GENET news: Protein

15.12.2008

Monsanto sees India adopting biotech corn in 5 yrs

U.S. biotech company Monsanto Co hopes to gain regulatory approvals to commercialize some varieties of its biotech corn in India in about five years, a company official said on Thursday. ”There is a fundamental (amount of) time that is required for crops to be evaluated ... We can be in the four-year time frame, but my guess is we will be in the five-year time frame on this one,” Sekhar Natarajan, head of Monsanto’s Indian operations, said in an interview with Reuters.

15.12.2008

EU gets ready to test GMO crop growing

Europe’s environment chief has prepared draft authorisations for two biotech maize types to be grown in the European Union, testing the political climate of 27 countries that together are historically wary of biotechnology. If EU governments agree to the approvals, it would represent the first authorisation to grow a GM crop in 10 years. While politically, that scenario still appears touch-and-go, Brussels is under a lot of pressure to move forward on GM crop approvals.

12.12.2008

EU prepares approval for cultivation of GM maize varieties bt11 and 1507

The first approval of GM crops for cultivation within the European Union since ten years may be proposed soon by the EU Commission. Under pressure of another "no risk" opinion of the Food Safety Authority EFSA and a court case from GM maize giant Pioneer Commissioner Stavros Dimas may be forced to proposing an approval which he had resented for years, EU and industry officials say. But so far, the paperwork is being kept well under firm instructions not to release it anywhere near the public domain.

12.12.2008

Genetically modified food, a hot potato for the Indian Government

After imposing a ban on smoking in public, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is working towards banning genetically modified (GM) seeds. [...] ”As the Union Health Minister, I will continue opposing it. BT Brinjal is being brought into the country without proper research on its safety. We should oppose it collectively,” Ramadoss says. [...] Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, however, is well known for his advocacy of GM food.

12.12.2008

Uganda needs patents to protect its crops

By 2030, the pressure on African governments from highly organised and wealthy proponents of IPRs will be overwhelming. While portraying themselves as benevolent sources of technologies, these proponents, who have already developed genetically modified seeds (GMOs), will shove regionally-harmonised IPR legislations down African governments’ throats. Today, Africa is yet to see that these proponents seek to profit from the poor farmers and not to ”help” them with better seed.

12.12.2008

One gene, one protein, one function - not so

Recently, Monsanto’s apparent transformation from agrichemical giant to philanthropic institution was cynically trumpeted to the world’s media: ”We will double crops yields!” Such grandiose promises can only be offered if there is a parallel narrative that portrays genetic engineering as being able to permit the precise control of life processes and by extension, provide predictable and controllable agricultural outcomes. [...] But are the techniques that give rise to GM foods as precise and controlled as the PR blurb suggests?

12.12.2008

Evogene and Biogemma show increased corn yield in field trials

Evogene Ltd. and Biogemma SAS, today announced results of field trials for corn hybrids containing a number of genes predicted by Evogene to increase yield and drought tolerance. The field trials, conducted in several sites in the United States and in Israel, demonstrate that corn hybrids containing certain of these genes displayed significant yield increases under both normal and drought conditions compared to control corn hybrids under the same conditions.

12.12.2008

Brazil allows planting of Dupont, Dow GMO corn

Brazil’s biosafety regulator CTNBio approved on Thursday the commercial planting of a genetically modified corn jointly developed by Dupont Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.. The Herculex corn variety is insect resistant and tolerant to glufosinate ammonium. It must still be approved by Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry before it can be planted. This is the sixth genetically modified variety of corn approved for commercial planting in Brazil.

11.12.2008

Australian researchers reject ’wild’ canola claims

RESEARCH over the past four years shows that canola is a poor competitor with established roadside plants and is unlikely to develop wild populations. And other research shows that concerns of roadside canola crossing with other canola plants are unfounded. [...] in most cases there was no correlation between population location and density from one year to the next.

11.12.2008

Rebuilding market share after GE rice backlash in the USA

Strides have been made by the US rice industry to regain market share after genetically engineered traits were found to have mixed with conventional rice supplies, disrupting trade. The USA Rice Federation said nearly all test results for the Southern long-grain rice crop for 2008 were negative for the presence of genetically engineered (GE) traits.

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