NOFA/Massachusetts Social Action Center
Genetic Engineering News
March 2009
compiled by Jack Kittredge
NOFA/Mass Social Action Coordinator
Scientists Condemn Using Children in GM Rice Trials
Material recently released on the US Clinical Trials web site confirms that Chinese children suffering from varying degrees of Vitamin A deficiency have been used in feeding trials conducted by Tufts University, contrary to the Nuremberg Code which underpins modern medical ethics. GM Free Cymru says, "First, children under the age of ten do not have the legal capacity to give informed consent prior to being used in these experiments. Second, it has in no case been demonstrated by Tufts University or the other participants that the results desired could not be obtained by other means of study. And third, the studies were not preceded by animal experiments which might have shown up hazards for the trial subjects." A formal letter of protest relating to a severe breach of medical ethics has been sent by 22 senior scientists to the Tufts University School of Medicine, together with a call for these GM feeding experiments to be terminated immediately.
source:http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
More rBGH Victories
Yoplait, the 19th largest dairy processor in the US, is going rBGH-free in response to customer demand. And the New England dairy industry will be rBGH-free by the end of summer 2009. Customers for rBGH farm milk in New York have decreased sharply, with only a handful of manufacturing plants left willing to receive product from producers employing the GM hormone.
source: http://lancasterfarming.com/node/1700
First Yoplait, Now Dannon
Less than a week after Yoplait announced it would be going rBGH-free, Dannon has indicated it will do the same. In response to a request in the wake of Yoplait's announcement, Dannon, responded with a much different statement than what they've been saying over the past few years. "The Dannon Company has been working towards its goal of using only milk (and all dairy ingredients) from cows not treated with rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin), a synthetic hormone that has been approved and declared safe for use by the FDA. We are well on our way to accomplishing this goal. Dannon intends that during the third quarter of 2009 its two largest plants will no longer use milk (or any dairy ingredients) from cows treated with rBST. The Company's third plant will follow shortly thereafter. Based on consumer preference, Dannon is also encouraging its suppliers to switch to milk sources that are 'rBST-free,' to support the move by the entirety of the dairy market and not just yogurt."
source: Campaign for Safe Food Email, February 20, 2009
American Cancer Society Changes its Stance on rBGH
The American Cancer Society has moved from saying rBGH was ok to a neutral stance: "The American Cancer Society (ACS) has no formal position regarding rBGH." Their old statement implied there was no harm to animals. Their new one says "The available evidence documents adverse health effects from rBGH on cows." Their old statement never mentioned increased antibiotic resistance. Their new one says: "The increased use of antibiotics to treat rBGH-induced mastitis does promote the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, although the extent to which these are transmitted to humans is unclear." And the new one cites Health Care Without Harm and that "The president of the American Medical Association has recommended that hospitals serve milk produced without the use of rBGH." The bottom line: No longer can rBGH apologists say the American Cancer Society supports rBGH.
source: Campaign for Safe Food Email, February 20, 2009, For the full statement, see:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Recombinant_Bovine_Growth_Hormone.asp?sitearea=PED
South Korea Won't Import GM Corn
Corn processors in South Korea will not import genetically modified corn for food use this year after grain prices fell and as consumers shun GM foods. Civic groups are renewing calls for tougher rules on the notification of products containing GMOs following the discovery of the use of powdered GM beans in products of a leading food maker.
source: http://greenbio.checkbiotech.org/news/south_korea_not_use_gm_corn
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/117_38830.html
Genetically Engineered Food a Potential Threat to Fertility
A study published by the Austrian government identified serious health threats of genetically engineered (GE) crops. In one of the very few long-term feeding studies ever conducted with GE crops, the fertility of mice fed with GE maize was found to be severely impaired, with fewer offspring being produced than by mice fed on natural crops. The study, sponsored by the Austrian Ministries for Agriculture and Health, was presented at a scientific seminar in Vienna, Austria. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zentek, Professor for Veterinary Medicine at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study, summarized the findings: Mice fed with GE maize had less offspring in the third and fourth generations, and these differences were statistically significant. Mice fed with non-GE maize reproduced more efficiently. This effect can be attributed to the difference in the food source.
