MONTHLY REVIEW No. 61

Print
Details
=====================================================
GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 61
=====================================================
----------------------------------------------------------- 
MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS 
----------------------------------------------------------- 

COMPANY NEWS
RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
NEW RESEARCH
LOBBYWATCH
FOOD CRISIS
GM APPROVALS / EXPANSION
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
HEALTH RISKS
CORPORATE WELFARE
CONTAMINATION
SUPERWEEDS
LABELLING
HYPOCRITES OF THE MONTH
CORPORATE CRIMES
GOLDEN RICE
FOOD ETHICS MAGAZINE
GM TREES
CLONING AND GM ANIMALS
MONSANTO FILM
GENETIC CROSSROADS

----------------------------------------------------------- 
COMPANY NEWS
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ AG BUBBLE BURSTS -- STOCKS DIVE
Monsanto lost one-sixth of its market value on Thursday as spooked investors worried that a drop in demand would hurt agricultural companies. Investors were worried too by reports that Monsanto's profit gains from its herbicide, Roundup may be peaking because the cost of phosphate rock has surged ten-fold. Monsanto mines elemental phosphorus, which is a key ingredient in Roundup.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/manufacturingtechnology/story/42399508D5A34B03862574D70009B82D?OpenDocument

+ FERTILIZER, PESTICIDE STOCKS FALL
The bubble has burst for fertilizer and agricultural chemical stocks, with former stock-market star Mosaic Co. off by a third in trading in early October and others hard on its heels as excess supply and reduced demand slow the pattern of price increases on farm chemicals.
http://www.lawnandlandscape.com/news/news.asp?ID=6879

+ BASF MAY CUT AND RUN FROM EUROPE
BASF says it may abandon research into GM crops for the European market should it fail to get approval for its GM Amflora potato.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aCGKeh_e3LrM&refer=germany

----------------------------------------------------------- 
RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ MONSANTO'S INTIMIDATION TACTICS NO LONGER LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA
A landmark piece of legislation protecting California's farmers from liability was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on 27 September 2008. The bill, AB 541, indemnifies California farmers who have not been able to prevent the drift of GM pollen or seed onto their land and the subsequent contamination of non-GM crops. Currently, farmers with crops that become contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the target of harassing lawsuits brought by biotech patent holders, most notoriously Monsanto.
http://www.nwrage.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2352
http://www.gmwatch.eu/categories/2-News

+ U.S.: COURT SAYS NO -- AGAIN -- TO GM ALFALFA
An appeals court has ruled that the US government must review the potential environmental effects of GM seeds before farmers can plant them. The decision of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals forces the US Dept of Agriculture to issue an environmental impact statement on Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa seeds.
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=court-just-says-no--again----to-gen-2008-09-02

+ PERU TO BE GM-FREE?
Antonio Brack, Peru's minister of environment, seems ready to back a declaration of Peru as a GM-free nation.
http://goodluckchuck.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/peru-to-be-a-genetically-modified-free-country/

+ FOOD FIRMS LAUNCH GM-FREE GRAIN GROUP
Brazilian soy producers and processors have launched an association, Abrange, that will guarantee grains and feeds free of GMOs to meet demand in Europe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSN0927664920080909

+ EU FAILS TO APPROVE GM SOYABEAN
EU biotech experts disagreed on whether to authorize imports of a GM soybean made by Monsanto, leaving the final decision to EU farm ministers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE48S5H020080929

+ EU STATES SHOULD BE ABLE TO STOP GM CROPS -- GERMANY
Germany wants EU member states to have the power to block GM crops in their countries, agriculture minister Horst Seehofer said.
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/09/03/afx5383694.html

+ GERMANY: FIVE GM FIELDS SABOTAGED BY ACTIVISTS IN THREE WEEKS
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080813090939740

+ GM-FREE BREAKTHROUGH
The Dutch dairy company Campina says it has committed to a new feed scheme for one of its leading German dairy brands as part of a wider commitment to removing GMOs from its products. Campina says that only non-GM grains sourced from within Germany and the EU will be used to feed cattle supplying its Landliebe brand of milk.
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Publications/Food-Beverage-Nutrition/DairyReporter/ Industry-markets/Campina-brand-claims-GM-free-breakthrough

+ COMMENT ON THE GM ANIMAL FEED ISSUE BY GM-FREE IRELAND
Teagasc, the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Grain and Feed Association -- and their friends in government, academia and the media -- must stop spreading the agri-biotech industry lie that non-GM animal feed is unavailable or unaffordable. European maize is abundant and 99% GM-free; Brazil can supply the entire EU market for soy meal from certified sustainable non-GM sources. And peak oil will soon favour local production of feed crops over expensive imports.
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

+ DROP IN GM CROPS GROWN IN EU
The area of European farmland sown with GM crops declined by just over 2% in 2008, due to a ban in France. France was previously the second-largest producer of GM maize, the only GM crop allowed to be grown in the EU.

