Guest guest Posted September 2, 2005 Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 WEEKLY WATCH 139 " GM WATCH " <info Thu, 1 Sep 2005 22:06:36 +0100 --------------------------- WEEKLY WATCH number 139 --------------------------- --------------------------- from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor --------------------------- Dear all: This week, we have a fascinating story about how the US government apparently covered up information to hide a deadly illness's links to genetic engineering (COVER UP). There's new research purporting to show that GM corn and soy is no more likely to cause allergies than non-GM - but in fact, it shows nothing of the kind (RESEARCH). There's also an extraordinary story of scientific skulduggery in Kenya, where GM research has been stopped after a scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute allegedly tried to give some of Syngenta's GM maize a helping hand in a field trial (AFRICA). Kenyan Agriculture Secretary, Wilson Songa, has been quoted as saying that scientists have succumbed to pressure from international groups to rubber-stamp research on GM. Finally, in a stunning example of telling it like it is, US soya-industry expert, Peter Golbitz, president of Soyatech, has pointed out that the US's share of the soya market is decreasing because US farmers aren't growing what the world's consumers want. If any more GMO soybeans are grown, the US will be out of the food-grade market, Golbitz says, and may have to import even to meet US consumer demand. The US, he says, has made the mistake of putting the interests of multi-national agribusinesses above those of US farmers (THE AMERICAS). Claire claire www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org ------- CONTENTS ------- IMPORTANT NEW RESOURCE THE AMERICAS EUROPE AFRICA AUSTRALASIA ASIA COVER UP " CO-EXISTENCE " MEDICAL BIOTECH RESEARCH NEW RESOURCE TOXICS ------- IMPORTANT NEW RESOURCE ------- + GENETIC ENGINEERING ACTION TOOLKIT An excellent new resource for campaigners and concerned citizens - the Genetic Engineering Action Toolkit - has been compiled by Luke Anderson and is being distributed by the Genetic Engineering Action Network. www.geaction.org It comes in CD-ROM format. It works on Macs as well as PCs. And it includes a truly amazing amount of useful information, including: * introductions to the key issues * articles and reports * tools for grassroots activists. To order copies email info GET A COPY AND BURN LOADS MORE FOR ALL YOUR FRIENDS! An excerpt exposing the myth that GM foods are safe is at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5647 More at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5650 --------------------------- THE AMERICAS --------------------------- + U.S. NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION TO CUSTOMERS - SOY INDUSTRY EXPERT The US needs to start listening to its customers if it wants to remain a player in the soybean export market, a soyfoods industry expert has said. Peter Golbitz, president of Soyatech, said the demand for soybeans is increasing around the world, but the US's share of that market is decreasing because US farmers aren't growing what the world's consumers want. If any more GMO soybeans are grown, the US will be out of the food-grade market, Golbitz said, and may have to import to meet US consumer demand. The dropping US marketshare shows that the nation hasn't been paying attention to its customers' needs. The US must consider producers' futures above those of multi-national agribusinesses. " I don't think the American farmers' interests are being looked out for, " he said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5661 + COSTS OF ROUNDUP READY WHEAT GREATER THAN BENEFITS - STUDY Introduction of GM wheat would lower income for wheat growers and the wheat industry, according to a new report by the world-renowned agronomist, Dr Charles (Chuck) Benbrook. " Harvest at Risk - Impacts of Roundup Ready Wheat in the Northern Great Plains " examines the likely consequences of Roundup Ready wheat adoption and projects economic impacts on wheat growers and the wheat industry. If Roundup Ready wheat is introduced, says the study, increased seed and herbicide costs and reduced wheat prices would outweigh the operating cost savings from Roundup Ready wheat's weed management by as much as $37 per acre. Farmers who do not plant Roundup Ready wheat would also face increased costs and lower income, ranging from $5.60 to $18 per acre. " Overall, the wheat industry could lose $94 million to $272 million, " said Dr Benbrook. The report finds mostly negative affects from nine factors affecting the costs and benefits of growing Roundup Ready wheat: emergence of resistance, gene flow, disease pressure and related problems, impacts on seed plus herbicide expenditures, market rejection, dockage, yields, grain quality, and wheat prices. Harvest at Risk and related material is at http://www.worc.org/issues/benbrook.html http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5662 + MONSANTO/BAYER - ORGANIC FARMERS CAN APPEAL RULING Canadian farmers seeking compensation for losses due to contamination of organic fields and crops by Monsanto's and Bayer's genetically engineered canolas have been given leave to appeal a refusal to allow them to bring a class-action lawsuit against the companies. Plaintiff Larry Hoffman said, " A farmer like me can't afford to take on a big company like Monsanto when it threatens my livelihood and way of life. But if we can join together in a class action, our combined strength can make it possible to hold these companies accountable for their actions. " " This is great " , said plaintiff Dale Beaudoin. " On behalf of 1000 plus organic farmers we can continue to fight for our right to remain stewards for sustainable agriculture. This is no minor issue. It is a matter of independence and survival for all farmers world-wide. