Guest guest Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 GMW: MONTHLY REVIEW - AUGUST 2005 " GM WATCH " <info Sun, 4 Sep 2005 15:12:51 +0100 --------------------------- MONTHLY REVIEW – AUGUST 2005 from Claire Robinson, editor --------------------------- + GM CROPS PIPELINE DRYING UP Worldwide data shows that the pipeline of GM crops undergoing research is drying up even in the US, the global leader in GM crop research. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5626 + GM GENES IN MEXICAN MAIZE JUST DISAPPEAR! Researchers David Quist and Ignacio Chapela famously found that native Mexican maize in Oaxaca had been contaminated by GM genes. Now, new research has apparently found that the contamination has simply " disappeared " . After analyzing seeds from about 870 plants in Oaxaca in 2003 and 2004, researchers from Mexico and the US say in a paper that appeared online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that they found no evidence of transgenes in these indigenous varieties. The research has been heavily spun with the lead researcher, Allison Snow, a professor at Ohio State University, claiming that findings based on 870 plants from one part of Mexico mean, " Mexican farmers who don't want transgenes in their crops will be relieved to find out that these uninvited genes seem to have disappeared. " Ignacio Chapela says, " It's very difficult to believe that contamination has disappeared. Barely two years after we said we found it, they say it's gone. One of those two statements has to be wrong. " And it wasn't only Chapela who said the contamination was there. Two other studies pointed to widespread contamination. What's also surprising is that among the researchers saying the contamination has simply disappeared are people who only a year ago were publicly saying there was contamination! Quist and Chapela have pointed out, " three of the authors in this paper have made many categorical public representations prior to this paper which lie in diametrical contradiction to the negative results paper presented in PNAS. Although their statements were never published in a peer-reviewed journal, we must presume that those contradictory categorical statements were based on real samples and analyses. " Chapela, who is planning a rebuttal, says he believes that the new study, far from showing the absence of transgenes, " simply defined the problem away, " setting the threshold for positive findings artificially high through the use of a standard favoured by industry for reasons all its own. Whether the evidence of contamination meets such a standard, he maintains, is " not a biological question. It's a commercial question, it's a political question, it's a question of trade and so on.…Part of my rebuttal is the fact that they actually saw signs of [transgenes], and they put it in the paper and then they say there's nothing there. So it's kind of crazy. " http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2005/09/01_chapela.shtml Abstract of the paper http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5599 Articles and press releases: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5597 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5586 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5589 Quist and Chapela's initial reponse: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5599 EXCELLENT PROFILE OF CHAPELA http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2005/09/01_chapela.shtml + SCIENTISTS WARN OF GM SUPERWEED RISK Scientists at the State University and the Southern Weed Research Unit in Mississippi have identified 15 weed species that are resistant to Roundup - the herbicide widely used on Monsanto's GM crops - and are warning farmers they may become a serious problem unless a strategy for dealing with them is developed. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5622 See also ATTACK OF THE 12-FOOT HORSEWEED! http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5591 + ROUNDUP READY ALFALFA WORRIES GROWERS Alfalfa growers in Mid-Columbia, Washington say they aren't ready to grow Roundup Ready alfalfa because they're worried that if they do their export markets in Japan could ban Washington hay. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5578 + FIRST U.S. GM LABELING LAW PASSED IN ALASKA Alaska has signed into law the nation's first labeling legislation for GM food. Senate Bill 25 requires that GM fish be " conspicuously labeled to identify the fish or fish product as a genetically modified fish or fish product " . http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5575 + GM PLANTS USE CARBON NANOFIBRES Researchers at at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the US Dept of Energy lab that played a major role in the production of enriched uranium for the atom bombs dropped on Japan, are developing new techniques that use carbon nanofibres for smuggling foreign DNA into cells. Carbon nanofibres have been compared to asbestos fibres because they have similar shapes. Initial toxicity studies on some carbon nanofibres have demonstrated inflammation of cells. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5611 + BT MAIZE HAS INFERIOR YIELD - STUDY New research from Canada shows that Bt maize produces similar or up to 12% lower yields than non-Bt maize. The study, by B.L. Ma and K.D. Subedi and published in Field Crops Research, also found that ***non-Bt maize showed higher nitrogen uptake. ***some of the Bt hybrids took 2-3 additional days to reach maturity. ***the Bt maize had 3-5% higher grain moisture at maturity. This may prove significant since grain having higher than 15.5% moisture is subject to spoilage due to moulds (the dreaded aflatoxins, which the likes of Denis and Alex Avery are always trying to claim, without ANY evidence, are a particular problem with organic foods). http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5620 + EU AUTHORIZES GM MAIZE BY LEGAL RUBBER STAMP The EU has authorized imports of GM maize MON863, the third GM product to win approval since the EU ended its unofficial ban last year. A feeding study of MON863 maize on rats showed significant differences regarding kidney structures and levels of white blood cells between rats fed on the GMO maize and those that were not. