Actualité
29.01.2008
New policy report outlines options for governance of synthetic genomics
Policy experts from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced today the release of a report, ?Synthetic Genomics: Options for Governance,? which outlines areas for interventions and policy options to help mitigate potential risks with this promising area of research. The report, funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, resulted from 20 months of in-depth study, review and analysis by the teams above and a core group of 14 experts.
28.01.2008
Japan needs own rules on cloned food safety
Japan has no law regulating the import of such food products, and it will be virtually impossible to differentiate between cloned and regular beef unless they are labeled. With this in mind, it is essential that Japan draw up its own distribution and safety assessment systems.
28.01.2008
Vandana Shiva challenges unregulated entry of processed GMO foods in India
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a decision of the ministry of environment and forests, facilitating smooth entry of processed foods containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) to India by exempting them from existing regulatory mechanism. A PIL filed by Vandana Shiva alleged that the exemption given in the August 23, 2007 notification would permit genetically-engineered foods, known to have have serious health hazards, unregulated entry into India without they being subjected to checks or control.
28.01.2008
News on animal cloning and GMO laws in California (USA)
California aims to protect its consumers from the possible unknown risks of consuming food from cloned animals and their offspring by proposing a bill requiring such products to display clear and prominent labels. The bill has been brought forward by California State Senator Carol Migden following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made its controversial announcement this month saying milk and meat from cloned animals are safe for sale to the public. ?The federal agency charged with protecting our food supply has failed us,? said Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director of the Center for Food Safety.
28.01.2008
German consumers concerned by new gene technology law
The Bundestag is set Friday, Jan. 25, to pass a gene technology law, while last week saw the introduction of a new non-GM label. Consumers are under the impression that GM food has become an unavoidable fact of life. Just how many of the products on Germany supermarket shelves are genetically modified? Both skeptics and supports of gene technology like to make out that GM crops are everywhere. To the former, this would be an argument for introducing stricter regulations, for the latter, proof that gene technology is safe, increases production and lowers the cost of food.
28.01.2008
County Council of Hawai?i supports moratoria on GE taro and coffee
Supports S.B.958 S.D.1 H.D.1 to Impose a Ten-Year Moratorium on Developing, Testing, Propagating, Cultivating, Growing, and Raising of Genetically Modified Taro
Supports H.B.1577 H.D.1 to Temporarily Prohibit the Growing of Genetically Modified Coffee for a Period of Five Years and, at the Same Time, Permit Research in an Environmentally Secure Facility
28.01.2008
Milk label food fight moving to Indiana (USA)
While consumers were savoring a victory in Pennsylvania over dairy labels, Indiana has quietly introduced legislation that would stop farmers from telling consumers whether artificial hormones have been used in the production of their dairy products. It?s the same issue that raised such a grass-roots ruckus in Pennsylvania last week that the Governor had to step in to stop a labeling ban that was set for February first. Labels are the only way consumers can learn whether their dairy products have been produced with the use of the controversial milk hormone rbGH or rBST, commercially known as Posilac and made by Monsanto.
- Injury Board, USA (25.01.2008): Milk label food fight moving to Indiana
- WBIR-TV Knoxville, USA (23.01.2008): Burchett wants labels on genetically altered food
- Press of Atlantic City, USA (24.01.2008): Studies show synthetic hormones are a risk for humans
- Press of Atlantic City, USA (24.01.2008): No need for hormone labels
25.01.2008
GTC Biotherapeutics (USA) warned on low stock price
Framingham-based GTC Biotherapeutics Inc. has been warned that if its stock doesn?t climb to $1, it could be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market stock exchange. [...] GTC develops a protein treatment for blood clots in the milk of genetically modified goats. The company?s stock was trading at 80 cents a share this morning.
25.01.2008
Clone ruling expected to boost U.S. firms
Biotech start-ups that copy livestock could see their first profits with the FDA finding the meat and milk safe. [...] Cyagra is one of three privately held biotech start-ups making clones of genetically superior livestock for thousands of dollars apiece. In the coming years, they hope the rest of the U.S. -- and the world -- will join them in dining on steaks, pork chops and ice cream derived from animals conceived in their laboratories.
25.01.2008
Californian biotechnology industry up but uncertain
California?s biotechnology industry is growing steadily, but the looming possibility of increased government oversight could stifle new drug development, according to an industry-supported report set for release Thursday. The California Healthcare Institute reported that biotech businesses and research generated $73 billion in revenue in 2006 in California, up nearly 20 percent from 2005.
Including medical device and diagnostics firms, California biotech companies brought in just over 40 percent of the $7.4 billion in biotech venture capital.
25.01.2008
India may turn big producer of GM rice, vegetables by 2010
India has the potential to become a major producer of transgenic rice and several genetically modified (GM) or engineered vegetables by 2010, according to a research report by Rabo India Finance Ltd on the Indian agri-biotech sector. It has emerged as one of the leading destinations for investment in biotechnology in the recent years. It is also emerging as an important destination for both biomarkers and validation services, the report said.