GM Watch comment: Interestingly, the press release announcing this news, from the GM industry PR body Europabio, is written as if the downturn is a mere blip in an otherwise relentless story of GM success in Europe! Spurred on by Europabio's press release, pro-GM sources actually headlined news of Europe's shrinking GM crop acreage as, "More GM crops being grown across Europe" (Farmers Gaurdian) and "Cultivation of GMOs rises in many European countries" (GMO Compass). An Australian farmer pointed out to GM Watch that the entire acreage cited for GM crop cultivation in Europe is only five times the size of her farm!
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/09/drop-in-genetically-modified-crops-grown-in-eu/62491.aspx

+ THE DAYS OF GM CROPS MAY BE NUMBERED IN EUROPE
Pressure from the president of the European Commission has not succeeded in advancing the cause of GM crops, says a report for the Inter Press Service. In spite of the power wielded by the executive organ of the European Union, the bloc's member countries are gradually discontinuing the use of GM seeds. This is due in large measure to the difficulty of convincing European farmers to adopt the transgenic crop production model, but also to increasingly vociferous protests in different parts of Europe and demands that governments take an active role.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43895

+ UK: CELTIC REVOLT AGAINST WESTMINSTER OVER GM CROPS
UK government ministers are facing an unprecedented Celtic revolt from their Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts as they launch a new campaign to plant GM crops in Britain. All three devolved governments have declared themselves implacably opposed to any GM crops in their territory, setting the scene for one of their sharpest-ever confrontations with Westminster. And their opposition is likely to have an impact throughout Europe, sapping the UK's hitherto obdurate support for the introduction of the technology throughout the Continent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/celtic-revolt-against-west minster-over-gm-crops-944768.html
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2446130.0.scotland_urges _ukwide_ban_on_gm_crops.php

+ GM SETBACK FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S MAIZE EXPORTERS
The World Food Programme, one of the biggest buyers of South African maize, may have to shop elsewhere due to a growing shortage of non-GM maize. The move would be a huge blow to grain exporters, some of whom say they have already suffered economic losses due to the country's heavy reliance on GM maize.

"It is becoming more difficult every year to find sufficient quantities of non-GM maize in South Africa," WFP southern Africa spokesman Richard Lee said. "The situation is that the majority of countries that we send maize to from South Africa as food assistance do not want GM maize," Lee said. South Africa is the only African country growing a GM food crop commercially.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/BusinessTimes/Article1.aspx?id=851643

+ U.S. PRESSURES JAPAN TO ACCEPT GMOs
Dr Nina Fedoroff, the science and technology adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is visiting Tokyo to seek Japan's "help to promote the safety of genetically modified crops among Japanese consumers," as a way to "ease the global food crisis".

Time after time, Japanese citizens have demonstrated in the streets of Tokyo to protest against imports of GM foods. South Korean citizens share the same concerns, making waves with large demonstrations in Seoul, and joining events in Japan.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/saying-no-to-gm-foods.php

+ INDIAN ARTIST AUCTIONS WORK TO RAISE FUNDS
Indian artist Sharmila Samant's works auctioned in Australia have raised AUSD 20,160 for families of Indian farmers who committed suicide following consecutive GM crop failures.
http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/09/10/0809101414_indian_artist_samant_auctions_works_to_raise_funds.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
NEW RESEARCH
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ SCIENTISTS UNCOVER BEES' ABILITY TO SPREAD TRANSGENES OVER SEVERAL KILOMETRES
A study by scientists from the Nairobi-headquartered international research centre ICIPE, in collaboration with the French Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), has established that bees have the potential to spread transgenes from GM crops to wild relatives over several kilometres.
http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=13820
http://www.physorg.com/news141290166.html

+ BT CROPS NEGATIVELY IMPACT SOIL -- STUDY
A new study investigated the effects of two Bt corn lines (Bt 11 and Bt 176) and their plant residues on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, a group of beneficial organisms important to soil fertility. The study found that both transgenic plants decreased AM's colonization and Bt 11 plant residues negatively affected AM establishment four months after their incorporation into the soil.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/34-Bt-crops-could-negatively-impact-soil-microorg anisms.html

