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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 53
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FROM REVIEW EDITOR, CLAIRE ROBINSON
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As always, please tell all your non-English speaking friends about our past Monthly Reviews in Portuguese, Dutch and German.
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=93&page=1 <http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=93&page=1>
Claire <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.gmwatch.org <http://www.gmwatch.org> / www.lobbywatch.org <http://www.lobbywatch.org>
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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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SABOTAGE, FRAUD & SECRET BRIEFINGS
FEEDING THE WORLD?
RESISTANCE/BANS/RESTRICTIONS ON GM
NEW RESEARCH
NON-GM SUCCESSES
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
GM WATCH 2007 NEWS ROUNDUPS
BOOK REVIEWS
LOBBYWATCH
AGROFUELS
NANOTECHNOLOGY
CLONING
SYNBIO
GENETIC CROSSROADS
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SABOTAGE, FRAUD & SECRET BRIEFINGS
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+ SABOTAGE CLAIM BY DESPERATE RESEARCHER
The row over the award-winning paper showing Canadian consumers preferred GM corn, but which failed to report the use of a sign above the non-GM corn that effectively labelled it "wormy", took a new twist after one of the paper's authors told the magazine Private Eye that the research had been deliberately sabotaged by Greenpeace Canada. According to Shane Morris, Greenpeace's Michael Khoo, had been caught tampering with the signs above the corn, as part of a plot (7 years in the making!) to sabotage the research. The magazine made clear it did not believe Morris's extraordinary claims and reported that when it asked one of Morris's co-authors, Katija Blaine, about his allegation against Khoo, she admitted to knowing nothing about it. When Private Eye asked Morris to explain the glaring inconsistencies in his version of events, Morris refused to answer their questions. Michael Khoo told the magazine, "Shane Morris must be fairly desperate to create such melodramatic lies."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8662
+ LEADING EXPERTS DEMAND RETRACTION OF WORMY CORN PAPER
An open letter has been sent to the editor and editorial board of the British Food Journal (BFJ) signed by forty scientists, including leading experts in the areas of science policy and research ethics, as well as by two Members of Parliament, including Britain's former Minister of the Environment. The signatories include experts from Britain, Canada, the US, Norway, France, Italy, Brazil, Indonesia and Japan, who've been disgusted by the failure of the British Food Journal to retract a paper which, as they note, "has brought science and the BFJ into disrepute."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8698
+ PROMINENT POLITICIANS CONDEMN CANADIAN GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRAT
An article from the Institute of Science in Society reports how prominent politicians in both Britain and Ireland have condemned a "Canadian government employee [Shane Morris] for fraudulent research, disinformation, intimidation of UK and Irish citizens and attempts to sabotage Irish Government policy."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8712
+ MEACHER REPLIES TO CANADIAN GOVT RE MORRIS
Michael Meacher MP has replied to a letter from the Canadian High Commissioner in London concerning the Early Day Motion (EDM) he tabled in the House of Commons on the abuse of science by Shane Morris and others. Meacher's EDM has so far attracted the support of 27 Members of Parliament from a range of political parties - the latest Alex Salmond, who's Scotland's First Minister. The Canadian High Commissioner attempted to distance the Canadian Government from Morris's activities and research and claimed they were not a matter for the Government, but Meacher points out that:
1.Morris's use of heavy-handed libel threats, aggressive public statements and potentially libellous abuse, inevitably reflects on his employers;
2.Morris's reputation as a highly aggressive pro-GM propagandist was well known before the Canadian Government employed him;
3.the accusations against Morris of making up "untrue statements" and "melodramatic lies" relate to Morris's behaviour *since* being employed by the Canadian Government;
4.the Canadian Government does not normally allow its public servants to engage in aggressive lobbying and controversial public statements and so it's hard to imagine Morris could have launched such a campaign without the tacit consent of his employers;
5.Morris's scientific credentials, particularly in relation to biotechnology and consumer issues, must have been a critical consideration in assessing his suitability for the roles he has undertaken for the Canadian Government; "the fact that he now stands accused of being party to mendacity, falsification and fraud in respect of biotechnology and consumer issues, is therefore hardly something that the Canadian Government can turn a blind eye to."
Michael Meacher concludes, "I hope this helps explain to you how Members of Parliament in this country, where government employees are not expected to behave in the way Mr Morris has, view this issue."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8709
+ IRISH SENATORS, MEPs SPEAK OUT AGAINST "EXTRAORDINARY INTERFERENCE"
Senator David Norris is one of five Irish Senators, including the Deputy Leader of the Senate, who have expressed concern about what Norris told the Senate was "extraordinary interference by an agent of the Canadian Government in the political discourse of this country". Recent evidence suggests Shane Morris has been secretly briefing the main opposition Party in Ireland on how to cause problems for the Irish Government over its plan to create a GM-free island of Ireland. Kathy Sinnott MEP is calling for an enquiry in the light of what has been revealed about Morris's activities: "this covert interference by the Government of Canada is an affront to Irish and UK sovereignty... I am calling on the European Parliament to investigate this scandal, as we have done regarding the CIA's violation of European airspace for illegal torture flights. We need a full investigation into the extent of covert influence by foreign governments and corporations on the GM policies and decisions of the Commission, EU member states, and their regulatory bodies."