25.01.2008
BASF and Chinese National Institute of Biological Sciences cooperate in plant biotechnology
BASF Plant Science and the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing (NIBS) today announced a cooperation and licensing agreement in biotechnology. It is the first cooperation to be made by BASF Plant Science in the People?s Republic of China and focuses on increasing yield in staple crops such as corn, soybeans and rice. ?Asia is emerging as a key player in plant biotechnology both in research and cultivation and we are striving to intensify partnerships in this dynamic region. Europe, on the contrary, is losing its competitiveness due to slow and contradictory political decisions,? said Dr. Hans Kast, President and CEO of BASF Plant Science.
25.01.2008
Controversial proposals to end hunger in Africa expected at WEF gathering
The Business Alliance Against Chronic Hunger, which bands together the food giant Unilever, sportswear manufacturer Nike and express delivery firm TNT, argues that Africa is ?finally poised to bring about its own Green Revolution?, alluding to the increased agricultural production observed in Mexico and India between the 1940s and 1960s. It then infers that companies promoting biofuels and biotechnology could play a leading role in such a ?revolution?. In a pilot project cited, the leading producer of genetically modified (GM) seeds, Monsanto, is aiming to increase maize harvests in the Siaya district of Kenya.
24.01.2008
Biotech critics challenging Monsanto GMO sugar beet
Opponents of biotech crops said on Wednesday they were filing a lawsuit to challenge the USDA?s deregulation of Monsanto Co?s genetically engineered sugar beet because of fears of ?biological contamination? and other harm to the environment. The Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club and two organic seed groups said the lawsuit involved the United States Department of Agriculture?s approval of Monsanto?s glyphosate-resistant sugar beet, which is engineered to withstand treatment of Monsanto?s Roundup herbicide.
- Reuters (23.01.2008): Biotech critics challenging Monsanto GMO sugar beet
- Capital Press, USA (23.01.2008): Group sues over genetically modified beet seed production
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, USA (24.01.2008): Activists sue to block plantings of Monsanto-developed sugar beets
- The Center for Food Safety, USA (24.01.2008): Farmers, consumer advocates conservationists challenge federal approval of genetically engineered beets
- Capital Press, USA (18.01.2008): Beet growers bet on Roundup
24.01.2008
Resistance rises against GM imports into Iceland
Icelanders are beginning to protest more forcefully against import of genetically modified food, leading the government to tighten regulations.
?We are the only European country that does not require food to be labelled if it contains genetically modified organisms,? Johannes Gunnarsson, chair of the Consumers? Association in Iceland told IPS. ?And of all European countries, it is Iceland that buys most from the U.S. -- products such as breakfast cereals and baby food.
24.01.2008
Bill seeking GMO ban in the Philippines filed
A bill seeking a ban on the entry of genetically modified organisms in the Philippines has been filed by party-list legislators, the House of Representatives said in a press release. House Bill 2224 proposes to prohibit the entry, processing, field testing and release of crops and food products containing GMO into and within the country and imposing penalties for its violation. The bill aims to keep the country?s food and agriculture free from GMO at this time when there are still unresolved questions on its possible adverse effects on human health and environment, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, one of the authors, said.
24.01.2008
British Crop Production Council calls for easing of restrictions on GM crops
EUROPEAN farmers must be given the tools to produce more food, if targets to feed a rapidly expanding world population are to be achieved. The alternative will be to source agricultural produce from the global market where the control of supply, quality and sustainable means of production will be limited. So says Dr Colin Ruscoe, of the British Crop Production Council, who believes politicians have seriously misjudged the true market situation in both the medium and longer term. He said: ?In 25 years, there will be an extra 1.7 billion mouths to feed and there are growing pressures already being placed upon Europe?s farmers, (who are] struggling to meet the demands placed upon them both by society and global competition.?
24.01.2008
Can we create GE-free zones in Canada?
This broadcast explores the English print media coverage in Canada throughout 2007 on the controversies surrounding genetically engineered foods. Why has Canada become such a willing host to GE foods whereas throughout most of the world, bans, moratoriums and watchful eyes keep genetically modified organisms off grocery store shelves? Host Jon Steinman looks to provide one answer by deconstructing some of the confusing language that the Canadian public is receiving from some of the most vocal and published proponents of GE foods.
24.01.2008
Biotech crops encroaching on table in South Korea
Though most people do not realize it, a large part of Koreans? staple food consists of genetically modified crop products. Environmentalists and consumer groups demand a total ban on growing and selling of such mutant crops, but biotechnology researchers, firms and the government say that they are safe to eat, and the production of the so-called GMO (genetically modified organism) products will inevitably increase.
23.01.2008
Tissue-culture banana not for small scale farmers, expert says
The practice of small- scale farming does not augur well with tissue culture banana, an expert at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute has said. Speaking to journalists who had visited the National Horticultural Centre based at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Thika, Dr Benjamin Chege said, for farmers to break even in high performing Tissue Culture (TC) banana, one needed to have a quarter of an acre on average, a minimum of 80 stems of bananas. The future of TC banana, says Chege, lies in reaching out to farmers in areas where farmers still possess large chunks of land. ?Central Province should not be in the equation?, he said.
- Africa Science News Service, Kenya (11.12.2007): TC Banana not for small scale farmers, expert says
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria (11.01.2008): New plantain and banana cultivars improve crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia (20.12.2007): GM bananas could solve panama plight
