WEEKLY WATCH number 261

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WEEKLY WATCH number 261
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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

A new report suggesting that a much more sceptical climate for GMOs is emerging in the United States is published the same week as news that non-GM soy is making a comeback with US farmers because it makes better economic sense (THE AMERICAS).

This news has clearly bypassed Britain's New Labour Government, who continue to support GM and are doing nothing to help implement the findings of the International Agricultural Assessment - IAASTD - report that they, like 57 other countries, have signed onto.

The IAASTD report recommended "agroecological" solutions to hunger and had little to say in favour of GM crops. In spite of the fact that a chief UK government scientist of international standing co-chaired the report, it seems the UK Government is hoping the report will just go away (WORLD FOOD DAY).

Claire <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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THE AMERICAS
WORLD FOOD DAY
EUROPE
PERCY SCHMEISER UK TOUR
AUSTRALASIA
NON-GM SUCCESSES
DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
ASIA
INSECT RESISTANCE TO BT CROPS
TECHNO-UTOPIAN QUOTE OF THE WEEK
AFRICA
NEW BOOKS
GM INSECTS
GM MEDICINES
EXTREME GENETIC ENGINEERING

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THE AMERICAS
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+ AMERICA STARTING TO TURN AGAINST GM FOOD?
The GM industry has managed to keep consumers in the dark about the GM food they are eating for more than a decade. However, some major new developments in the US market suggest that the tide may finally be turning against GM technology.

The Soil Association has published a briefing on:
*the launch of a major new non-GM labelling initiative in the US;
*the latest on US farmers rejection of new GM crops;
*and the staggering collapse in the market for Monsanto's GM milk hormone.
These are significant developments that are being ignored in the current UK debate on GM.

The non-GM label will be launched by more than 400 American processors and retailers next year and has the backing of presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Soil Association's policy director, Peter Melchett, said: "Labelling stopped consumers buying milk from cattle treated with the growth hormone rBGH, leading Costco, Kroger, Publix, Safeway and Wal-Mart to turn to non-GM own-brand milk. It is the beginning of the end for GM worldwide."

For more details of the report: http://www.soilassociation.org/gm
Download the report:
Land of the GM-Free? How the American public are starting to turn against GM food
http://www.soilassociation.org/Web/SA/saweb.nsf/cfff6730b881e40e80256a6a002a765c/62b3b08dfb6cdaea80256a9500473789/$FILE/Land_of_free_GM_Report.pdf
Daily Mail article about the report:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1077297/U-S-begins-turn-GM-crops-report-claims.html?ITO=1490
Farmers Weekly article about the report:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/10/13/112619/us-consumers-rejecting-gms-says-soil-association.html
"England 'out of touch' on GM -- Farmers Guardian article about the report:
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=21973

+ U.S.: NON-GM SOYA MAKES A COMEBACK
Lower seed and weed-control costs and high yields have renewed interest in conventional varieties of soyabeans, said Grover Shannon, an agronomist at the University of Missouri Delta Research Center. Overseas demand for non-GM soybeans and the tripling of costs for glyphosate herbicide have made conventional varieties more appealing to many growers, he said.

An article for Grist explains that the resurgence in farmer demand for non-GM soybeans is driven by economic necessity. As costs associated with growing GM soy have risen sharply, yields have stagnated and even fallen since the widespread introduction of RR seeds.

All the while, the price of Roundup weed killer, required to be used with Monsanto's GM RR seeds, has steadily climbed from $15 a gallon to $40 or even $50 per gallon. Weed resistance to Roundup has upped the need to increase both the volume and toxicity of agrochemicals used by farmers to keep weeds in check.