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5670 + ARGENTINEAN ANCIENT FORESTS TRASHED FOR GM SOYA Greenpeace on 29 August stopped two bulldozers from clearing the forest to expand the GM Soya frontier further into what is left of the Great American Chaco Forest. Four activists on motorbikes have blocked these machines, and another four on two helicopters (painted as jaguars) has filmed the devastation of the forests from the air. Bulldozers are currently clearing the forests of South America at an alarming rate. In Argentina areas of forest the size of a soccer pitch disappear every three minutes. The rate of disappearance rises to every ten seconds in countries like Paraguay and Brazil, as latest Government figures for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon show. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5656 --------------------------- EUROPE --------------------------- + FOUR PHARMA CROP TRIALS TRASHED IN FRANCE A two-hectare field of GM pharma corn situated in the community of Blan, South of Tarn, has been destroyed covertly. In addition, in the Puy-de-Dome in the communities of Neschers, Issoire and Broc, three more lots of GM pharma corn were all destroyed within 24 hours of each other. Four French government ministers condemned the destruction in a joint press release which underscored that a criminal case had been opened and that an investigation is under way to identify the persons responsible for these acts and to bring them to justice. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5658 GM WATCH COMMENT: An investigation ought to be underway into the persons responsible for approving these big open field pharm trials in corn - a food and feed crop grown widely in France. That's the truly criminal act. And the French government has brought the covert actions it complains about upon itself. A peaceful public demonstration against a GM field trial last September in the Vienne was met with tear gas and stun grenades fired by riot police directly at the 500 or so protesters, leading to a number of people being injured. For images of the demonstration go to: http://mdh.limoges.free.fr/support/valdiv/index.htm Speaking after the demonstration, Jose Bove of the farmers' union, Confederation Paysanne, stated that the government had shown its true face in wanting to impose GM crops and the rule of the multinationals. He also suggested that anti-GM actions could no longer take place in public and would be forced to take place under cover of darkness. For more on this and more background on what's been happening in France: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4766 + DUTCH GOVT LINKS ANTI-GM ACTIVISTS TO MURDERERS AND NEO-NAZIS! The Dutch government has said in a policy statement that small, hard-core groups of Dutch Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis and environmental activists bear similarities, and that it plans new measures to undermine their societal support. The statement was quoted in the context of a string of GM crop trial trashings by activists in the Netherlands, the latest involving a field of GM potatoes. To put the government statement into context: neo-Nazi skinheads in the Netherlands stand accused of brutal assaults and even murder, while the killing of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh lead to headlines such as " 'Islamic fundamentalist' held over killing of filmmaker " . If the Dutch government really is making that link, then it appears to be part of a growing pattern typified by the Danish government's prosecution of Greenpeace under anti-terrorism laws introduced after 9/11. Their crime? Placing an anti-GM flag in a corporate office - an entirely non-violent act. A spokesman for Nordic Greenpeace commented, " We were trying to bring attention to a hidden fact - that Danish pigs are fed genetically engineered soy - which is information 98% of the Danish population says it wants. Most major changes against unjust and unpopular laws in the last century have been achieved by these methods of civil disobedience. They are the mark of a free society. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5654 + GM ON TRIAL IN WALES Anti-GM campaigners caused a " public nuisance " by staging a protest on a cargo ship, a court in Wales has heard. Greenpeace says the ship which was en-route from America and which was prevented from heading into the port of Bristol in June 2004, was carrying genetically-modified animal feed, a jury was told. Ten men and three women all deny a public nuisance charge. Defending, Edward Rees QC, told the jury: " Sometimes one must do wrong in order to do right. " He said jurors should consider whether the defendants' actions in delaying the ship were reasonable in order to prevent criminal offences under the Environmental Protection Act. