Actualité
29.10.2008
Arcadia Biosciences receives USD 15 mill to complete launch of GE safflower oil
Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company focused on developing technologies and products that benefit the environment and human health, said today that it has raised $15 million in financing from its current investors. The transaction was led by Exeter Life Sciences, with full participation of other key shareholders including CMEA Ventures, BASF Venture Capital America Inc., and Saints Capital. The company will use proceeds from the financing to fund and complete the launch of Arcadia’s GLA Safflower Oil – the company’s first commercial product – and to accelerate development of new technologies with enhanced agricultural traits.
- Arcadia Biosciences, USA (28.10.2008): Arcadia Biosciences announces $15 million funding to support commercial product development and expansion of agricultural biotechnology offerings
- BASF, Germany (17.10.2008): BASF Plant Science and University of Manitoba announce licensing agreement on promising plant biotechnology discovery
29.10.2008
Broader financial turmoil threatens biotech’s innovation and cash
So many biotechnology companies talk about ”extending the runway” these days, you might think they had entered the airline business. But for them, runway refers to the time before a company runs out of money. And with financial markets in turmoil, the runways are looking dangerously short for many small biotechnology companies. A biotech crash, if it comes, could threaten an industry that plays a vital role in turning scientific advances into usable medicines. [...] SemBioSys, which hopes to use genetically engineered safflowers as a low-cost way to produce insulin and other drugs, said last week it would cut about 30 workers, or more than 40 percent of its work force. Even so, the company’s cash might last only until the middle of next year, Mr. Baum said.
29.10.2008
European Nordic Council urges governments to allow GMO-free zones
Setting up GMO-free zones in the Nordic countries could give the region a competitive advantage by producing organic GMO-free products. Moreover it will give the Nordic consumers the opportunity to make conscious consumer choices, as long as the products they buy are properly labelled. Therefore, the Nordic Council at its Session in Helsinki on Wednesday 29 October agreed that the Nordic governments should report on the opportunities for tightening current norms and regulations for the labelling of GMO products.
29.10.2008
Nebraska Univeristy (USA) may have role in convincing EU to embrace GE crops
Europeans may be on the verge of reassessing their long-held resistance to genetically modified crops, and Nebraska could play a role in that shift, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln plant geneticist said. Sally MacKenzie, who directs UNL’s Center for Plant Science Innovation, recently returned from trip to Brussels, Belgium, as part of a delegation led by Gov. Dave Heineman. The trip came at the invitation of Neil Parish, chairman of the European Union’s agriculture committee, who visited Nebraska last spring.
29.10.2008
EFSA overcharged and undervalued - Science Director resigned
Herman Koëter recently resigned as Science Director with the European Food Safety Authority passing fierce criticism on the organisation. According to Koëter EFSA is seriously overcharged, while political preferences of the European Commission more and more are reflected in research questions. Koëter says that the head of EFSA, Frenchwoman Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, is too much influenced by politicians and industry.
29.10.2008
Italian researchers breed non-GE high-anthocyanin tomato
Italian researches from School of advanced studies Sant’Anna, University of Pisa, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and University of Tuscia have launched a brand new tomato, being part of the ”Tom – Anto” research project. [...] This new tomato has been called ”Sun Black”. Its pulp is still of red color and it tastes just like a traditional tomato. Sun Black is not a GM product and it is very healthy, thanks to the anti-oxidant properties of anthocyanins.
28.10.2008
Australian Banana Growers Council oppose GE bananas
”We don’t believe the Australian consumer is ready to take onboard and buy and be satisfied with a GM-based banana,” [Tony Heidrich from the Australian Banana Growers Council] said. ”Until such time where we believe there is market acceptance out there, then we would not support its commercialisation.”
28.10.2008
Australian-first GM grass trial to start
Genetically modified pasture grass that is more nutritious and easier for stock to digest is set to be trialled in Victoria in an Australian first. Field trials of up to 500 lines of grasses will start in Hamilton, in western Victoria, following approval from the Federal Gene Technology Regulator. The trials will be undertaken by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and the grasses will not be commercially released.
28.10.2008
Kenyan Bt maize project to audit performance, set for regional trials
The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA), project that began in 1999 is to table their results on Bt maize experimental findings [...]. The meeting will then give the way forward particularly on expanding the experiment to other countries. The crucial issue for discussion would be how to avoid repeating the same procedures should the Bt maize tried in Kenya be taken across the borders to other countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA.
28.10.2008
Drought resistance is the goal, but methods differ
Monsanto will not say exactly what genes it is using, or in which species they originated. But one approach involves transcription factors, which are like master regulators, able to turn on dozens of other genes to orchestrate a plant’s response to lack of water. But with so many downstream genes activated, there could be other effects on the plants besides less need for water. At a recent biotechnology conference, a university researcher showed a photograph of a cotton plant with an inserted gene for a transcription factor. The plant was missing most of its leaves. No single approach is likely to suffice for all types of dry conditions. ”Probably no one has found the magic gene yet,” said Jian-Kang Zhu, a professor of plant biology at the University of California, Riverside. ”Probably there is no magic gene.”