Add to this the growing annual cost of purchasing RR soybean seeds ($40 to $50 per 50-lb. bag, which covers roughly 2 acres) because Monsanto prohibits farmers from saving and planting its patented seeds, and GM soybeans are no longer economically viable for farmers.
http://agebb.missouri.edu/news/ext/showall.asp?story_num=4547&iln=49
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/14/113813/15

+ USDA RULES COULD ALLOW DRUGS IN FOOD
The proposed new USDA (United States Dept of Agriculture) rules will not protect the US food supply from potential contamination by drugs from "pharma" crops, and could allow drugs that it deems "safe" to enter the food supply, said the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The USDA ignored recommendations for a ban on the outdoor production of pharma food crops from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, major food companies, UCS, and more than 100 environmental, agricultural, health, and consumer organizations.
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/commentary/usda-biotech-regulations-0148.html

+ TELL HERSHEY'S TO STOP USING GMO SUGAR
*Give Something Else For Halloween!
*Candy Giant Hershey's Using GM Sugar In US, Not Brazil
GM Foods are unlabelled in the US, untested for safety and have been shown by independent scientists to be highly suspect, especially for children who are especially susectible to toxins. So, let Hershey's know what you think about their use of GMO sugar.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26087

+ HAWAII: COUNCIL BANS GM TARO, COFFEE
The genetic modification of taro and coffee on Hawaii's Big Island has been banned in a unanimous vote in the County Council.

+ PARAGUAYAN FARMERS FIGHT GM SOYA
Farmers occupied Brazilian-owned farms on Oct. 1 to block the entry of transgenic soy, and immediately began planting other crops such as sesame and yucca on the plots to mark the start of the recovery of Paraguayan territorial sovereignty. There was no law enforcement intervention.
http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=5725

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WORLD FOOD DAY
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+ UK: WHY IS IAASTD BEING IGNORED?
On World Food Day, 16 October, the UK Food Group issued a statement demanding to know why, amid continuing world hunger, the recommendations of the IAASTD report (small farms, "agroecological" and low-input methods, not GMOs) were not being implemented. The answer, presumably, is because it has little to offer big agribiz.

The UK Food Group is holding a meeting at the Houses of Parliament in London on "Implementing the findings of the international agriculture assessment - IAASTD" on 30 October, 2:00-5.00pm. Professor Bob Watson, Director IAASTD and DEFRA Chief Scientist, will be keynote speaker.
http://www.ukfg.org.uk/ukfg-resources.php#events

+ FIGHTING HUNGER CONFERENCE ASKED TO REJECT GM CROPS
NGOs called on Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary General, and Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to oppose GM crops at the Fighting Hunger Conference which took place in Dublin, Ireland as part of World Food Day.
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI37.pdf

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EUROPE
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+ KEEP CLONES OUT OF THE FOOD CHAIN, DEMAND SHOPPERS
The vast majority of consumers across Europe believe cloned animals and their offspring should not be farmed for food, according to an EU study. The issue has jumped to public attention in the UK after eight cattle - the offspring of a clone milking cow in the US - were born on UK farms. Currently, there is no law to stop meat and milk from these animals getting into the food chain. Nor is there any requirement to label food from clone offspring.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076023/Keep-cloned-animals-offspring-food-chain-demand-shoppers.html

+ NON-GM SOYA SUMMIT IN BRUSSELS
Government officials and industry members from around the world converged for the 2nd International Non-GMO Soy Summit in Brussels from 7-9 October. One speaker was Cesar Borges da Sousa, President of ABRANGE, the Brazilian Association of Non-GMO Grain Producers. The organisation aims to become the world's premier supplier of GM-free soya and to "grow non-transgenic soy for the EU as long as Europe wants to buy them".
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

+ GMOs IN TURKEY
In Turkey, a draft law on biosecurity could open the door for GM crops as well as trade and consumption of GMOs. 
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=116712

+ UK: WAR OVER GM IS BACK
A detailed article by Jay Rayner in The Observer (UK) tries to look at both sides of the GM debate. It quotes genetic scientist Michael Antoniou as saying GM foods could be dangerous. The problem, he argues, is the unintended consequences of GM: "It's a highly mutagenic process. It can cause changes in the genome that are not expected.... You might inadvertently generate toxic effects."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/05/gmcrops.food

+ LETTERS ON GM TO THE OBSERVER:
http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/environment/2008/oct/12/gmcrops-food

