NOFA/Massachusetts Social Action Center

Genetic Engineering News

August, 2008
compiled by Jack Kittredge
NOFA/Mass Social Action Coordinator

Monsanto Loses Claims For Roundup Ready Genes
On June 24, the Public Patent Foundation said that the U.S. patent office sided with it in its case against Monsanto, saying at least four patents should not have been granted because the gene technology was either not new or so obvious it wouldn't require patenting. "This is a significant decision," said Daniel Ravicher, executive director of the Washington nonprofit that is focused on rooting out undeserved patents and unsound patent policy. "Monsanto would be much more pleased if the patent office had found the patents were valid. "Instead, it found that every single claim is undeserved and invalid," he said. "It couldn't be going better for our challenge." Monsanto dismissed the findings, saying rejection is a standard part of any patent re-examination process and that it plans to ask for a reconsideration. "Our commercial products are covered by multiple patents that are not the subject of this re-examination," said Lee Quarles, spokesman. "This poses no threat to our business or our ability to deliver innovative technologies to farmers."

The patents in question are part of its Roundup Ready arsenal, a series of genes it patented to make crops immune to the herbicide. With the modified seed, farmers can spray Roundup over their crops and kill the weeds but not the crop.

"This poses a real serious challenge to Monsanto's intellectual property position on Roundup Ready crops," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety in Washington. ?He says the standards for issuing patents need stricter scrutiny, especially in molecular biology where the rush to capitalize on genetic breakthroughs leaves companies rushing to patent whole gene sequences before they know how useful they are. The problem, he said, is that it takes a lot of resources to mount a credible challenge because the patents are extremely technical. "We need folks to become aware that patents are being granted that are illegitimate," Freese said. "And how many more does Monsanto hold? source: Memphis Commercial Appeal, 25/07/2007
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_5643245,00.html 25.07.2007

Kroger Milk to Go rBST-Free
The Kroger Co., the 5th largest milk processor in the country (only Dean, Kraft, Land O'Lakes and Schreiber Foods are bigger), with an estimated $3 billion in sales in 2006, announced it will complete the transition of milk it processes and sells in its stores to a certified rBST-free supply by February 2008. The Company said its decision was based on customer feedback in the markets it serves.

"Our customers' increasing interest in their health and wellness is the basis for our decision," said William Boehm, senior vice president and president of manufacturing for Kroger. "We appreciate the willingness of dairy cooperatives across the country to work with us to make this transition in the next six months."

Recombinant bovine somatotropin ("rBST") is given to cows to help increase milk production. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded there is no difference between milk derived from cows treated with rBST and those that have not been treated.
source: PRNewswire-FirstCall, August 01, 2007

FDA Moving Toward Rules on Biotech Animal Products
Federal officials seem to be getting serious about ?drafting rules that would determine whether and how genetically engineered meat, milk and ?filets can safely enter the nation's food supply. Some scientists and biotechnology executives say that by having the Food?and Drug Administration spell out the ?rules of the game, big investors would finally be willing to put up money to create a market in so-called transgenic livestock. "Right now, it's very hard to get any corporate investment," said James D. Murray, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who developed ?goats with infection-fighting milk. "What studies do you need to ?do? What are they looking for?" he said, referring to government regulators. "That stuff's not there."

But some experts caution that even if the F.D.A. clears the regulatory path in coming months, investors and agribusiness companies might still ?shy away. Many fear that consumers would shun foods from transgenic animals, sometimes referred to as genetically modified organisms, or G.M.O.'s. "The companies we have spoken to have gone organic, and they are very ?concerned, at least up to the present time, of having G.M.O. associated ?with their name," said Cecil W. Forsberg, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Smithfield Foods, for one, the world's largest hog ?producer and pork processor, says it is doing no research on genetically engineered animals.

The federal guidelines would come after more than 15 years of talks and ?false starts at the F.D.A., a delay irking not only developers of the ?transgenic animals but also critics of biotechnology. "The fact that the agency has sat there for years staring this problem ?in the face and really hasn't come up with a clear way to regulate this ?is abdicating its responsibilities," said Joseph Mendelson, the legal ?director of the Center for Food Safety, a Washington advocacy group.

Even now, the F.D.A. will not say when the rules will be ready. We want to get it out, but we also want to get it right," said Julie ?Zawisza, a spokeswoman for the agency, which declined to make any other ?officials available for comment. Some industry executives and former and current government officials say ?one reason for the delay was that some government officials, in part because of a preference for fewer regulations, wanted less stringent ?rules than the F.D.A. is considering. Meanwhile, the biotechnology industry is actually pushing for the ?tougher standards. "Our overarching goal is to have public confidence in our products," said Barbara Glenn, the managing director for animal issues at the ?Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group. "We won't have that ?unless we have a very strong review process."