source: http://www.bmgfj.gv.at
The Hidden Dangers of Roundup
Natural News has a good article with scientific references on the dangers of Roundup. Included is the recent French research, which showed that Roundup is toxic to human cells and causes cellular death "at lower concentration levels than would be normally found in plants and in animal feed". Amazingly, Monsanto continues to advertise Roundup as "safe" and "biodegradable" in some countries.
source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025534.html ?The recent French research:
http://www.criigen.org/images/stories/nosdossiers/roundup/pressrelease_rup_0109.pdf
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx800218n
GM Cotton - Hungry Insects, Resistant Weeds and Shrinking Acreage
Gus Lorenz, University of Arkansas entomologist, noted that GM cotton producers are learning to deal with "extremely high numbers of pests" and Roundup resistant weeds: "The spread of resistance was almost overnight". Lorenz said, "Resistant Palmer pigweed is part of the driving force for our cotton acres decreasing in my part of the Mid-South."
source: http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton/beltwide-insects-0202/
Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research
Biotechnology companies are keeping university scientists from fully researching the effectiveness and environmental impact of the industry's genetically modified crops, according to an unusual complaint issued by a group of those scientists. "No truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions," the scientists wrote in a statement submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The problem, the scientists say, is that farmers and other buyers of genetically engineered seeds have to sign an agreement meant to ensure that growers honor company patent rights and environmental regulations. But the agreements also prohibit growing the crops for research purposes. So while university scientists can freely buy pesticides or conventional seeds for their research, they cannot do that with genetically engineered seeds. Instead, they must seek permission from the seed companies. And sometimes that permission is denied or the company insists on reviewing any findings before they can be published, they say.
What is striking is that the scientists issuing the protest, who are mainly from land-grant universities with big agricultural programs, say they are not opposed to the technology. Rather, they say, the industry's chokehold on research means that they cannot supply some information to farmers about how best to grow the crops. And, they say, the data being provided to government regulators is being "unduly limited." The companies "have the potential to launder the data, the information that is submitted to E.P.A.," said Elson J. Shields, a professor of entomology at Cornell.
source: The New York Times, February 19, 2009
US Wants to Block GM Imports
The US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) wants to block imports of GMOs into the US -- after a decade of exporting its own GM crops all over the world. It gives three reasons: the foreign GMOs would threaten agriculture in the US; they may affect the health of US citizens; and they may affect the environment. Interestingly, these are similar to objections raised against the US's own GM products.
source: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
New Non-GM Flood Tolerant Rice
A new flood-tolerant rice developed at the University of California-Davis is being touted on pro-GM websites and listservs as a triumph for GM. In a pattern that's becoming all too familiar, the rice actually was not developed through GM - despite efforts to do so - but through marker assisted breeding.
source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/01/29/waterproof.rice/index.html?eref=i b_topstories
'Non-GM biotechnology is the future' - quotes from scientists:
http://www.bangmfood.org/quotes/24-quotes/32-non-gm-biotechnology-is-the-future
Maasai Milk Tolerance Gene to be Patented
Maasai tribesmen and women may not know it, but they are at the centre of a global scientific controversy over a patent application for their genetic capacity to drink lots of milk. The row broke out a fortnight ago when South African researchers complained that the University of Maryland had patented gene mutations collected from Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan and South Africa. The application, filed in 2007 and published last year, records Prof Sarah Tishkoff - then with the University of Maryland - and Floyd Allan Reed as the inventors and sole applicants.
Although almost everybody feeds on milk as a baby, after being weaned a gene that helps in digesting lactose, a sugar found in dairy products, switches off denying many adults the capacity to digest or tolerate milk. The Maasai, like those from some other pastoral communities, were found to have a gene mutation that allows for higher milk tolerance.