+ UK: NEW SCIENCE CENTRE COULD BE USED FOR GM CROPS
Scientists have admitted that research conducted at a new science centre proposed for the edge of Norwich could be used to genetically modify crops. Adrian Ramsay, Green Party city councillor and parliamentary candidate for Norwich South, said, "The county council should not be spending GBP1m of taxpayers' money on a project that will lead to GM applications when GM is unpopular and environmentally dangerous."
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED16%20Oct%202008%2018%3A03%3A13%3A0 20

+ UK: NEW SCIENCE MINISTER ANOTHER INDUSTRY CRONY
Lord Drayson has taken over Lord Sainsbury's job as science minister - an appointment that GM Watch predicted as soon as Sainsbury's departure was first mentioned. Drayson, like Sainsbury, has had big financial interests in biotechnology. He is the former head of the BioIndustry Association (motto: "Promoting UK Biotechnology"). Also like Sainsbury, Drayson is a donor to the Labour Party and was given a peerage by Blair in controversial circumstances.

The controversy began when Drayson made a substantial donation to Labour while the government was deciding who should be awarded a smallpox vaccine contract. Drayson gave a further donation of half a million pounds to Labour just six weeks after the PM made him Lord Drayson. Controversially, the Blair government awarded Drayson's company, PowderJect, the smallpox vaccine contract without any competition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7651607.stm
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=2224

+ UK: WOOLAS MOVED SIDEWAYS, ROOKER OUSTED
Phil Woolas, who has been hyping GM, has been ousted as UK environment minister. Food and farming minister Jeff Rooker, who attacked critics of GM for wallowing in "ignorance", and being on a "messianic mission" to kill the technology, is out of the government altogether. Hillary Benn is to head the new food and environment ministry that has been separated off from Defra (the department of the environment, food, and rural affairs).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/05/gmcrops.food
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1068767/Minister-infuriated-Muslims-charge-immigration-policy.html

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PERCY SCHMEISER UK TOUR
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+ PERCY SCHMEISER UK TOUR
Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer whom Monsanto sued for having its patented genes on his land, is to do a speaking tour of the UK to address the question: what would GM crops do for British farmers? Venues/dates as follows. All events free except the final one:
NORWICH - Wed 22 October, 7.30pm, Sports and Conference Centre, Easton College, Easton, Norwich, Norfolk NR9 5DX
LINCOLN - Thurs 23 October, 7.00pm, Riseholme Conference Centre, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Riseholme, Lincoln, LN2 2LG
DRIFFIELD - Fri 24 October, 7pm, The Bell Hotel, Market Place, Driffield, East Yorkshire YO25 6AN
ABERYSTWYTH - Mon 27 October 2.00pm, For FUW [Farmers Union of Wales] members only at IGER Centre, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth SY23 3EB
DORCHESTER - Tues 28 October, 7pm, Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8PY
LONDON - Wed 29 October, 3.30pm, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
LONDON - Wed 29 October, Gaia Evening 6.30pm - 10.00pm. Booking Essential - GBP10, in Burgh House.

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ MOST NEW ZEALANDERS REJECT GM ANIMALS
Most New Zealanders are strongly opposed to the genetic engineering of animals in New Zealand, with farmers as ardently opposed as the rest of the community, a new survey shows.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0810/S00025.htm

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NON-GM SUCCESSES
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+ SUCCESS FOR PLANTS' PEST CONTROL
Scientists from Lancaster University say they have found a non-GM method of making plants resist pests. This method uses a chemical that is naturally produced by plants - jasmonic acid. The researchers have found that plants grown from seeds first dipped in the acid are considerably more resistant to pests. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/sci/tech/7656078.stm

+ IRON-FORTIFIED MILLET AND BEANS FOR AFRICA AND ASIA
Naturally bred non-GM iron-fortified millet and beans are being developed by the HarvestPlus Challenge Program.
http://www.cgiar.org/enews/september2008/story_05.html