+ NEW REPORT ON PHARMA CROPS
UCS recently released a new briefing paper on pharma crops and food safety. Find it here:
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/solutions/sensible_pharma_crops/usda-to-allow-safe-levels.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
LOBBYWATCH
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ NEW BBSRC CHIEF ANOTHER GM HARDLINER
The goal of building businesses from genetics has always been central to the corporate plan of the UK's public funding body for the biosciences, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). First, Peter Doyle, a director of the GM giant Syngenta, was made the public funding body's chairman. Next as chief executive came Prof Julia Goodfellow, the wife of geneticist Dr Peter Goodfellow, head of discovery research at biotech/pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline.

At the time, GlaxoSmithKline also had three representatives sitting on BBSRC boards -- a number matched by Syngenta. Unsurprisingly, biotechnology has been swallowing up the lion's share of the BBSRC's research funds for the biological sciences.

The new head of the BBSRC follows in this fine tradition. He is Prof Douglas Kell, a staunch supporter of GM who calls the pulling up of GM  crops "terrorism" and says it's his job to get scientists to plug into the Government's economic and political agenda. Kell said: "We are not going to abandon research into genetically modified plants just because a few people who don't understand the social and economic agenda happen not to like them." A few people? Where exactly has Prof Kell been for the last ten years?!!
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=403769&c=1

+ OPEN LETTER TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY
In what is seen by many as a move timed to back up the UK government's renewed support for GM crops, the Royal Society has announced a call for evidence for a new research report on "biological approaches to enhance food crop production". Friends of the Earth and other NGOs are concerned that this repeats some of the work of the International Agriculture Assessment (IAASTD) and will try and give a more prominent role to GM crops in meeting future food needs. They've written a joint open letter expressing concern about the remit of the research, and suggesting what they should be focusing on -- implementing the findings of IAASTD. The open letter is here
http://feedingtheworldconference.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/royal-society-future-of-food/ Details of the Royal Society report here
http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?tip=1&id=7926

+ SOUR MILK
The Environment Report, a non-profit producer of radio reports about the environment, has produced an article in favour of the GM dairy hormone rBGH/rBST/Posilac. The article follows a time-honored pro-corporate format, pitting a "well-meaning" health-store owner who doesn't feel "comfortable" with rBGH against a Cornell scientist. The scientist cites her own recent peer-reviewed study extolling the environmental benefits of rBGH. But Tom Philpott of Grist points out why it's the reporter who is being naïve, not the health-store owner, when you look at the massive conflicts of interest involved.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/30/11335/2723
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/study-bovine-growth-hormone-good-for-environment.php
http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/say-bye-to-bye-monsanto-gm-corn-to-be-subsidized-by-usda-federal-crop-insurance-program-fcic/

+ GM WHISTLEBLOWER VINDICATED
The biologist and GM whistleblower Christian Velot has met the Presidency of the University Paris-South (Orsay) after a mobilization day in support of Velot. Velot had suffered repeated persecution after raising concerns about GMOs, including public rebukes from the director of the Institute of Genetics and Microbiology (IGM) where Velot is conducting his research, the removal of funding, the requisitioning of his lab, and a false allegation of supposed aggression against a colleague -- aggression denied even by the supposed victim! Following the meeting, the Presidency of the University made commitments to Velot ON protection of his freedom of speech and his research work. The Presidency will also write a public letter to clear Velot and his team of the false accusations made against them.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/31-GM-whistleblower-vindicated.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
FOOD CRISIS
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ MONSANTO PROFITEERING CONDEMNED BY PRESIDENT OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMPLY
The President of the General Assembly of the United Nations has condemned the profiteering by Monsanto in the food crisis. H. E. M. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann made his comments at the opening of the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals at the UN in New York.

Brockmann said, "It is clear that the world food crisis is increasing social tensions and bringing about a significant rise in extreme poverty.... The World Bank has concluded that 75 per cent of the increase in food prices stems from the production of biofuels and factors related to rapidly growing demand for biofuels.... The essential purpose of food, which is to nourish people, has been subordinated to the economic aims of a handful of multinational corporations that monopolize all aspects of food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively; the leading chemical fertiliser companies, such as Mosaic Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill, doubled their profits in a single year."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14843.cfm

+ WOOLAS SHOULD DO HIS HOMEWORK
UK environment minister Phil Woolas says the anti GM lobby has just one year to put up its arguments. Steve Dube writes on Wales Online: "No doubt it will do so, but it does beg the question: where has he been? The answer, of course, is that he's been sat around a table with representatives of the companies that are trying to sell the stuff." [GM Watch comment: This is a reference to Woolas being briefed by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council before he launched the Government's current pro-GM campaign. The ABC is a lobby group set up by the GM industry and run by Lexington Communications -- a PR outfit headed by Labour's former head of communications.]