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4206316.stm The GM feed the ship was carrying was on its way to be fed to dairy cows which produce milk for all the major UK supermarkets. Greenpeace climbers got on board the ship and attached themselves to its sides demanding that the ship turn around and go back to the US. This direct action was just one part of a campaign that has been running for almost two years, the aim being to close down the last loophole for GM in the UK. The campaign has seen a herd of cows occupy Sainsbury's Head office in London and milkmen chaining themselves to supermarket milk aisles in order to get supermarkets to stop feeding their cows GM feed. http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/contentlookup.cfm?ucidparam=20050831161053 & MenuPoin\ t=D-I-A + SECRET GM MILK SALE Shoppers have sounded an emphatic " No " to genetically modified milk " secretly " sold by major supermarket stores. Greenpeace says research haS shown that 97% of consumers in South Wales dOn't want to drink GM milk, after learning their supermarket-bought pints come from animals fed genetically-modified feed. Ben Ayliffe, a Greenpeace campaigner, said, " Very few people know about GM in milk because it is not labelled as such - it won't say on a pint of milk, unless people buy organic. " Once we tell people, they are genuinely shocked. Especially given all the reassurances from supermarkets about GM food, they assume the same goes for milk. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=15900905%26method=\ full%26siteid=50082%26page=2%26headline=%2dsecret%2d%2dgm%2dmilk%2dsale%2dattack\ ed-name_page.html + PLAYED FOR FOOLS IN THIS SILENCE OVER OUR MILK An excellent article in the Western Mail which should be distributed to every UK supermarket shopper says, " it seems we may have been played for fools all these years by supermarkets which have placed cost-efficiency over honesty and choice by introducing GM products by stealth. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5651 ------- AFRICA ------- + KENYAN GOVT STOPS RESEARCH ON MAIZE AFTER ALLEGED FRAUD The Kenyan government has terminated the GM maize experiments recently launched by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari) and an American firm, Sygenta, and ordered the crop destroyed. The first ever field experiments on GM maize in the country were started in May at a Kari field station in Kiboko, Machakos. The Kiboko experiments were terminated after a technician sprayed the trial maize crop with a restricted chemical, Furadan, and which also acts on stem borers, which meant it could no longer be possible to tell if it was the Bt maize or the chemical that would influence results being examined. Spraying would obviously have the effect of biasing the results in favour of the GM crop. The newly appointed Agriculture secretary, Dr Wilson Songa, said, " Unfortunately, there is an emerging tendency by our scientists yielding to pressure from international collaborators pushing to secure approvals for their research projects faster, sidestepping procedures. " What is known is that scientists at KARI, where the research was taking place with the backing of the Syngenta Foundation, amongst others, were under pressure to make a success of this research, after the 3 years of field trials KARI had previously run on Monsanto's GM sweet potato had shown the Monsanto crop to be a complete dud. (Monsanto's showcase project in Africa fails, New Scientist, 7 February 2004) http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2561 A further failure with the next GM crop in the pipeline - Syngenta's Bt maize - could have sounded the death knell for the showcase projects the GM industry has been running in Kenya. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5655 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5665 + GHANA'S CONFLICT OVER GMOs The Ghanaian government appears to be suffering from an internal conflict on the issue of GMOs and Biosafety. Agriculture Minister Mr Ernest Debra was reported in July as saying that Ghana would reject all GM food imports, and has commented on the importance of applying the Precautionary Principle on the issue of GMOs. However, Ghana's National Biosafety Framework was launched by the pro-GM Minister for Environment and Science, Christine Churcher, who lobbied the ECOWAS meeting in June, in favour of harmonized regulations to allow GMOs in the sub-region. Although there has been public talk of applying the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety in Ghana's framework, African Biosafety experts say the framework may not be as rigorous as its proponents claim. It appears that instead of keeping to the Precautionary Principle and the minimum standards of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, or incorporating the Africa Model Law, Ghana's Biosafety Act is more of a mechanism to approve GM plantings instead of a means to protect and monitor the health of Ghana's citizens. The confusion is compounded by Mr Debra's later contradictory statement that he would welcome GMOs. More than 18 months ago, the Africa Centre for Biosafety (ACB) warned that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is at the forefront of a US campaign to introduce GMOs into the developing world, was funding initiatives aimed at biosafety regulation and decision-making in