28.10.2008
Restrict Indian GM food import without examination
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to restrict the import of genetically-modified food stuffs containing living modified organisms without examining their contents. A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a regulatory body under the ministry of environment and forests, would scientifically examine the genetically-modified food stuffs and crops before allowing their sale in the country.
28.10.2008
Protests sprout ahead of new field trials of India’s first GM foodcrop
A vegetable is at the centre of a row in Orissa as it is likely to become the first genetically-modified (GM) foodcrop to be permitted for commercial production in the country. While anti-GM activists in the state and elsewhere are furious at the insufficient data on the safety aspects of the crop, Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) brinjal seeds are likely to be sown in Orissa sometime next month as part of the countrywide field trials of Varanasi-based Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR).
27.10.2008
Australian company challenges universities using patented breast cancer gene for testing
The Federal Government says it’s extremely worried about the threat by a private company to restrict the use of a genetic test for breast cancer. The Melbourne-based company Genetic Technologies owns the patent to test for two breast cancer genes and it has told public hospitals that it will take legal action if they don’t stop conducting the test. But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating whether this contravenes the law.
27.10.2008
Food labelling review on its way in Australia
The Food Regulation Ministerial Council meeting in Adelaide today vowed to commission a sweeping review of food labelling after being urged by scientists to crack down on unlabelled genetically modified food. West Australian Minister for Agriculture Terry Redman said consumers should be able to make informed decisions when purchasing food ”with the ability to choose GM or non GM food based on clear and unambiguous labelling”. [...] Fifteen Australian and international scientists wrote an open letter to the ministers putting the case for further independent testing of GM food in Australia and an expansion of the labelling laws.
27.10.2008
UK National Farmers Union calls for more scientific research including GM
The report launched before 70 MPs at the House of Commons called on government ”to recognise the need of productive and efficient agriculture as an important goal for scientific research and development and not focus on environmental mitigation as its sole objective.” Dr Helen Ferrier, the author of the report, said this included research into genetically modified crops. She said it was one of ”the weapons in the armoury” in boosting output particularly given the challenges of climage change and increased demand for food.
27.10.2008
French Development Agency supports GE and organic cotton project in West Africa
The French Development Agency has granted US$ 4.5 million to the African Cotton Producers Association (APROCA) to support the development of the genetically-modified (GM) and organic cotton in West and Central Africa, a French diplomatic source has said. [...] It will further help devise a regional strategy in an attempt to strengthen and expand GM and organic cotton sub-industries according to the demand and ensure their leverage effect in promoting the Africa cotton and its competitiveness and professionalise farmers’ organisations.
27.10.2008
GM tomatoes may ward off cancer – shame they’re purple
Scientists have created tomatoes genetically modified to produce antioxidants that could help people to improve their diet and health. The tomatoes are being heralded as the first GM product to offer health benefits to consumers. [...] The research, to be published in Nature Biotechnology, was part-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, funded by the British government. ”This is one of the first examples of a GM organism with a trait that really offers a potential benefit for all consumers,” said Martin, who now plans to test the tomatoes on humans.
- The Times, UK (26.10.2008): GM tomatoes may ward off cancer – shame they’re purple
- Reuters, UK (26.10.2008): Scientists develop cancer fighting purple tomato
- Eurekalert News, USA (26.10.2008): Purple tomatoes: The richness of antioxidants against tumors
- Cattle Network, USA (05.11.2008): Attack on the «anti-cancer” tomatoes
- GMO-Compass, Germany (30.10.2008): Purple GM tomatoes could fight cancer and increase lifespan
27.10.2008
Europe’s secret plan to boost GM crop production
Gordon Brown and other European leaders are secretly preparing an unprecedented campaign to spread GM crops and foods in Britain and throughout the continent, confidential documents obtained by The Independent on Sunday reveal. The documents – minutes of a series of private meetings of representatives of 27 governments – disclose plans to ”speed up” the introduction of the modified crops and foods and to ”deal with” public resistance to them. And they show that the leaders want ”agricultural representatives” and ”industry” – presumably including giant biotech firms such as Monsanto – to be more vocal to counteract the ”vested interests” of environmentalists.
25.10.2008
Critics warn of corporate grab on plant life
A new 12-page report from ETC Group, ”Commodifying Nature’s Last Straw? Extreme Genetic Engineering and the Post-Petroleum Sugar Economy,” warns that corporate biorefineries fueled by plant sugars will create a massive demand for agricultural feedstocks, which threatens to devastate marginalized farming communities, deplete soil and water, and destroy biodiversity. ETC Group is an international advocacy group based in Canada that monitors the social impacts of new technologies
25.10.2008
Yo! No GMOs!
Like the 600 or so other co-ops that flourish across Japan -- providing food to more than 22 million people nationwide -- SCCC is dedicated to offering wholesome, non-GM foods at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, as my visitors explained, it is becoming increasingly difficult to purchase non-GM feed corn, so they traveled to the U.S. to meet with Midwestern farmers in hopes of securing feed contracts. Although supplies of non-GM feed corn have decreased in recent years, there is renewed hope for those not wanting to consume foods from GM-fed livestock and poultry. Research suggests that the trend among U.S. farmers to grow GM livestock feed is decreasing.