Dube says there is no evidence that GM crops offer benefits such as increased yield or drought resistance, and they haven't even been proven safe to eat: "That's a lot of maybes, a lot of ifs and buts. And it's a long way from Phil Woolas's apparent knowledge and understanding of the issue. Time for some homework Mr Woolas -- and might we suggest a little less time cosying up to commercial interests."
http://blogs.walesonline.co.uk/upcountry/2008/09/uk-environment-minister-phil-w.html

+ UK MINISTER ACCUSES "MESSIANIC" ANTI-GM LOBBY OF IGNORANCE
UK food and farming minister Jeff Rooker has attacked opponents of GM crops, who he said are on a "messianic mission" to halt the technology. He expressed frustration at what he described as the "anti science climate" across the EU. http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=21489

+ UK GOVT ACCUSED OF "BREATHTAKING NAIVETY" ON GM
After Ian Pearson, the UK science minister, was quoted in The Guardian as saying that the public would accept GM if the technology could help feed people in developing countries, like sub-Saharan Africa, Patrick Holden of the Soil Association said, "There is no evidence that GM crops increase yields, reduce pesticide use or bring any public benefits to society. And there is a growing body of evidence there could be health risks." http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/22/gmcrops.foodhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/22/eagm122.xml

+ PEARSON NEEDS TO GET HIS FACTS STRAIGHT -- GENETICIST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/sep/24/4

+ HUNGER IN AFRICA BLAMED ON WEST'S REJECTION OF GM FOOD
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair's ex-chief scientist, Sir David King, has continued his strident GM promotionals with a claim that the rise of organic farming and the rejection of GM crops in Britain and other developed countries is largely to blame for the impoverishment of Africa.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/08/gmcrops.food

+ HOPE FOR AFRICA LIES NOT IN GM BUT IN POLITICAL REFORM
http://www.independent.co.uk:80/opinion/commentators/daniel-howden-hope-for-africa-lies-in-political-reforms-922487.html
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/36-Hope-for-Africa-lies-not-in-GM-but-in-political-reforms.html

+ KING "UNSCIENTIFIC AND IRRATIONAL"
David King's fervent belief in GM crops is making him blind to reality, comments Peter Melchett of the Soil Association: "No GM crops consistently produce higher yields than non-GM varieties. All GM crops need expensive, oil-based, climate-damaging fertilisers and chemical sprays. All GM seeds cost more than non-GM, and they cannot be saved so that poor farmers can use seeds they grow themselves. David King and a minority of scientists' belief in GM is based entirely on promises of what these crops might deliver in future. Exactly the same promises were being made by Monsanto 25 years ago. Quarter of a century should be long enough for even the most ardent GM fan to wake up to GM's limitations."

+ GM CROPS NOT THE MORAL CHOICE
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/37-Are-biotech-crops-a-moral-choice.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
GM APPROVALS / EXPANSION
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ BRAZILIAN COMMISSION RELEASES GM MAIZE, COTTON
Brazil's CTNBio (National Biosafety Technical Commission) has authorized the release of two varieties of GM maize and one variety of GM cotton in a meeting that descended into farce.

According to a press release from GM-Free Brazil, the ministry of agrarian development had voted against the release of the two maize varieties because the document presented by Syngenta reported that its GM maize GA21 is stable, and that the proofs were contained in Appendix 8 of the presented documentation. But curiously, Appendix 8 had been removed from the process and not even CTNBio's members had access to it. A scientist appointed by the ministry of agrarian development to read out a report on the maize at the meeting was repeatedly interrupted by other members of CTNBio and told to hurry up and finish.