Africa. Now USAID has helped Ghana devise biosafety legislation that, in the words of Mariam Mayet of the ACB, " provides an open invitation for people to plant GMOs illegally because the Board will step in and legalise such releases by either conducting a risk assessment or imposing risk management measures! " USAID - taking the " safety " out of " biosafety " . http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5653 + GHANA NEEDS ORGANIC, NOT GM FOODS http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5663 + HUNGRY AFRICAN NATIONS BALK AT BIOTECH CASSAVA Field test approvals for GM virus-resistant cassava are stalled in Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria, to the chagrin of gene-bashers at the Monsanto-supported Donald Danforth Plant Science Center near St Louis, who developed the cassava. The Donald Danforth's man in Africa, Lawrence Kent, says of the Africans, " They've gotten cold feet. " He adds, " It's too important what we're trying to do. If we give up, who's going to do it? " Good question. Monsanto via USAID already brought Africa the " virus-resistant " GM sweet potato that wasted millions of dollars to no effect while providing no virus resistance. Meanwhile a highly effective non-GM virus resistant sweet potato was developed in Uganda for a tiny fraction of the cost. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1431 --------------------------- AUSTRALASIA --------------------------- + GM CONTAMINATION WIDESPREAD IN AUSTRALIA Just how damaging GM trials can be is highlighted by the news that ABB Grain, which has been randomly testing canola (oilseed rape) samples in South Australia, has reported finding contamination from Topas 19/2 - a variety that has not been trialed there since 1997! This is the third detection of GM contamination of Australian grain within the last couple of months, following cases in Victoria and Western Australia. Still more worryingly, ABB also report that the contamination is extensive - turning up at low levels " in many samples " . http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5668 --------------------------- ASIA --------------------------- + JAPAN FINDS 10TH CARGO CONTAMINATED WITH Bt10 Japan has detected a tenth feed grain cargo from the US tainted with Syngenta's unapproved Bt10 corn. In total, Japan has found 32,610 tons of tainted corn. To avoid the risk of receiving tainted corn cargoes, some Japanese importers have bought Argentine and South African corn as alternatives to US supply, traders said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5660 + PHILIPPINES FARMERS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS URGE BAN ON GMOs Local farmers and environmental groups renewed their calls to immediately ban entry and planting of GM crops in the country in the wake of the recent government approval to commercialize a new Monsanto GM corn variety. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5648 ------- COVER UP ------- + DID U.S. GOVERNMENT HIDE INFORMATION TO PROTECT BIOTECH INDUSTRY? Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, has written an account of how the US government apparently hid information about the deadly epidemic of the disease EMS which sprang up in users of a GM version of the supplement L-tryptophan, in order to conceal its link to genetic engineering. Jeffrey cites the investigative work of William Crist. EXCERPT (long but worth it!): The press reported that Showa Denko had introduced a GM strain of bacteria at Christmas time in 1988. Soon after, they also reduced the amount of carbon in the filter of the manufacturing process from 20 kilos to 10. This change in the filter was just what the young and vulnerable biotech industry needed to protect its reputation. The alternative story diverted the blame away from genetic engineering. This explanation circulated around the world. " The change in the filter was responsible for the epidemic. " Or more simply put, " It was bad manufacturing - not genetic engineering. " In 1996, writer William Crist began an eight-year investigation into the cause of the EMS epidemic. " He contacted the FDA's biotechnology coordinator, James Maryanski, who told him " We can not rule [genetic engineering] out... However, we are aware of close to two dozen cases of L-tryptophan-linked EMS that occurred before Showa Denko began using their engineered strain. So, there would have to be a cause other than just the mere engineering of the strains. Now, I can't say that definitively because we don't have a lot of information on these earlier cases. " Maryanski asserted that " either L-tryptophan itself, or L-tryptophan in combination with something that was the result of the purification process, was probably the more likely cause. " Crist decided to track down the EMS cases that Maryanski described - those caused by L-tryptophan produced before the genetically altered bacterium was introduced in December 1988. He quickly discovered CDC studies that identified about 100 pre-epidemic cases, not two dozen. And since reported cases of EMS were far less than actual cases, the true number, using the CDC's estimated ratio for unreported incidents, was in the hundreds - all apparently from individuals who had ingested Showa Denko's pills manufactured before December 1988. This fact clearly dismantled the change-in-the-filter theory as the cause of the disease. But it didn't explain how the contaminants got into Showa Denko's L-tryptophan. Crist spoke with several attorneys who represented EMS victims. They had gathered significant evidence for their lawsuits, which were eventually settled with Showa Denko for about $2 billion. In one company memo obtained by an attorney, Crist discovered a significant fact. The bacterium introduced in December 1988 was called Strain 5. The preceding three strains, introduced starting on October 22, 1984, were *all* genetically modified. This was a revelation. It countered the FDA's argument that illnesses " that occurred before Showa Denko began using their engineered strain " meant that " there would have to be a cause other than [genetic engineering] " . *But they were all engineered!