+ NON-GM DROUGHT-RESISTANT TEA PLANTS
Russian scientists have identified tea plants that are naturally resistant to drought.
http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/7144/

+ DISEASE-RESISTANT CHILLIS
Scientists at the World Vegetable Centre in Taiwan have used non-GM methods to develop chillis that resist common diseases.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2008/september/23829.htm

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DROUGHT RESISTANT CROPS
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+ DROUGHT-RESISTANT GM CROPS "READY IN FOUR YEARS"?
GM crops that are drought resistant will be grown by farmers within four to five years, according to Dr David Dennis, the chief executive of Performance Plants Inc. in Kingston, Ontario. He said varieties of drought-tolerant oilseed rape and maize were already being tested in field trials in the US. But Clare Oxborrow of Friends of the Earth commented, "We would take any claims that these crops are just around the corner with a large pinch of salt because we have heard it all before."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/gmcrops.food

+ RESPONSE TO "DROUGHT-RESISTANT CROPS" BY DOUG GURIAN-SHERMAN
Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former biotech specialist at the EPA comments on the above article (EXCERPT):

The gene targeted by this company has been reported by them in the science literature to provide significant drought tolerance, and to provide normal yields under adequate moisture - an important consideration. But genes and proteins often have multiple functions - a lesson learned both from the last decade of genomic studies, and classical population genetics previously, and this is often true of enzymes like those engineered by this company. Those other functions, where they exist, might have important negative consequences for agriculture, the environment, or public health, but are often very
difficult to identify - especially by regulatory systems that are not very rigorous.

In this case, a recent study (by a different group of scientists) has determined that the same gene as is used by this company to confer drought tolerance also makes plants more susceptible to a variety of important plant disease organisms. The gene may be a basic part of plant disease resistance. It may confer some drought tolerance - but at the expense of making the crop substantially more susceptible to diseases, which could result in crop loss and higher pesticide use. At this point, the implications are not entirely clear.

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ASIA
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+ CHARLES: "I BLAME GM CROPS FOR FARMERS' SUICIDES
GM crop failures have helped to cause a "truly appalling and tragic" number of suicides among poor farmers in India, Prince Charles alleged in his most outspoken attack on the technology to date. He called cultivating the modified crops "a global moral question" and "a wrong turning on the route to feeding the world". He associated the technology with "commerce without morality" and "science without humanity".

In his lecture videocast to the Indian NGO Navdanya in Delhi, India, the Prince made it clear that he was going to continue speaking out against GM crops. "The reason I keep sticking my 60-year-old head above an increasingly dangerous parapet is not because it is good for my health," he said, "but precisely because I believe fundamentally that unless we work with nature, we will fail to restore the equilibrium we need in order to survive on this planet."
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/charles-i--blame-gm-crops-for-farmers-suicides-951807.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/charles-targets-gm-crop-giants-in-fiercest-attack-yet-951808.html

+ RESPONSES TO CHARLES' SPEECH
Dr Julian Little of the biotech industry's Agricultural Biotechnology Council wrote to the Independent on Sunday to say Charles's claims were emotive and not based on facts. So here are some facts for Dr Little to ponder.

*Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the farmers' NGO on the ground in Vidharbha, has consistently reported that it is Monsanto-Mahyco's Bt cotton that the majority of cotton farmers have been growing in Vidarbha who've taken their own lives. Vidarbha is the main cotton belt of Maharashtra - the state in India where there has been the biggest uptake of Bt cotton by farmers.

*The failure of Bt cotton in the main cotton growing area of Vidarbha has even been confirmed by the (pro-GM) Maharashtra agriculture minister Balasaheb Thorat.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/Bt_cotton_has_failed_in_Vidarbha/articleshow/2030488.cms

*Aruna Rodrigues, who led the recent public interest lawsuit to stop GM releases in India, included data on the suicide problem among Bt cotton farmers in sworn evidence before the Supreme Court of India.