Using advanced biotechnology Prof Tishkoff, who has since moved to University of Pennsylvania, and Floyd Reed developed a process which could be exploited for industrial purposes. It is this process that is being patented. Theoretically the new discovery could lead to new medical diagnostic kits to identify those with milk taking disorders or perhaps develop enzymes that could remove milk intolerance. When contacted by the Nation, Dr Tishkoff said the application was not made for any commercial gains but to protect the invention from intellectual property prospectors.
source: Daily Nation (Nairobi), March 1, 2009, http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/540420/-/u31ino/-/
FDA to Approve GE Salmon "Soon"
Aqua Bounty Farms in Fortune, in eastern Prince Edwards Island, has been waiting for more than a decade for United States approval of its genetically engineered. If the company gets the nod from the Food and Drug Administration, its salmon will be the world's first on the market. FDA officials visited P.E.I. last fall to get a first-hand look at the facility in Fortune. A spokesperson from FDA wouldn't tell CBC News much about the application, but when asked how long before the salmon might be approved, the answer was "soon."
The advantage Aqua Bounty's fish offers fish farmers is the speed with which it grows. It normally takes about three years to raise Atlantic salmon on a fish farm, but with the addition of a couple of genes from the cold-water Chinook salmon, Aqua Bounty's fish grow twice as fast. The breeder is hoping to sell its eggs and smolts to other fish farms in North America.
source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/02/10/pe-aquabounty-salmon.html
GM Crops 'Give Lower Yields'
Genetically modified crops are more accepted in the United States than anywhere else. But GM crops have been a "spectacular under-performer" in terms of yields, according to Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Recent yield gains are just as likely to result from conventional breeding techniques as they are from genetic engineering, he says.
"The historic trend for corn is an average improvement in yield of about 1% per year, which doesn't sound like much but it adds up over time," Mr. Guarian-Sherman told BBC's Business Daily. "If you take the 13 years that Bt (genetically engineered) traits have been commercialized, they've probably only added a couple per cent to yield. "That's only a small fraction of what we continue to do with means other than genetic engineering," he added.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7866687.stm
EU Environment Ministers Vote to Uphold Ban on Biotech Crops
European Union governments have delivered a blow to the biotechnology industry, allowing Austria and Hungary to maintain national bans on growing genetically modified crops from Monsanto. The vote, taken by European environment ministers, could irritate the U.S. government, which has in the past complained to the World Trade Organization about obstacles to planting bioengineered crops. The vote also was a blow to the European Commission, the EU executive arm. The commission has sought in recent years to ease the restrictions in Europe on gene-altered crops, in part to keep down the cost of animal feed.
In 2003, the United States, Argentina and Canada brought complaints about the EU's biotechnology policies at the WTO, which ruled in 2006 that a de facto ban on imports of genetically modified foods between 1984 and 2004 violated trade rules. Since that ruling, the commission has required Austria to drop its ban on imports of genetically modified foods. But some other countries have maintained bans on imports and cultivation of such crops, and the United States still could impose punitive duties on the Europeans for continuing to block trade.
The market for genetically engineered crops is worth several billion dollars worldwide. Only one genetically altered crop is currently grown in Europe: a form of corn, called MON 810, produced by Monsanto and other companies.
source: International Herald Tribune, March 2, 2009
Biotech Industry Fakes Growth of GM Crops in Europe
A new report by Friends of the Earth International revealed the failure of GM crops around the world, and how statistics showing their increase in Europe have been manipulated. The new 'Who Benefits from GM Crops?' 2009 report exposes inconsistencies in how the European biotech lobby group EuropaBio has reported the total area planted to GM crops. The group inflated the figures by almost a quarter in 2008 to mask an actual decline. The misleading numbers are used by companies to make GM farming appear more widespread than it really is. In reality public opposition and safety-conscious European governments mean that planting of GM crops in Europe has decreased every year since 2005 with an overall drop of 35 per cent.
