Nachrichten
27.12.2006
Arkansas Plant Board bans planting of Cheniere variety
Arkansas rice growers will be banned in 2007 from planting the Cheniere variety, a seed rice that has tested positive for a genetically modified rice that contaminated some long-grain supplies this year. The decision Wednesday by the state Plant Board came as farmers are making decisions about planting for next year. "We need to act as quickly as possible, because producers are making business decisions right now," Plant Board Director Darryl Little said at the meeting in Little Rock.
27.12.2006
Sahelian cotton farmers on their knees
The head of a delegation from the main cotton buying company in Burkina Faso, Sofitex, recently met with some 200 local farmers under a mango tree in western Burkina Faso to explain to them that they should expect to get 150 CFA (US 30 cents) a kilo for their next harvest, or 9 percent less than they got for the previous year. [...] But these and other cotton farmers are not in a mood to listen. The price of cotton has fallen every year since 2003 when it was 210 CFA (US 42 cents, converted at the current rate). The industry, which counts for 60 percent of Burkina Faso's cash exports, provides more than a quarter of the 13 million people in one of the world's least developed countries, with some income.
27.12.2006
Gm food is answer to poverty and hunger says Scotland's new chief scientific adviser
PEOPLE ARE being urged by Scotland's new chief scientific adviser to embrace genetically modified (GM) food as an answer to poverty, hunger and toxic pollution. Professor Anne Glover, herself a genetic engineer, is urging consumers to ignore labels like "Frankenstein foods" because they are misleading and damaging. The potential benefits of GM crops are "huge", she says, and the risks "extremely small". [...] Glover, a molecular biologist from the University of Aberdeen, was appointed chief scientific adviser earlier this year by Nicol Stephen, the deputy first minister. She is an expert on microbes and has genetically engineered bacteria to glow in the dark.
27.12.2006
Gm food is answer to poverty and hunger says Scotland's new chief scientific adviser
PEOPLE ARE being urged by Scotland's new chief scientific adviser to embrace genetically modified (GM) food as an answer to poverty, hunger and toxic pollution. Professor Anne Glover, herself a genetic engineer, is urging consumers to ignore labels like "Frankenstein foods" because they are misleading and damaging. The potential benefits of GM crops are "huge", she says, and the risks "extremely small". [...] Glover, a molecular biologist from the University of Aberdeen, was appointed chief scientific adviser earlier this year by Nicol Stephen, the deputy first minister. She is an expert on microbes and has genetically engineered bacteria to glow in the dark.
27.12.2006
Allergen-free cats coming to market
It could be the perfect solution for a cat lover who sneezes and wheezes when a kitten comes too close -- a hypoallergenic pet guaranteed to leave its owner sneeze free. Researchers in the United States say the ultimate prize of the $35-billion pet industry is within reach: a cat that has been either selectively bred or genetically altered so it does not produce the allergens that trigger such misery in so many people.
27.12.2006
Transgenic cotton ploughs its way thru Brazil's congress
In Brazil, cotton is following in soy's footsteps. Transgenic cotton varieties, smuggled into the country in recent years, may now be legalised by a draft law already quietly approved by the lower house of Congress. Now the draft law will go to the Senate, where it is almost certain that it will be passed, because there is an even more overwhelming majority in favour of genetically modified (GM) crops, according to Jean Marc von der Weid, coordinator of Advice and Services for Alternative Agriculture Projects (AS-PTA), a non-governmental organisation active in the cause "For a GM-free Brazil".
27.12.2006
Scientists get OK to genetically engineer peanuts
A leading industry group has given scientists the go-ahead to build genetically engineered peanuts that could be safer, more nutritious and easier to grow than their conventional version. The work could lead to peanuts that yield more oil for biofuel production, need less rainfall and grow more efficiently, with built-in herbicide and pest resistance — traits that have already been engineered into major crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans and canola. [...] with the two leading peanut-producing countries, China and India, working aggressively on transgenic peanuts, the American Peanut Council and its research arm, the Peanut Foundation, this month approved a major policy change.
27.12.2006
NZ firm winning race to fight depression
A small New Zealand company says it is winning a worldwide race to extract a brain acid from algae which may provide a remedy for depression. Henderson-based Photonz, backed by The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall, is producing micro-organisms which generate eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the two omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids normally found in fish which eat the algae. [...] e Australian Government had put more than $10 million in the past year into a plan to genetically engineer terrestrial plants to produce EPA and DHA, and the European group BASF and academic groups in Europe, America and Australia were also working on it, he said.
22.12.2006
GMO brings back good insects in Philippine farms
Many of the "good guys" in the insect world are back in Philippine farms. In corn fields, particularly. Credit for this encouraging development goes mainly to genetically modified organisms (GMO), specifically the so-called Bt corn. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that naturally occurs in soil. Through biotechnology (genetic engineering) technique, a specific gene of Bt has been introduced or inserted in a corn variety. The Bt corn produces its natural pesticide against the Asian corn borer, one of the most destructive pests attacking corn in the Philippines and in other Asian countries.
22.12.2006
Wine industry leaders explore issues surrounding biotechnology and winegrapes, consider consumer reactions, regulatory issues
In July 2006, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the American Vineyard Foundation held a workshop in San Francisco, CA examining issues relating to the potential adoption of biotechnology in the winegrape and wine industries. Over the course of the two-day event, grape growers, winemakers, grape and yeast research scientists, federal and state government representatives and agricultural commodity and specialty crop producers gathered to discuss the scientific, regulatory and marketing issues associated with the potential development of genetically engineered (GE) winegrapes.