*The terrible problems with Bt cotton have also been attested to by the world-renowned Indian development journalist Palagummi Sainath from his on the ground investigations and from official reports.
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/25/stories/2006112502891100.htm

P Sainath has called the impact of Monsanto in Maharashtra "devatstaing" and the hyping of expensive Bt cotton seed to debt-laden farmers there who are overwhelmingly cultivating cotton in dry unirrigated conditions, "murderous... stupid... killing."
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp

+ PRINCE IS RIGHT: GM CROPS FAIL TO DELIVER ON YIELDS -- SCIENTIST
Genetic scientist Dr Michael Antoniou says, "the Prince of Wales has every scientific as well as social, ethical and moral justification for rejecting GM crops as a way to meet the world's food needs. GM crop technology is a crude and imprecise process that always disrupts natural plant host gene functions with unpredictable and unknown consequences. It is therefore not surprising to find that GM crops have failed to deliver on their promises of improved yields. There already exist numerous underexploited, highly nutritious, versatile and tasty crops such as African rice, finger and pearl millet, fonio and tef that are naturally adapted to grow on marginal land and under harsh conditions and which can meet world food requirements as the ravages of climate change take a deeper hold.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/iiosi-letters-emails--texts-12-october-2008-958587.html

+ INDIAN FARMERS SHOULD GO ORGANIC -- CHARLES
In his lecture to Navdanya, Prince Charles said that worldwide organic farming has proved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the extent of 35%, both directly and indirectly. He said that worldwide experiences have shown that organic farming has lead to increased production and productivity. The ecological gains were enormous with lesser use of water, increased soil fertility, environment free from chemical contamination and disease-free health for farmers, he said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/indian-farmers- should-go-organic-prince- charles/369724/0

+ INDEPENDENT SCIENTISTS AGAINST PATENTS ON LIFE
Global civil society organisations and independent scientists have voiced their concerns over patenting knowledge designed for combating the impact of climate change in agriculture. They have said that such patent rights would make the seeds costlier and would not enable resource poor farmers to fight the onslaught of climate change.

"There are ample local seeds of different crops resistant drought, salinity and water logging. If these traits are used to develop new seeds and patent rights are extended over them, then it would amount to a situation where science has no social responsibility for combating climate change," said the Right Livelihood Award winner and founder of the ETC group Canada, Pat Roy Mooney, addressing the international conference on food security and climate organised by Navdanya, Mooney disclosed that about 532 applications have been filed in patent offices across the world for patent rights over the knowledge designed to combat the impact of climate change in agriculture.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/independent- scientists-against-patents-on- life-forms/369727/0

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INSECT RESISTANCE TO BT CROPS
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+ INSECT RESISTANCE TO BT CROPS
There is an ongoing debate going on at Nature Biotechnology about an important issue -- the emergence of resistance to Bt toxins. The authors of one paper on the subject, Bruce E Tabashnik, Aaron J Gassman, David W Crowder and Yves Carrière, write:

"We welcome the opportunity to confirm one of the main conclusions of our paper: some field populations of a major cotton pest, Helicoverpa zea, evolved resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Bt) in first-generation transgenic Bt cotton (also called Bollgard cotton)."
See the rest of the argument at
http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/substantial-issues-are-being-raised.html

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TECHNO-UTOPIAN QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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"We are likely to be soon entering the most dynamic period of evolution - one in which humans will be able to transform their own biology by genetic engineering and gene therapy. Whereas all previous evolutionary innovation has relied on the slow and wasteful process of natural selection, mankind will soon be able to engineer his own biological destiny. This will eventually lead to an end to cancer, heart disease and even perhaps that most intractable of genetic diseases: death itself."
Ardent supporter of GM crops, Prof Johnjoe McFadden
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/07/stevejones.evolution

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AFRICA
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+ WHY THERE'S CONCERN ABOUT THE GATES FOUNDATION IN AFRICA
There's a largely uncritical article for the New York Times magazine about the Gates Foundation's activities in Africa, in which the Foundation's Rajiv Shah expresses puzzlement about the hostility that some NGOs feel towards it. Phil Bereano, professor emeritus in the department of technical communication at the University of Washington, sent the following letter to the NYT magazine:

"The reason that so many activists in Africa and the US express "hostility" about the Gates Foundation's work in agriculture may be a mystery to your author David Rieff, but surely Rajiv Shah knows why. And as a scholar-activist whom Shah took to lunch and invited to his office, I do too.