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5584 + 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 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 press release which underscored that a criminal case had been opened and that an investigation is under way to bring the persons responsible to justice. 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. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5658 + 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 AND CONSUMER EXPERTS CONVERGE IN BOLOGNA A panel of international experts on GM and consumer rights will speak at a conference on ' " Co-existence " , contamination and GM-free zones: Jeopardising consumer choice?' in Bologna, Italy (9 September 2005) organised by Consumers International (CI) and Regione Emilia-Romagna. Questions that will be explored include: Is it viable to grow GM crops without contaminating conventional and organic crops? How can GM-free zones be legally established, and what purpose do they serve? Speakers include Ignacio Chapela. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5602 + 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. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5660 + TECHNOLOGY HAS ITS PITFALLS An article with the above title by Devinder Sharma is well worth reading in full, as an antidote to the ludicrous techno-utopianism of current politicos. As well as exposing the seldom-addressed con of " certified seed " , Devinder reveals the lies and failures linked with the pushing of other techno-fixes such as pesticides and Bt cotton. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5638 + INDIAN GOVT APPROVED BT COTTON KNOWN TO BE " INADEQUATE " It appears that Indian government regulator GEAC approved new varieties of Bt cotton even after its own research department, CICR, raised doubts over varieties released earlier. CICR showed the varieties produced " inadequate " amounts of Bt toxin to resist bollworm attack. Though the study was published in July 2005, it relates to harvests in 2002-03. ''This is both deliberate suppression of information and a failure of regulation,'' said Dr Suman Sahai, president of New Delhi-based Gene Campaign. ''The CICR being an institute of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the data should have been available with GEAC as soon as CICR had them, given the controversial nature of the subject and the goals of the study.'' The group has served a legal notice to the environment ministry seeking action against GEAC for approving faulty GM varieties. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5641 + SEEDS OF SUICIDE: INDIA'S DESPERATE FARMERS Farmer suicide is an epidemic in India. In recent years crop failure can often be traced to Bt cotton. Watch video on this subject: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/07/seeds_of_suicid.html# + U.S. GROWERS PUSH SOY PRODUCTS IN INDIA Soybean growers from the US are planning to enter the Indian market in a big way with a variety of soy products. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5627 Read how the American Soybean Association has pushed soy products by smearing tropical oils as unhealthy, in spite of research showing that tropical oils are extremely healthy. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5640 + 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. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5661 + COSTS OF GM 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. 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. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5670 + 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. This story is well worth reading in full: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5664 + ARGENTINA'S ANCIENT FORESTS TRASHED FOR GM SOYA Greenpeace on 29 August stopped bulldozers from expanding the GM soya frontier further into what is left of the Great American Chaco Forest. In Argentina areas of forest the size of a soccer pitch disappear every three minutes. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5656 + AUSTRALIAN CROPS FACE SERIOUS GM CONTAMINATION 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 + 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 Sygenta, and ordered the crop destroyed. The experiments were terminated after a technician sprayed the trial maize crop with a restricted chemical, Furadan, which also acts on stem borers. Spraying would 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 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. 