22.12.2006
First GM-Free schools declared in Borjomi, Samtskhe-Javakheti Region, Georgia
On 12-13 December 2006 the Greens Movement of Georgia / Friends of the Earth – Georgia organized series of eco-seminars for schools of Borjomi town, Samtskhe-Javakheti Region on the issues of genetically modified organisms. After the eco-seminars the improvised action was arranged with the participation of pupils from all 6 schools of Borjomi town, which resulted with declaration of Borjomi schools GM-Free.
22.12.2006
Modify minds about GM
VICTORIANS are vastly uneducated and uninformed about gene technology issues and need a major campaign to bring them up to speed, according to a report tabled in State Parliament this week. [...] A panel of three senior Victorian experts and bureaucrats — former GHS Victoria boss Professor Bob Williamson, Equal Opportunity Commission chief executive Dr Diane Sisely, and Victoria's former Crown Counsel, Professor Peter Sallmann — recommended state and federal governments fund a major advertising campaign.
22.12.2006
JRC report weighs up economic benefits of GM crops
Growing genetically modified (GM) crops can bring farmers economic benefits. But these are made from savings on herbicides, pesticides and machinery, not from higher yields, as was previously thought, according to a new study by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) on the economic impact of GM crops worldwide. [...] Weighing up the economic impacts, the report finds that for some GM crops, the difference between their yield and that of conventional crops is almost negligible. A 2000 study of Delaware farmers in the US reported only a small increase in the crop yield of herbicide tolerance (Ht) soybean compared to traditional crops. In another sample, farmers growing Ht soybean reported that they spent on average Euro13 per hectare more on seeds than before. However, the yield of some other GM crops, like the pest resistant cotton (Bt), has been much higher than non-GM crops. The study refers to reports from China, India, Argentina and South Africa of yields from Bt cotton crops which are anything between 10% and 87% higher than conventional cotton. In Spain, farmers growing Bt maize reported that the average yield over three seasons was just under 5% higher than that from traditional crops.
22.12.2006
GM potato trials will go ahead despite location withdrawal
On-farm trials of genetically modified potatoes will go ahead in 2007 despite the withdrawal of the proposed site near Borrowash in Derbyshire. The farm owner had agreed to host the trial of chemical company BASF’s late blight resistant potatoes but he pulled out saying that he feared for his personal security. A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said the force was aware that the intense publicity surrounding the GM trial had made the farmer concerned about his family’s safety. Although, the spokesman said, it was understood that no specific threat had been made to the farmer.
22.12.2006
Syngenta to pay $1.5M fine to EPA
A company that sold and distributed seed corn containing an unregistered genetically engineered pesticide has agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The settlement between the EPA and Syngenta Seeds Inc. was filed Thursday with the Environmental Appeals Board, which must still approve the penalty, the EPA said in a news release. Syngenta voluntarily disclosed in 2004 that it may have unintentionally distributed the genetically modified corn, called Bt10, to the United States, Europe and South America.
21.12.2006
EU Environment Ministers vote against sound science
The EU's Environment Council has today delivered a blow to the prospects for growth
and jobs in Europe, according to EuropaBio. By backing Austria's illegal ban on the
cultivation of EU-approved GM crops, the Council has seriously damaged the
credibility of the regulatory system on which much of Europe's innovative and
industrial capacity relies, says the European biotechnology industry association.
Today’s vote denies Austrian farmers the freedom of choice and the possibility to
grow GM if they want to.
"At issue is whether scientific opinions are to be respected and whether decisionmaking
is to be rational in Europe", said Johan Vanhemelrijck, EuropaBio's Secretary
General.
21.12.2006
Mexican farmers fight transgenic foods
Farmers from 19 Mexican states began a campaign Friday to protect natural corn and beans from their transgenic counterparts. The National Farmers' Association (ANEC) says the goal is to recover arable land now neglected or given over to a different use. Their strategy includes assembling a network of companies that exclusively produce beans to seek commercial and industrial alternatives.
21.12.2006
Bon Appetit Management Company signs on to GE Policy Alliance
Taking a stand against the environmental destruction caused by genetically engineered foods, Bon Appetit Management Company has signed on to the Genetic Engineering Policy Alliance (www.gepolicyalliance.org), a network of organizations and individuals promoting precautionary policies on genetically engineered food and agriculture. Bon Appetit sees the unmediated proliferation of GE crops as potentially devastating to the environment and to non-GE farms, especially as little is known about the long-term effects of genetic engineering. In signing on to the Alliance, Bon Appetit pledges its support to the principles outlined in the Policy Platform and adds to its list of socially responsible business initiatives.
20.12.2006
Youth media for sustainable agriculture - GMOs in Vermont (USA)
GMOs in Vermont, a two part series of interviews, made by students from the Gailer School and Montpelier High School are the first products of our Youth Media for Sustainable Agriculture program. These videos are airing on Vermont Public Access stations around the state this summer and fall. Our objective in showing the videos is to strengthen local communities’ awareness and activism around issues of food safety and biotechnology.
20.12.2006
EFSA adopts opinion on Bayer GM crop
Europe's Food Safety Authority has ruled that a genetically-modified cotton plant, which can be used for food applications, presents no cause for concern. EFSA's GMO panel has now adopted an opinion on the application for the commercialisation of glufosinate-tolerant genetically modified LLCotton25. [...] The panel concluded by saying that LLCotton25 is unlikely to have any adverse effect on human and animal health or on the environment in the context of its intended uses.
