NOFA/Massachusetts Social Action Center

Genetic Engineering News

July 12, 2007
compiled by Jack Kittredge
NOFA/Mass Social Action Coordinator

Many Testify on 3 Anti-GMO Bills
Over a dozen farmers, consumers, and scientists testified on Monday, July 9, at a Massachusetts legislative hearing on 3 bills limiting agricultural biotechnology in the Bay State. Combined with another dozen or so testifying for a bill to have the state withdraw from the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) the afternoon-long hearing was dominated by grass-roots energy and small farmers and their advocates. You can read some of the excellent press and media coverage of this event at the NOFA/Mass pressroom

Rat Study on GM Maize Indicates Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity
A rat showed signs of hepatorenal toxicity after eating genetically modified maize developed by U.S. chemical giant ?Monsanto Co., a French research team said in an article published in the ?electronic edition of a U.S. science journal, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicity. The researchers re-analyzed data provided by Monsanto on the health risk ?assessment of its genetically modified maize, called MON863, which incorporates anti-soil toxin genes. "We observed that after the consumption of MON863, rats showed slight ?but dose-related significant variations in growth for both sexes, ?resulting in 3.3 percent decrease in weight for males and 3.7 percent ?increase for females," the study says. "Chemistry measurements reveal signs of hepatorenal toxicity, marked ?also by differential sensitivities in males and females." Monsanto's MON863 maize has already been approved as food and feed in ?the United States, the European Union and Japan.
Source: Kyodo News International, Inc., June 14, 2007

Study Concludes That Pesticides are Cutting Crop Yields by As Much as One-Third
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has a history of shaking up quiet fields of science by publishing surprising results and novel experiments. A June 12, 2007 PNAS study fits the bill and projects that pesticides and other soil contaminants are reducing crop yields by about one-third because of impaired nitrogen fixation and plant signaling. The most widely used pesticide in the United States - glyphosate (Roundup) - is known to be directly toxic to a number of soil microorganisms, including some responsible for nitrogen fixation.
Source: Jeffrey Smith Email, 7/10/07

New Report on GM Yields and Impacts
A new report which it is hoped will feed into EU policy on GMOs has been compiled by FoE, Greenpeace, IFOAM and others. "Agricultural biotechnology: yield, competitiveness, jobs and environmental impact" can be read at ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8059

GM and Non-GM Crops Too Close, Study Says
Field trials could be seriously underestimating the potential for cross-pollination between GM and conventional crops and buffer zone distances may be too small, according to new research from the University of Exeter in the UK.
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7959 ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7957 ??

"Junk" DNA Highly Active
Large swathes of the genome, previously dismissed as "junk DNA" because it was thought to serve no practical purpose, have been found to be highly active. The findings highlight how scientists have become so blinded by the importance of genes that the role of other parts of the genome have gone unappreciated. ?
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8021
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8073

Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops In the U.S.
This data product summarizes the extent of adoption of herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant genetically engineered crops in the United States. Data cover GE varieties of corn, cotton, and soybeans over the 2000-2007 period, by State. ??Released Thursday, July 5, 2007 ??See http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/

Attack of the Mutant Rice
An excellent report from Fortune magazine on the US rice contamination disaster is at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8060 ?EXCERPT: "This is the most traumatic thing I've seen in the rice industry in 30 years," says Darryl Little, director of the Arkansas State Plant Board. "It's been devastating."

US Fast Track Expires With No Hope of Fast Renewal
President Bush's fast track authority expired on midnight of 30 June. This means that he no longer has the power to negotiate trade deals in the knowledge that there is a reasonable chance for the deals to be adopted by the US Congress. The Democrats that control Congress and the Senate have announced that a new fast track authority will not be granted soon, and that they would not approve two bilateral free trade agreements that the administration has already concluded, under the old fast track authority, with South Korea and Colombia. These three blows to the President's trade policy authority means that the wind will be taken out of current negotiations that the US is conducting, or hoping to conduct, on bilateral FTAs with countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. There will also be a negative effect on the World Trade Organisation's Doha negotiations because other WTO members would now be uncertain whether any positions put forward by or agreed to by the US can be sustained once the agreement goes up before the Congress.
Source: Third World Network, 6 July 2007, www.twnside.org.sg