"Often Shah seems to be telling not-quite-the-truth. He and his associates often mislead people by confusing what the Foundation is doing and what AGRA [Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa] is all about. So, for example, he insisted to me that AGRA would not be dealing with genetic engineering, and when I then confronted him with the knowledge that Gates was sponsoring GE sorghum research he said that it was under a different program. Meanwhile, in the Seattle office building, these people have offices on the same corridor!"

The article itself notes, "critics like [Vandana] Shiva note with concern that the Gates Foundation has hired from major agricultural multinationals a number of senior officials, including, notably, Rob Horsch, a leading agronomist who spent much of his career with the agricultural biotech company Monsanto. As Peter Rosset, a Chiapas, Mexico-based agricultural expert with Via Campesina, the international food-sovereignty movement, put it to me, 'Monsanto already controls much of the world's seed market, and AGRA and by extension Gates is courting the major firms like Monsanto and Syngenta.'"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12wwln-shah-t.html?_r=2&ref=environment&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

+ GMOs WILL NOT PERFORM MIRACLES FOR AFRICA
An article from the Ugandan publication New Vision is incisive on the cost of the "frenzy" that gets whipped up "among policy makers" thanks to NGOs fronting for the GM industry - read Africa Harvest and the other spin offs by Florence Wambugu and ISAAA - who want GMOs "elevated to the first priority" in governmental policy when it comes to addressing the problems of "reduced agricultural productivity in the country".

For the last ten years, this journalist explains, the pro-GM lobby has been "spending colossal sums of money" on conferences for policy makers in luxurious hotels, as a means of lobbying for GMOs "at the expense of a dwindling agricultural productivity. Their actions and influence are overshadowing the Government's strategy and competitiveness to develop tangible interventions in the agro-sector."

The writer accuses "bureaucrats, who hide in technicalities" of puffing GMOs "as the immediate saviour" of Ugandan agriculture while ignoring the range of problems that need to be addressed to really help Uganda's farmers. "Will the dwindling soil fertility, disappearing rangelands, pastures and bush fires also be addressed through genetic modifications?" the writer asks.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/654382

+ KENYA: GOVT WANTS TO IMPOSE GMOs "BY FORCE"
A scheme to introduce GM foods into Kenya shifted into top gear after minister of agriculture William Ruto launched a campaign, the National Biotechnology Awareness Strategy, to make the country appreciate them.

There are now suspicions that the government is determined to push through an unpopular biosafety bill that legalizes the introduction of GMOs into Kenya. "They want to do it by force, the so-called national awareness strategy is a mere gimmick," said Josphat Ngonyo of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200810060873.html

+ FARMER GROUPS OPPOSE BIOSAFETY BILL
Farmers' groups have faulted the Biosafety Bill 2008, dismissing it as offering little to protect Kenyans from hunger, poverty and health concerns surrounding GMOs.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/481134/-/tlfki0/-/

+ OVER 40 NGOs PROTEST AGAINST GMOs IN NAIROBI
Over 40 NGOs, community groups and consumer associations, under the auspices of the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition, staged peaceful protests in Nairobi condemning the government move to introduce GMOs in the country.
http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=77999

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COMPANY NEWS
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+ BAYER FACES 1,200 RICE LAWSUITS
Bayer's defeat of a bid by US rice farmers to sue the company as a group for contamination by its unapproved GM rice doesn't end the matter. The company still faces 1,200 individual claims of crop contamination. Don Downing, a St Louis-based lawyer for the growers, said in a court filing last year that damages might exceed $1 billion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auu3BOBRYwaE&refer=home