For more see: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI38.pdf
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8712
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FEEDING THE WORLD?
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+ THE GREAT GM MIRACLE?
GM Watch's Jonathan Matthews was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth, which set out to answer the question of whether GM crops are the answer to feeding the world's starving. Jonathan was pitted against pro-GM lobbyist Dick Taverne, and economist Jeffrey Sachs. The programme tellingly concludes, "Despite the hype, pro-GM advocates failed to identify a genetically modified crop that could be planted today to put food in the hungriest mouths."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8704
Full transcript of the programme at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8690
+ DESERTING THE HUNGRY?
Two CropLife member corporations, Monsanto and Syngenta, have pulled out of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology. This is an ambitious, 4-year, US$10-million project that aims to do for hunger and poverty what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has done for another global challenge. An interesting comment on this development comes from the science journal, Nature: "The idea that biotechnology cannot by itself reduce hunger and poverty is mainstream opinion among agricultural scientists and policy-makers."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8684
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RESISTANCE/BANS/RESTRICTIONS ON GM
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+ PROTESTS OVER BIOTECH LOBBY PROMOTING ITS AGENDA IN GREECE
Protests have been taking place in Greece against GMOs and the international biotech conference - Bionova (held Feb 2-3). The conference is being used by the EU biotech lobby, especially EuropaBio, to promote its agenda, including GM and agrofuels.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8683
+ FRENCH FARMER CALLS OFF HUNGER STRIKE AFTER BAN
French farmer Jose Bove and about 15 supporters called off their hunger strike in its eighth day after the government ordered the suspension of the use of GM corn MON810. Europe's Ban-GMOs Year could hardly have started better.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8669
+ U.S.: FARMER PROTECTION BILL PASSED
The California Assembly has passed the farmer GM protection bill, which now moves to the State Senate. AB 451would protect farmers whose crops are contaminated by the spread of patented GM seeds and pollen.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8710
+ U.S.: BIOTECH CRITICS CHALLENGE MONSANTO GM SUGAR BEET
A lawsuit is being filed to challenge the US Dept of Agriculture's deregulation of Monsanto's GM sugar beet because of fears of 'biological contamination' and other harm to the environment. The Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club and two organic seed groups said the lawsuit involved the USDA's approval of Monsanto's GM glyphosate-resistant sugar beet.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8693
+ U.S.: PENNSYLVANIA BACKS OFF GM HORMONE LABEL BAN
Pennsylvania agriculture officials have backed down from a controversial ban on milk labels that identify the milk as coming from cows not treated with GM growth hormone. Gov. Rendell ordered a review of the policy after consumer outcry, his spokesman said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8688
+ U.S.: FOOD GIANT OFFERS CHEESE FREE FROM GM HORMONE
Kraft Foods Inc. says it will start selling a line of cheese made with milk from cows free of rBST by June.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8679
+ CANADIAN FARMER FORCES MONSANTO BACK TO COURT
Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who was sued by Monsanto for growing its GM crops which he said blew on to his land, is back to launch another slingshot at Monsanto. This time he is suing the company for GBP300 in his local small claims court.