The F.D.A. is turning to transgenic animals after having tentatively declared in December that milk and meat from livestock that is cloned - but not otherwise genetically manipulated - was safe for people to eat.
source: New York Times, July 30, 2007

Maine Approves Bt Field Corn
Maine's Board of Pesticide Control has voted 6 to 0 to approve license applications from Dow, Pioneer, and Monsanto for genetically-engineered corn that contains the Bt toxin. The Board still is considering minor license requirements for the applicants, and may require other actions by the farmers who plant the corn. However, members essentially accepted the idea that there is a need for the corn and that the genetically engineered crop won't have unacceptable adverse impacts. This decision came despite 1700 opposing comments, and only 17 supporting comments. Here is some media coverage on the Bt hearing:
http://www.mpbn.net/radio/stories.html
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/4130296.html
http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=152545&zoneid=500
source: MOFGA Bulletin Board, July 30, 2007

Monsanto Misleads Over rBGH
Monsanto man Brian Robert Lowry has written to the US Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission complaining that consumers are being misled by the labeling of dairy companies that refrain from the use of its GM hormone rBGH. Monsanto says there is no difference between rBGH and rBGH-free milk. Now, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility has written to the same bodies pointing out why this scientifically untrue. Read on at
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8118

U.S: Group Wants to Block Pharma Rice Farm
The Center for Food Safety has asked the Kansas Department of Agriculture to block a water permit requested by Ventria Biosciences to grow GM pharma rice Junction City, Kansas. CFS says the rice crop could contaminate food supplies.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8135

Biotech Crop Sector Sets Standards
U.S. biotech crop companies have ?unveiled a plan for new industry standards at a time when the sector ?faces unfavorable court rulings and concerns that lax government oversight is allowing contamination of crops used in food and animal?feed. Leaders of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and executives with Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co., two biotech crop giants, said they ?hoped the plan, which includes third-party auditing, will help ?agricultural players around the world feel confident that biotech crop ?development is subject to stringent safety standards.

The action comes after a federal judge in May issued a landmark ruling ?overturning U.S. government approval for Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" ?biotech alfalfa, a crop used as animal fodder and modified to be ?resistant to herbicides. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of ?California found that the USDA acted illegally when it allowed unrestricted commercial planting of the crop without fully analyzing the ?environmental impact. The USDA for years has assured consumer groups and foreign governments ?that safety is a top concern for regulators. But at least three recent ?court rulings have found regulatory oversight lacking. And a report from ?USDA's Office of Inspector General warned in December 2005 of numerous ?holes in USDA oversight. USDA now has proposed a series of changes to make oversight of some ?biotech crop development projects more stringent.

Industry executives said on Wednesday that its program would work ?alongside government regulations. BIO will issue a "Quality Management ?Program Guide" on best practices for its 1,100 members, and others involved in agricultural biotechnology research and development. BIO also said it will adopt a third-party audit program designed to?confirm quality management systems and compliance.
source: Reuters, Jul 26, 2007

Kofi Annan - GMOs "Not The Solution to Food Crisis In Africa" ?
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), has ruled out the use of GMOs in the battle against food insecurity and poverty in Africa. source:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8110

India Bans GM Rice Imports
source: ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8101

Germany: Protesters Wreck 15,000 Square Meters of GM Maize
In a protest against Monsanto's GM maize, demonstrators wrecked about 15,000 square meters of the crop despite being confronted by a police helicopter and nearly 600 officers.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8129

Germany: GM Maize and Barley Trashed
Parts of a GM maize trial in Forchheim, Germany have been destroyed by activists. Parts of a GM barley trial on land belonging to the University of Giessen have also been destroyed.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8076

UK: Protesters Decontaminate Last Remaining GM Trial
A group of activists have destroyed the crop of GM potatoes at Girton, near Cambridge, Britain's last remaining GM trial site.
source: ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8087

Scotland to Maintain GM Moratorium
The new Scottish administration has declared its intention to "maintain a moratorium on the planting of GM crops in Scotland." There are now also parties involved in the new administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland that have long been opposed to GM crops. Meanwhile, the new government in the neighboring Republic of Ireland has committed itself to a vision of the whole island of Ireland being completely GM-free.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8120

Europe: Not Hungry for GM Potatoes
EU member states have rejected the latest application to grow GMOs in Europe, as the EU Agriculture Council failed to approve the commercial growing of a GM potato. There have now been no new GMOs grown in the EU for ten years. The European Commission is, however, expected to approve the potato by an undemocratic procedure known as comitology, in line with its pro-GM stance.
source: ?http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8075
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8112
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8137

Cyprus: Parliament Stands Firm On GM Bill
The Cypriot Parliament has refused to acknowledge a veto by President Tassos Papadopoulos on the stacking of products with GM content on separate supermarket shelves.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8102

France: Public Register for GMOs
France is setting up a national public register of land growing GM food crops.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8097

GM Potatoes Expelled From Andes
The government of Cusco, a region in the Peruvian Andes, has banned all GM varieties of potato. The area was the birthplace of many varieties, and is still home to thousands of kinds of potato.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8116
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8124

Sick Lab Rats Prompt South African Probe Into GM Maize
The South African government is assessing the safety of GM maize (NK603) after concern over its effect on laboratory rats that ate NK603 during a 90-day trial. A shocking report based on Monsanto's own data shows that rats fed the GM maize suffered liver and kidney toxicity and differences in weight gain between the sexes. NK603 is licensed in South Africa and is eaten in maize products such as mealie pap. source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8084

GMOs Being Forced Down Kenya's Throat
A campaign to persuade Kenyan farmers to grow GM maize, cotton and other crops is bankrolled by biotech multinationals, Kenya's daily paper The East African revealed.
source: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8090

This page was last modified on August 12, 2008 at 5:35:39 AM.