+ WHY IS MONSANTO BOSS AVOIDING THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND?
Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant has refused an invitation to engage in a public debate in Glasgow, Scotland, his hometown, to discuss his company's activities. Activists are asking people to add power to their invitation by contacting him. Letters to: Hugh Grant, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Monsanto
800 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63167, USA. Phone: 001 314-694-1000 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

+ IS MONSANTO BACK?
Monsanto stocks jumped 10 per cent on October 8, but they are still worth only 44% of the 52-week high set last June, according to the Motley Fool investment news service.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/10/09/is-monsanto-back.aspx

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NEW BOOKS
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Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food, by Beth Harrison. http://www.thetruthaboutgmos.com/

Small Farms as a Planetary Ecological Asset: Five Key Reasons Why We Should Support the Revitalisation of Small Farms in the Global South, by Miguel A Altieri. http://www.twnside.org.sg

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GM INSECTS
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+ INVASION OF THE WARRIOR INSECTS
The first commercial release of GM insects, to protect US cotton fields from the voracious pink bollworm, is expected within the next two years. The second target will be the mosquito that spreads dengue fever in Asia.

This new airborne offensive is being mounted from a business park near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK, where a set of low-key laboratories houses the world's leading centre for GM insect development. Oxitec, a private company spun out of Oxford University in 2002, holds tens of thousands of moths, mosquitoes and flies in its insectaries. They are undergoing genetic engineering as part of the fight against agricultural pests and carriers of human disease.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f479459c-9347-11dd-98b5-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

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GM MEDICINES
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+ GM INSULIN'S SIDE EFFECTS
In the row over GM in Australia, GM proponents have been citing GM insulin for diabetics as one of the supposed benefits of the technology. This has prompted two diabetics to write to the South Gippsland Sentinel Times to describe the horrific side-effects they suffered after being put on GM insulin. In one case, these included "speech and conversation problems, fatigue, lethargy, migraines, mood swings, depression, sensitivities, night sweats, fevers, being off balance, faint, allergy type facial swelling, waking every morning ailing, body and joint pain, and living in a clouded state". Both people recovered their health after switching to non-GM animal insulin.

Their experiences are supported by the Rockefeller Foundation-backed 1996 Bellagio report by scientists, who looked at the side-effects of GM insulin and concluded that animal insulin should "remain available in all countries which presently have that facility" and that in future, greater recognition should be given "to the value of patient experiences in relation to adverse drug reactions".
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1996/07/01/645.html

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EXTREME GENETIC ENGINEERING
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+ CORPORATE GRAB ON PLANT LIFE
Synthetic biologists, a brave new breed of science entrepreneurs who engineer life-forms from scratch, held their largest-ever global gathering in Hong Kong, October 10-12, known as "Synthetic Biology 4.0." Although most people have never heard of synthetic biology, it's moving full speed ahead fueled by giant agribusiness, energy and chemical corporations with little debate about who will control the technology, how it will be regulated (or not) and despite grave concerns surrounding the safety and security risks of designer organisms. Corporate investors/partners include BP, Chevron, Shell, Virgin Fuels, DuPont, Microsoft, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland.
http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=702

+ PERILS OF THE COMING "SUGAR ECONOMY"
Peak oil, skyrocketing fuel costs, and the climate crisis are driving corporate enthusiasm for a "biological engineering revolution" that some predict will dramatically transform industrial production of food, energy, materials, medicine, and the ecosystem. Advocates of converging technologies promise a greener, cleaner post-petroleum future, where the production of economically important compounds depends not on fossil fuels but on biological manufacturing platforms fueled by plant sugars. But this "sugar economy" will be the catalyst for a corporate grab on all plant matter as well as the destruction of biodiversity on a massive scale, warns Hope Shand.

The future bioeconomy will rely on "extreme genetic engineering," a suite of technologies currently in early stages of development. It includes cheap and fast gene sequencing, made-to-order biological parts, genome engineering and design, and nano-scale materials fabrication and operating systems. The common denominator is that all these technologies - biotech, nanotech, synthetic biology - involve engineering of living organisms at the nano-scale.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5583