Schmeiser and his wife, Louise, are suing for the C$600 (GBP300) it cost to hire contractors to dig up several of Monsanto's GM oilseed rape plants he found growing in a field he was preparing for a mustard crop in 2005. Schmeiser argues the stray plants are pollution, and the polluter should pay.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8691
+ CANADIANS NOT HAPPY WITH GMOs
Canadians 'express reticence' about GM animals, fish and agricultural products, with a greater proportion surveyed believing this development will make life worse rather than better, according to a 2006 Decima Research poll for the federal government.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8707
+ NEW ZEALAND: GM TREES CUT DOWN
Rotorua police are investigating after a perimeter fence around a field trial of GM trees was breached. Some 19 trees were damaged during the incident.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8685
+ AUSTRALIAN SUPERMARKET GOES GM-FREE
Independent South Australian supermarket chain Foodland has joined Coles to ensure that their own brand products are GM-free. Both supermarkets are responding to strong customer preferences.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8705
+ SPAIN: OVER 300 SCIENTISTS AND GROUPS CALL FOR GM BAN
Over 300 scientists and groups in Spain have signed a petition calling on their government to ban the cultivation of GMOs. "This is a technology that is destroying biodiversity and was a by-product of the military industry. It is lamentable that Spain is acting as a vector for introducing these cultures into Europe when it is a country rich in biodiversity," Eugenio Reyes, a researcher at the Botanical Garden of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8696
+ CANADA VS EUROPE - FOOD FIGHT
Canada has given the European Union a deadline of February 11 to change its policies on GM foods. Canada wants to open up the European market to imports of Canadian GM products, particularly canola oil.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8701
+ APPROVE GM OR FACE "MASSIVE RETALIATION"
The American Soybean Association has warned there could be "massive retaliation" on Europe if the bloc does not speed up a system for approving GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8706
Profile of ASA: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=10&page=A <http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=10&page=A>
+ POLAND SUED BY EU OVER GM BAN
European Union regulators have launched legal action against Poland at Europe's highest court for the country's move to ban the trade in and planting of GM seeds, the EU executive said. The Polish authorities said that they believe that the use of GM seeds encroaches on the sphere of public morality, an encroachment that would justify a total ban on GM seeds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8711
+ ICELAND: RESISTANCE RISES AGAINST GM IMPORTS
Icelanders are beginning to protest more forcefully against import of GM food, leading the government to tighten regulations. 'We are the only European country that does not require food to be labelled if it contains genetically modified organisms,' said Johannes Gunnarsson, chair of the Consumers' Association in Iceland.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8705
+ PHILIPPINES: BILL SEEKING GM BAN
A bill seeking a ban on the entry of GMOS into the Philippines has been filed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8705
+ INDIA: NBA CHAIRMAN IN EYE OF STORM
India's National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) chairman Dr S Kannaiyan is in the eye of a storm after claiming only GM can increase productivity in Indian agriculture and solve the problems of malnutrition.NGOs, farmers' movements and consumer orgamisations have come together to condemn his unsupported claims and to demand his resignation.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8713
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8695
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NEW RESEARCH
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+ UNWANTED IMMUNE RESPONSES TRIGGERED BY GM PHARMA CORN
Minute quantities of a bacterial protein inserted in corn to increase the effectiveness of plant-based GM vaccines have been found to cause unwanted immune responses in mice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8675
+ GM DOES NOT MAKE COTTON MORE PROFITABLE
Profitability is most closely associated with yields and not with transgenic technologies, says research published by the American Society of Agronomy. GM cotton has been hyped as the big GM success story, leading to big increases in yields and profits for farmers, reductions in the use of agrochemicals, and benefits for biodiversity. But a series of recent studies - in China, South Africa and the USA - have helped demolish these claims.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8673
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NON-GM SUCCESSES
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+ VITAMIN A BOOSTED WITHOUT GM
Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (the US department of agriculture's chief scientific research agency) and Cornell University have discovered how to amplify the vitamin A content of corn, providing a powerful new tool in the fight against deficiencies in dietary vitamin A. In the course of their research, the scientists have discovered 'a new method of analyzing the genetic makeup of corn that will enable developing countries to identify and increase cultivation of corn that has naturally high levels of vitamin A precursors,' says Ed Buckler, a co-leader of the research team.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8708
+ NON-GM PROTEIN-RICH CORN
A variety of corn with extra protein developed by scientists in Uttarakhand, India may be the first of a series of designer crops that India plans to develop without GM.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8708
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ THE COLONIZATION OF THE CANADIAN FARMER
Listen to broadcasts on the GM takeover of Canadian farming:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/deconstructingdinner/DD010308.mp3
http://cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/audio/DD010308.m3u
Summary at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8691
+ MINNESOTA BOWS TO MONSANTO, DOW ON RIVER POLLUTION
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that "scientists at Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences convinced the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to double the allowable river concentration of an agricultural weed-killer despite an internal review calling for tougher standards." Paul Wotzka, a former Minnesota Department of Agriculture hydrologist said, "I can't fathom how quickly a state agency would bend over backwards to a chemical giant like Monsanto."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8710
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GM WATCH 2007 NEWS ROUNDUPS
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BEST OF 2007
GM Watch's global roundup of resistance
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8681
NON-GM BREAKTHROUGHS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8658
RESEARCH
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8672
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8651
BOOKS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8643
FILMS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8644
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BOOK REVIEWS
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Claire Robinson's review of Dan Hind's book, The Threat to Reason: How the Enlightenment Was Hijacked and How We Can Reclaim It, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8655
Stephen Lendman's review of F. William Engdahl's book, Seeds of Destruction, The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8645
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ CHIEF SCIENTIST PLAYS FAST AND LOOSE WITH THE TRUTH
John Vidal in the (UK) Guardian: Late last year, the government's nuclear-pushing, badger-biffing, demob-happy chief scientist, Sir David King, stated that a GMO breakthrough in Africa had increased crop yields by 40%-50%. But the project he described had nothing to do with GM crops. He also said Britain was losing 'billions of pounds' a year by not adopting GMOs in farming. Brian John, of GM Free Cymru, wondered what this 'fact' was based on. No more than speculation, it seems. Joanne Lawson, of the Government Office for Science, says King's statement 'was intended to reflect the potentially much larger European and global markets that he considers would have existed had public concerns about the new technology been understood and addressed'. John, flabbergasted, wrote back: 'I have never heard such vacuous nonsense. The figures have just been plucked from the air.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8660
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AGROFUELS
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+ EU RETHINKS AGROFUELS GUIDELINES
Europe's environment chief, Stavros Dimas, has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants. Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production.