source: Full report: http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/Who_Benefits/full_report_2009.pdf
Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51A2US20090211
EU States Cannot Cover Up GM Trial Sites - Court
European Union member states cannot cover up the location of sites where GMOs have been released, even if they fear that the information could provoke public disorder, the EU's highest court - the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg - decided in a February 17 ruling. The ruling came in a case that had been going on for nearly 5 years after authorities in Alsace refused to reveal the locations of GM field trials for fear of attacks on the sites.
source: http://tiny.cc/7xXNI
EU Commission Fails to Get EU Countries' Support to Lift GM Bans
Experts from Europe's 27 member states have failed to agree whether France and Greece should be forced to drop national bans on the growing of GM crops. Both countries have banned the only GM crop authorized for cultivation in the European Union - Monsanto's GM maize, MON 810. Last month the European Commission issued a proposal for the bans to be overturned but in December 2008, all twenty seven EU Environment Ministers unanimously concluded that there are weaknesses in the GMO approval process, and that risk assessment requirements are not being met.
source: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
Good article on the decision:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/19/gm
Largest Wave of Suicides in History
In India, the number of farmers who have committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2007 now stands at a staggering 182,936, says an article by the award winning development journalist, P. Sainath. Farmer suicides between 2002-07 were worse than for the years 1997-2001. Bt cotton was introduced in 2002. Water stress has been a common feature, and gets worse with the use of technologies such as Bt seed, points out Sainath.
source: ?http://www.counterpunch.org/sainath02122009.html
Indian Government Delays Marketing Of Bt Brinjal
With new scientific studies now finding GM foods not safe for human consumption, the government has put a "temporary halt" on the commercialization of Bt brinjal (eggplant), a move prompted by the Supreme Court's special representative at the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, Dr Pushpa Bhargava. Dr Bhargava said, "I have fears that there are vested interests. Any study that does not suit them [is] just dismissed."
source: ?http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-halts-marketing-of-genetically-modified-food-cro p/84083-11.html
New Study Confirms GM Contamination of Mexican Maize
Genes from GM corn have escaped into wild varieties in rural Mexico, a new study says. The study confirms the findings of David Quist and Ignacio Chapela, who in 2001 reported finding transgenes from GM corn in traditional varieties in Oaxaca, Mexico. ??When Nature published the original Quist and Chapela paper in 2001, they came under an immediate firestorm of abuse from pro-GM scientists directly orchestrated by Monsanto and its internet PR firm Bivings. (http://ngin.tripod.com/deceit_index.html).?But now, Elena Alvarez-Buylla of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City and her team have backed Quist and Chapela's claim. They found transgenes in about 1 per cent of nearly 2000 samples they took from the region (Molecular Ecology, Vol 18, No. 4, pp. 750-761).
source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121577870/abstract ?http://tiny.cc/DE01p
Super Cassava to Enter Field Trials
An ambitious attempt to bioengineer cassava into a "complete meal" took a step forward last week with the approval of field trials for the plant by Nigeria's National Biosafety Committee. The genetically modified cassava contains 30 times as much beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, as its normal counterpart. ?Ultimately it is hoped the cassava will contain increased levels of ?iron, protein, zinc and vitamin E that will meet the minimum daily allowance in a 500 gram meal. "This is one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted in a major crop plant," said Richard Sayre of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, Missouri.
Some 250 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa - and 800 million people globally - rely on cassava as their main source of energy. But it is low in nutrients, vulnerable to plant viruses, and it lasts only two days ?without processing. ?As well as adding extra nutrients, the team has successfully produced ?varieties with increased virus resistance, decreased amounts of poisonous cyanides - which can remain in cassava if the crop is poorly processed - and a longer shelf life.
The next stage is confined field trials - small-scale field trials to evaluate the performance of the crop under stringent conditions. If those succeed, there will be nutrition trials, first in animals and then in humans. The ?first product with multiple traits is likely to contain just elevated vitamin A, iron and protein as well as virus resistance.?" To add the other four is going to be technologically more challenging," said Sayre.
source: 19.feb.09 ?SciDev Net ?Aisling Irwin
?http://www.scidev.net/en/news/-super-cassava-to-enter-field-trials.html
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