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 + ROUNDUP KILLS FROGS AS WELL AS TADPOLES EVEN AT LOW CONCENTRATIONS As amphibians continue to disappear worldwide, University of Pittsburgh assistant professor of biological sciences Rick Relyea has discovered that Roundup, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, is deadly to tadpoles at lower concentrations than previously tested; that the presence of soil does not mitigate the chemical's effects; and that the product kills frogs in addition to tadpoles. In two articles published in the August 1 issue of the journal Ecological Applications, Relyea and his team found that even when applied at concentrations that are one-third of the maximum concentrations expected in nature, Roundup still killed up to 71 percent of tadpoles raised in outdoor tanks. Relyea also examined whether adding soil to the tanks would absorb the Roundup and make it less deadly to tadpoles. The soil made no difference: After exposure to the maximum concentration expected in nature, nearly all of the tadpoles from three species died. Relyea found that the recommended application of Monsanto's Roundup killed up to 86 percent of terrestrial frogs after only one day. " The most striking result from the experiments was that a chemical designed to kill plants killed 98 percent of all tadpoles within three weeks and 79 percent of all frogs within one day, " Relyea wrote. GM WATCH comment: Local authorities worldwide spray Roundup liberally in public places and when challenged, invariably come up with the answer, " It's inactivated in the presence of soil. " While research has always suggested that this is not the case, the new study (we hope) spells it out clearly enough even for local government officials. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5574 + 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 + LATEST ON MONSANTO'S PIGS Monsanto is shaking up the swine industry with plans to patent pig-breeding techniques and lay claim to the animals born as a result. Some fear that Monsanto one day could be filing patent infringement lawsuits against pig farmers. Monsanto has a track record of suing farmers whose crops contain some of the company's patented genetic plant technology. Critics also say it is not apparent that Monsanto has actually invented anything new in swine reproduction. They say the company is simply trying to lay claim to a combination of practices already used along with genetic selection that occurs in nature. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5594 + SYNGENTA - A STEP CLOSER TO OWNING OUR FOOD In an attempt to have monopoly control over rice, Syngenta has sought global patents over nearly 30,000 gene sequences in rice, which has serious implications for the future of rice research and food security of India. If Syngenta's application for global patents is accepted, India will lose all control over the staple grain. " It will be the beginning of a scientific apartheid not only against India but for all third world countries, " said Dr Devinder Sharma, Chairperson of the New Delhi-based Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security. Syngenta has filed 15 global patent applications to give the company control over the gene sequences. Syngenta's patent claims are also aimed at other important food crops such as wheat, corn, sorghum, rye, banana, soyabean, fruits and vegetables. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5607 + ELI LILLY KICKS AWAY HEALTH LIFELINE FOR DIABETICS Pharma giant Eli Lilly plans to phase out all supplies of animal insulin in the US this year, to the horror of some diabetics who have severe health problems with the (patented) GM insulin that Eli Lilly is replacing it with. Since its introduction 20 years ago this summer, GM 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 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 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. 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 a geneticist to comment. 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. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5669 + KREBS TO BROADCAST TO CHILDREN ON GM AND FUTURE OF FOOD Every Christmas, Britain's Royal Institution runs a series of Christmas Lectures aimed at schoolchildren and their families. This year's Christmas Lectures are entitled " Food Matters " and include consideration of whether " chemicals in food " are dangerous. The " truth behind this " , as The Guardian reported, will be delivered by Sir John Krebs, the controversial former head of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Sir John will also be giving a lecture on " Food for the future " in which " John will ask whether new farming methods such as genetically modified crops will be the solution, or whether we will all have to become vegetarians " . He'll also consider the question, " Will the future bring us the chocolate bar that treats heart disease or the mood-enhancing potato crisp? " The review of Sir John's record at the FSA - commissioned by the FSA itself - concluded that the " vast majority " of people consulted felt that the FSA under Sir John had " deviated from its normal stance of making statements based solely on scientific evidence " , when " speaking against organic food and for GM food " . http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5632 + POOR RECORD ON CROP YIELDS FROM 40 YEARS OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH Here's an antidote to the numerous articles in the media claiming that GM will solve food shortages through higher yields. An article by leading researcher Tom Sinclair, published in Trends in Plant Science, points out that very few GM crops show increased yield: EXCERPT: Genetic engineering techniques are frequently proposed as ways to increase crop yields, especially in areas of the developing world where the people suffer from malnutrition and agricultural productivity is low. However, despite 40 years of biochemical and physiological research, there have been very few cases that led directly to improved cultivars with better yield. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5635 + 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 MORE FOR YOUR FRIENDS! -------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.