In addition, documentation indicating that laboratory rats fed with this maize variety had presented symptoms of toxicity were removed from the analyses. During the voting, the president of CTNBio appeared to want confirmation that the disappearance of Appendix 8 would not compromise the commission's technical analysis. One of the scientists "assured" him that even without access to the data concerned, it was possible to verify that the maize is safe. Scientific corroboration came from another member of the Commission representing the ministry of foreign relations -- a university professor and a biotechnology entrepreneur -- who said that the safety came from the fact that this maize had already been released in other countries.
http://www.aspta.org.br/por-um-brasil-livre-de-transgenicos/updates/update-october-2008

+ AFRICAN HERITAGE CROPS THREATENED BY SOUTH AFRICAN GMO DECISION
Strong concern has been expressed over the recent Appeal Board decision to overturn a landmark decision by the South African GMO authority to ban the genetic engineering of sorghum, a prized African heritage crop.
http://www.grain.org/m/?id=201 http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i4MWpodvVJv9kxkUar1xl3Pop0dA
Background: http://www.biosafetyafrica.net

+ INDIA: FIELD TRIALS OF GM RICE VIOLATE GUIDELINES
Gene Campaign has alleged that leading seed company Mahyco has violated guidelines in conducting field trials of GM rice in Jharkhand. http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091860931200.htm http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/14161921.htm

+ INDIA: BT BRINJAL SAFETY DOCS AVAILABLE
The documents the government of India was forced to release on the biosafety of Bt brinjal (eggplant/aubergine) are downloadable from:
http://mightybrinjal.wordpress.com/

+ EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVES GM SOYABEAN
The European Commission has approved the import of Bayer's GM soybean A25704-12 for use in food and animal feed. The decision was arrived at by the pro-GM Commission after ministers from the EU member states could not come to an agreement.
http://euobserver.com/9/26710

+ U.S. HOPEFUL OF AGREEMENT WITH EU OVER GM
The US hopes to come to an agreement with the EU over GM crops, without the need to involve the World Trade Organization, the US ambassador to the European Union said.
http://www.lloyds.com/CmsPhoenix/DowJonesArticle.aspx?id=406712

----------------------------------------------------------- 
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ AUSTRALIA: "ONEROUS" CLAUSES IN GM CROP CONTRACT
Australian farmers signing up to grow GM canola are exposing themselves to "onerous" obligations, an international law expert says.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/concerns-about-onerous-clauses-in-gm-crop-contract/1282158.aspx

+ INDIA: BHARGAVA CONSIDERS CASE OF DEFAMATION
The judges in India's Supreme Court appointed the eminent Indian molecular biologist Pushpa Mittra Bhargava to observe the conduct of the GEAC -- India's apex GM regulatory committee -- as a special invitee, as a means of reassuring concerned citizens. But his attempts to improve and make public serious regulatory deficiencies have resulted in a campaign of vilification and an attempt to force him off the committee.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=335843

+ FORMER MONSANTO DIRECTOR ADVISING OBAMA
The Obama campaign has revealed its five main science advisors. Two have ties to the biotech industry: Sharon Long, Monsanto board of directors, 2002-2007; and Gilbert Omenn, Amgen director, 1987-present.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/18/123340/083 http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/obama-campaign.html
More on Obama, GM, and ethanol:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/us/politics/23ethanol.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1220529657-rq5Kdj0rDcKR+q5MQ1k2Vw
http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=40
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/09/03/rnc-farming-agriculture-biz-beltway-cx_jz_0903rnc-farm.html

+ SETTLEMENT OF MONSANTO CASE AGAINST FARM CO-OP
Monsanto has continued a string of victories over farmers it claimed saved its seeds to use in subsequent growing seasons. The company announced the settlement of a two-year dispute involving alleged patent infringement by Pilot Grove Cooperative Elevator Inc.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1857737/
For the horrific story of Monsanto's harassment of the Pilot Grove Coop: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

----------------------------------------------------------- 
HEALTH RISKS
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ HAZARDS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING
Superb editorial from a Sri Lankan newspaper:
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=25777

+ THE PROBLEM WITH NUTRITIONALLY ENHANCED GM PLANTS
"Biologically active compounds" in GM nutritionally enhanced crops like Golden Rice "could have profound effects on human development", warns David R. Schubert, professor and head of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in California. Schubert calls for careful testing of such foods before they are consumed.
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2008.0094)
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/30-The-Problem-with-Nutritionally-Enhanced-Plants.html

+ SCIENTIST WHO COINED TERM "GENETIC ENGINEERING" WARNS OF HEALTH RISKS
Indian molecular biologist Dr P.M. Bhargava, who first coined the term "genetic engineering" in 1973, has warned against GM foods being pushed into the Indian market without proper assessment of health risks.
http://infochangeindia.org/200807077208/Agriculture/Features/Genetically-modified-crops-The-risk-factor.html

