type of plant were inserted -- the newly developed corn was bred the traditional way.

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