Bill Protects Wild Rice
A law sought by Minnesota tribes to protect native wild rice from genetic alterations was signed earlier this month by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "We were the first state in the United States to pass protection against genetic modification of a native crop, a native species" says Assistant House Majority Leader Frank Moe, DFL-Bemidji. The law mandates that a formal environmental impact statement be done for a proposed release and a permit for a release of genetically engineered wild rice. The state Environmental Quality Board may deny, modify, suspend or revoke a permit. Importantly, the law also calls for the state Department of Natural Resources to conduct a natural wild rice study that includes: The current location and estimated acreage and area of natural stands of wild rice, the potential threats to natural stands, including development pressure, water levels, pollution, invasive species and genetically engineered strains, and recommendations to the Legislature on protecting and increasing natural wild rice stands in the state. Input must be gained from the state's wild rice industry, the commissioner of agriculture, local officials with significant areas of wild rice within their jurisdictions, tribal leaders within affected federally recognized tribes and interested citizens. The study's report is due to the Legislature by Feb. 15. "Wild rice is not only historically and economically important for all Minnesotans, it's sacred to the Ojibwe people," Moe says. "It's both important food for us and prime fish and duck habitat. We need to study the declining wild rice population and protect against any genetic damage to native wild rice."
Source: Bemidji Pioneer, May 29, 2007

UK: Protesters Make Britain GM-Free Again
During the night of Friday 6th July, a group of protesters converged on Britain's last remaining GM trial site just outside Cambridge. They scaled the security fences and destroyed the crop of genetically modified potatoes. A similar trial planned in Hull was abandoned earlier this year after a strong campaign and massive concern from nearby farmers. With the destruction of the Cambridge crop, Britain is once again GM free. ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8087 ??

Greece Extends Biotech Ban
Greece has extended for two more years a ban on GM maize seed MON810. Source:?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8057 ??

Ireland Aims To Become GM-Free
In Ireland, following the Green Party agreement to form a coalition government with Fianna Fail, the two parties revealed their policy "to negotiate for the whole island of Ireland to become a GMO-free zone." ?
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8008

Brazil: Judge Bans Bayer's GM Corn
A federal judge has banned the use of Bayer's GM corn 506285.BY a month after federal biosafety agents approved the product for retail sale. The judge also blocked the official biosafety agency, CTNBio, from approving Monsanto and Syngenta GM corn. ?
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8029 ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8065 ??

Russia's Duma Drafts GM Food Ban Bill
The Security Committee of the Russian Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly) has drafted a bill banning the production and sale of GM food.
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8031

South Africa: Monsanto Nailed for Lying
Monsanto has been ordered to withdraw an advertising claim that no negative reactions have been reported to GM foods. South Africa's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) made the ruling in response to a consumer complaint lodged against a Monsanto South Africa print ad, after Monsanto failed to come up with evidence to substantiate its claim. ?
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8033 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8052

Eucalyptus Tapped as Next Tree Genome to be Sequenced
An ambitious international effort has been launched to decode the genome of Eucalyptus, one of the world's most valuable fibre and paper-producing trees, with the goal to maximize its potential in the burgeoning bioenergy market and for capturing excess atmospheric carbon. The DNA sequence of the 600-million-nucleotide tree genome will be generated under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE-JGI) Community Sequencing Program (CSP) and the information will be made freely available over the Worldwide Web.

"Sequencing the Eucalyptus genome will help us overcome many of the major obstacles toward achieving a sustainable energy future," said Alexander Myburg of the University of Pretoria, leader of the effort. "Embedded in this information is the molecular circuit map for superior growth and adaptation in woody plants that can be optimized for biomass production." The genus Eucalyptus, comprised of over 700 different species, include some of the fastest growing woody plants in the world and, at approximately 18 million hectares in 90 countries, it is one of the most widely planted genus of plantation forest trees in the world. These trees evolved in the Southern Hemisphere quite separately from Northern Hemisphere tree species.
Source: http://www.checkbiotech.org/green_News_Genetics.aspx?Name=genetics&infoId=15053, July 4, 2007

New GM Rules Could Push Up Organic Food Prices in UK
EU agriculture ministers last week agreed that food accidentally contaminated with up to 0.9% GM content could be labeled "GM free". But the Soil Association and Organic Farmers And Growers, which together certify more than 90% of the UK's organic food, pledged to keep their own criteria at the current 0.1 per cent. It wants GM firms to foot the bill for clearing up any future contamination of organic produce above the 0.1 per cent threshold. ?
Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8034

Brazil's Landless Call Lula Tragedy for Country
"Lula is the biggest political tragedy in the history of Brazil," says Jose Maria Tardin, who was elected the first mayor of the Party which President Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva heads. Tardin now works in the Brazilian Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) and his view of Lula is shared by most MST members. Before he became president, Lula famously declared that it would be insanity for Brazil to adopt GM crops. The MST is raising support for the Via Campesina's occupation of the Syngenta corporation's experimental site in the state of Parana, which was taken over by the movement on March 14th, 2006 after Syngenta illegally planted GM soy there. ? Source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8026

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