* As he looked at the memo, Crist wondered why the FDA didn't know about the earlier GM strains. They had access to a lot more information he did. Then his eyes rose to the top of the document to see a fax imprint: FDA September 17, 1990. It had been faxed by the FDA! They knew back in 1990 that the earlier strains were modified, but in 1996, the FDA's biotech coordinator James Maryanski was still claiming ignorance. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5664 ------- " CO-EXISTENCE " ------- + IMPORTANT CONFERENCE AND PAPER There's an important conference coming up in Bolgna, Italy, on the 9th of September: " 'Co-existence', contamination and GM-free zones - Jeopardising consumer choice. " The full programme's given HERE: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5644 Dr Ignacio Chapela, who's one of the conference speakers, has drawn our attention to a very revealing paper published earlier this year on the issue of how GM crops can be grown together with non-GM crops - so-called " coexistence " . The biotech industry and its supporters like to maintain that coexistence is unproblematic. Dr Paul Rylott, who formerly headed the industry's Agricultural Biotechnology Council, is among those who have asserted that, " The two will not get mixed up. Everybody will have the right to choose. " http://ngin.tripod.com/pants2.htm At the time of that statement Rylott was Seed Manager for Aventis. Shortly afterwards the company was engulfed in the Starlink scandal, in which hundreds of food lines had to be recalled thanks to contamination by an Aventis GM corn unapproved for humans. In Iowa, StarLink corn represented just 1 percent of the total crop grown, yet it tainted 50 percent of Iowa's corn harvest. http://ngin.tripod.com/farming.htm Unlike Dr Rylott, the authors of the paper on agricultural economics and political governance that Dr Chapela refers to, realistically conclude that there is " great potential for ubiquitous contamination of farmland wherever GM crops are introduced " . They also suggest that avoiding that happening will require the introduction of measures that will be both complex and expensive. Currently the industry, the US administration and USAID are working flat out to push GM crops into some of the poorest countries in the world. The technically complex and financially burdensome nature of anything approaching effective coexistence shows up the truly criminal character of what they're doing. For details of the paper and a comment by Dr Chapela: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5644 ------- MEDICAL BIOTECH ------- + ELI LILLY KICKS AWAY HEALTH LIFELINE Dr Brent Hoadley counts himself among the diabetics upset that Eli Lilly and Co. has yanked away one of their lifelines to good health, the last animal-sourced insulin sold in the US. A retired Florida horticulture professor, Hoadley found out last month that Lilly will stop selling Iletin pork insulin when existing supplies run out later this year. Hoadley criticized the Indianapolis drug maker this week for not trying to find a way to keep producing small batches of pork insulin for its 2,000 US and 400 Canadian customers. The two countries are the last markets where Lilly sells the once widely used Iletin brand. " They could have had production once a year of animal insulin and kept everyone happy. (But) they don't want (to sell) the lower-priced animal (insulin), " Hoadley said. " They want to move to patented products, " he said, which carry higher prices and have far more users. Dr Hoadley comments, " Since the mid-1980s, Lilly has promoted its cheaply-produced [and genetically engineered] rDNA insulin, warning doctors and patients of the impending withdrawal of the old standard animal insulins. AND they have systematically withdrawn one animal insulin after another from the market. New diabetics, new doctors and new pharmacists do not even KNOW about animal insulin, and its safety and efficacy (compared to the new stuff). They have been 'brainwashed' to believe that animal insulins are dirty. " Without a true basis for comparison, and with a manufacturer who essentially controls the marketplace, they can now - after 20 years - say that their rDNA insulin is 'the most popular' and/or 'the most used.' With powerful Bush family backing, they have stayed below the radar of consumer advocates as well as the Justice Department's anti-trust overseers. The number of diabetics who have been harmed by the rDNA insulin is unknowable, but the entire chronicle is appalling. " Since its introduction 20 years ago this summer, genetically engineered insulin has been linked not only to an increasing number of unexplained deaths but to a range of side-effects that some patients say have destroyed their lives. These range from unexpected hypos to massive weight gain, violent mood swings, memory loss, joint pains, mental confusion and crippling exhaustion. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5659 ------- RESEARCH ------- + RESEARCH CLAIMS NO ALLERGY PROBLEMS FOR GM SOY, CORN A new study by researchers in Portugal claims to show that several widely used strains of GM corn and soybeans do not promote food allergies. All of the products have been on the market since the 1990s. The new study looked at a group of allergy-prone adults and children who had consumed products containing the biotech foods at some point since their approval in Europe. The researchers, led by Rita Batista of Portugal's National Health Institute in Lisbon, gave 77 study participants skin prick allergy tests to see whether they reacted differently to the GM corn and soy than they did to conventional varieties. None of them did, according to findings published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. GM WATCH asked geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou to comment on the study. He said, " For me this is a meaningless study. They test people who are already sensitive to soya and/or maize and lo and behold they find that they react the same to GM and non-GM extracts!! There is no way this type of test can distinguish between a GM induced and non-GM reaction!! " GM WATCH editor Claire Robinson commented, " Skin prick allergy testing is not generally considered to be a reliable way to detect food allergies; it is more commonly used to detect respiratory allergies to airborne substances. " It is common that a person shows no reaction to a skin prick test of a substance and yet when exposed in 'real life', reacts to that substance. And conversely, it is common that a person has a strong skin reaction to a substance and has no apparent reaction when exposed in 'real life'... the allergy tests as described show virtually nothing. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5669 + HIDDEN GENETIC ENGINEERING New Zealand genetic engineer Tony Conner claims to have developed a genetic engineering technique which, by using vectors based on the DNA of the target crop, does not involve the transfer of foreign DNA (such as the widely used Cauliflower Mosaic Virus). Conner claims that plants produced using this technique " are, by definition, not transgenic " , despite the fact that they have been genetically engineered. He says this would, in the case of some countries, move them outside the regulations intended to control the release of GM plants and that " this means the compliance costs involved in gaining approval for commercial use are minimised. " He also says it would make them hard to detect as GM plants. But as former genetic engineer, Dr Elvira Dommisse, points out, Conner's attempt to dodge the consequences of the GM definition does not get round key safety issues arising from genetic engineering. Dr Dommisse comments, " Firstly, the genes are not 'precisely' transferred, ending up anywhere in the recipient plant's DNA. Secondly, the insertion of these genes is not problem-free. " Researchers have documented that a large fraction of even apparently simple (trans)gene insertion events result in large-scale DNA rearrangement or deletion and superfluous DNA insertion. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5649 ------- TOXICS ------- + OUR RECKLESS CHEMICAL DEPENDENCE Good article summarising the dangers of Roundup. EXCERPT: As recent studies of the widely popular herbicide Roundup show, 'safer' is not nearly the same thing as safe. .... a fellow student in my plant breeding graduate program hurled an unintended insult last fall when he said Roundup, one of the most commonly applied weed killers in the world, was safe enough for me to drink a glass daily. I was seven months pregnant at the time. In the past few months, two published studies showed Monsanto's herbicide kills some amphibians and might cause reproductive problems in humans. .... A study published in June by Environmental Health Perspectives (see below), a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, showed that Roundup killed human placenta cells in lab culture at one-tenth its concentration for field use. At concentrations one-hundredth of intended use, the herbicide inhibited an enzyme crucial to sex hormone regulation. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5652 + MONSANTO'S ROUNDUP IS TOXIC In a study in Ontario, Canada, exposure of male farmers to glyphosate-based herbicides was associated with an increase in miscarriage and premature birth in farm families. Seeking an explanation for these pregnancy-related problems, researchers at France's Universite de Caen investigated the effects of the full Roundup formulation and glyphosate alone on cultured human placental cells [EHP 113:716-720]. The herbicide, they found, killed the cells at concentrations far below those used in agricultural practice. Surprisingly, they also found that Roundup was at least twice as toxic as glyphosate alone. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5667 -------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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