GENET news: Protein

03.12.2008

Philippine Cabinet officials back biotech use to boost food production

TWO Cabinet officials on Monday stressed the need to harness biotechnology for the country to boost food production, develop cheaper but effective medicines, and upgrade the production of commodities using higher-yielding crops with higher nutritional content. [...] ”If we do not use biotechnology for our benefit, we may just be left out by other governments and other societies that would harness it for their own good,” he told a group of scientists and biotechnology advocates.

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

Cuba ready to authorize GM corn crop: scientists

Cuba could soon authorize the planting of 124 acres of genetically-modified corn for the first time to help reduce its dependence on costly food imports, Cuban scientists said on Tuesday. Regulators are expected to approve this initial crop of biotech corn, which would provide enough seed to expand to 14,830 acres next year, said Carlos Borroto, deputy director of state-run Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

03.12.2008

Is there a future for GM in the UK?

The first round of the great GM debate ended in outright victory for the doubters. But the biotech industry is trying again with a new generation of GM products. [...] The ability to take a plant and alter its genetic make-up has provided scientists with the tools to produce custom-made crops, which they say can out-perform their natural cousins in the field. For some it is hailed as a major breakthrough. Others see it as a dangerous step too far for modern technology.

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

GM crops require new regulations in Viet Nam

New regulations are needed on the use of genetically modified (GM) crops to ensure public health, officials have said. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said that GM crops such as corn, cotton and soybeans could result in huge savings. The use of GM corn could save US$500 million a year, MARD said. Around 1.1 million hectares of corn are grown each year, but average yield is fewer than 4 tonnes per hectare each harvest.

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

Kenya Assistant Minister supports GMOs in Kenya

Kenya should embrace genetically modified organisms (GMO) technology if the war against hunger and malnutrition is to be won. Speaking during the launch of tissue culture bananas in an agricultural forum at Kutus town in Kirinyaga district assistant minister for co-operative development Hon Jebii Kilimo [...] said GMOS can increase development in African countries and those that have embraced the technology have enough foods and extra products to sell.

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

GM fight still rages 20 years on in New Zealand

Twenty years after the first genetically modified crops (GM) were planted in New Zealand, the fight over so called ”Frankenstein food” is still raging. GM crop trials have been allowed since 1988 but it was not until the moratorium was lifted in 2003, amid loud protest, that applications could be made to grow GM plants commercially. But so-far no New Zealand companies have gone down that path.

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