GM Watch comment: This is what happens when the EU allows its policies and research agenda to be shaped by the likes of its European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBFTP) and BIOFRAC, groups dominated by oil, car and biotech companies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8674
+ LONDON PROTESTERS TARGET BIG AGROFUEL SUPPLIER
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/390483.html
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NANOTECHNOLOGY
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+ SOIL ASSOCIATION FIRST BODY TO BAN NANOPARTICLES
The UK's organic body, the Soil Association, has become the first organization in the world to ban nanoparticles from its certified organic products. Prof Vyvyan Howard, nanotechnology researcher at University of Ulster, said: "...in the areas of health and beauty and food more research must be done. There is considerable evidence that nanoparticles are toxic and potentially hazardous."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8680
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CLONING
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+ CLONED MEAT ALLOWED ON SHELVES - TAKE ACTION!
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted a ban on selling meat and dairy products coming from cloned animals. Tell grocers you aren't buying it! Tell them you'll stop shopping at stores that can't promise not to sell such products:
http://www.FoE.org/No_Food_From_Cloned_Animals
Don't Buy It: Keep Cloned Meat Off Grocery Shelves :
http://action.foe.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22275
The FDA has buckled to big biotech and agro-business despite more than 150,000 public comments opposing the lifting of the ban, and amendments to the federal Farm Bill and Omnibus Appropriations Bill calling for more research before lifting the ban.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8680
+ CLONES ALREADY BEING EATEN
The US Dept of Agriculture has asked US farmers to keep their cloned animals off the market indefinitely even as Food and Drug Administration officials announced that food from cloned livestock is safe to eat. Yet evidence has surfaced suggesting that Americans and others are probably already eating meat from the offspring of clones. Executives from the nation's major cattle cloning companies conceded that they have not been able to keep track of how many offspring of clones have entered the food supply.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8682
+ FOOD FROM CLONES SAFE, EU DRAFT SAYS
The European Food Safety Authority has declared that meat and milk from healthy cloned cattle and pigs is 'very unlikely' to pose risks to consumers, opening the door to possible European sales of those foods in the future. But clones are far from perfect copies. All clones are defective, in one way or another, with multiple flaws embedded in their genomes. Rudolf Jaenisch, a geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimates that something like 4-5% of the genes in a cloned animal's genome are expressed incorrectly.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8670
+ EU ETHICS PANEL DOES NOT SUPPORT ANIMAL CLONING
A European Union panel said it had 'doubts' about the ethics of using cloning to improve farm livestock, because cloned animals and their surrogate mothers suffered more health problems than conventional animals. The European Group on Ethics of science and new technologies (EGE) said it 'does not see convincing arguments to justify the production of food from clones and their offspring'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8689
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SYNBIO
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+ KEEP IT IN THE LAB
ETC Group renewed its call for a moratorium on the release and commercialization of synthetic organisms, and for the urgently needed societal debate on the oversight of synthetic biology to begin, after J. Craig Venter's research team announced it had constructed a bacterial-length synthetic genome in the lab using mail-order synthetic DNA sequences.
http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=670
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GENETIC CROSSROADS
Center for Genetics and Society
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+ SYNBIO COULD BE USED IN CLONING
Synthetic biologist Christopher Voigt claims plans call for researchers to "scale up from the simplest organisms to the most complex: human beings." Voigt estimates "that a synthetic human genome - which could be used in human cloning research - could be created by 2014."
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3892
+ FBI PREPARES VAST DATABASE OF BIOMETRICS WITH IMAGES OF IRISES AND FACES
The world's largest database of peoples' physical characteristics would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the US and abroad.
http://geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3858
+ BOY GETS LEUKAEMIA AFTER GENE TREATMENT TO CURE 'BUBBLE BABY SYNDROME'
One of the first children in Britain to receive gene therapy for an immune system disorder has developed leukaemia as a result of his treatment.
http://geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3840
+ NON-SCIENTISTS SHOULD OVERSEE STEM CELL RESEARCH
Shinya Yamanaka, recently famous for his work on cell reprogramming, asserted that non-scientists should take the lead in decisions about the ethics of scientific research.
http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3838