+ MORE CONCERNS OVER GM CROPS IN INDIA
According to KP Prbhakaran Nair, chairperson of an independent expert committee constituted to examine the suitability of Bt brinjal (eggplant/aubergine) for India, the measures taken to test GM crops for safety leave a lot to be desired. Nair says that Bt protein has been found even in non-GM brinjal before cooking. No one knows if this is due to contamination during the experiment or to poorly regulated field trials of Bt brinjal which have contaminated non-GM brinjal. One of the most important parameters to test the safety of Bt crops is heat stability, to see whether the toxic Bt protein persists after cooking. Mahyco, Monsanto's partner seed company in India, claims that once cooked, the Bt toxin gets destroyed, but this claim is challenged by Nair.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20080915&filename=croc&sec_id=10&sid=2
Related article: http://www.countercurrents.org/sharma040908.htm

----------------------------------------------------------- 
CORPORATE WELFARE
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ THE FREE MARKET PREACHERS HAVE LONG PRACTISED STATE WELFARE FOR THE RICH
According to Senator Jim Bunning, the proposal to purchase $700bn of dodgy debt by the US government was "financial socialism, it is un-American". But, George Monbiot points out in The Guardian, "They are wrong. Any subsidies eventually given to the monster banks of Wall Street will be as American as apple pie and obesity. The sums demanded may be unprecedented, but there is nothing new about the principle: corporate welfare is a consistent feature of advanced capitalism."

"The federal government's Advanced Technology Program, which was supposed to support the development of technologies that are "pre-competitive" or "high risk", has instead been captured by big businesses flogging proven products. Since 1991, companies such as IBM, General Electric, Dow Chemical, Caterpillar, Ford, DuPont, General Motors, Chevron and Monsanto have extracted hundreds of millions from this programme.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/30/marketturmoil.subprimecrisis

----------------------------------------------------------- 
CONTAMINATION
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ GM CONTAMINATION IN SCOTLAND POSED SERIOUS RISK
GM seeds were wrongly sown at three locations in Scotland, posing a "very serious risk" to the environment, the Scottish Government said. A new variety of supposedly non-GM oilseed rape contained unauthorised GM material, it emerged. Sowing of seeds from that batch has been halted and plants on the three trial sites will be destroyed. http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i7aI2QGZgJOSFdB2rxrP2tEptS0Q
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/09/12101348
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7612262.stm

----------------------------------------------------------- 
SUPERWEEDS
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ ARKANSAS, U.S.: FIELDS OF GLYPHOSATE-RESISTANT WEEDS
As Roundup Ready crops have come to dominate Mid-South agriculture, so have glyphosate-resistant genes come to increasingly dominate a handful of problem Mid-South weeds. Currently, Palmer amaranth, a pigweed, tops the list of worries.

GM Watch comment: Christopher Preston, an Australian weed specialist, was invited to Arkansas to give advice on the problem. Preston is an ardent GM supporter, yet even he can't deny the total unsustainability of the kind of farming practices Roundup Ready crops have encouraged. He said, "Farmers here have used Roundup Ready cropping with glyphosate as the only herbicide while pulling back on tillage. In that system, the only thing that's really controlling the weed is glyphosate. Do that for a decade and you'll have problems."
http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton/resistant-pigweed-0925/

----------------------------------------------------------- 
LABELLING
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ GM LABELLING TO BE MANDATORY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Labelling of the GM contents of food will become mandatory once the Consumer Protection Bill is implemented, and producers, importers, distributors and retailers will be held liable for any damage these products might cause.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A845077

----------------------------------------------------------- 
HYPOCRITES OF THE MONTH
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ AMID MILK SCARE, CHINA'S ELITE EAT ORGANIC ONLY
While China grapples with its latest tainted food crisis -- contaminated milk -- the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. They get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. And it's all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all-organic goods including rice free of GM contamination (Chinese rice has become contaminated during GM field trials in China).
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

GM WATCH comment: This news follows other revelations about the pro-GM elite: despite Tony Blair's claims that he fed his children GM foods, the former Prime Minister's wife has admitted that she always tried to make sure the children ate organic; and even Monsanto's CEO says he buys organic!

----------------------------------------------------------- 
CORPORATE CRIMES
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ OPEN LETTER TO MONSANTO
Len Aldis, secretary of the British-Vietnam Friendship Society, has written an open letter to Monsanto president and CEO Hugh Grant, in which he accuses him of having "failed to take any steps to alleviate the consequences of Monsanto's manufacture of Agent Orange". Monsanto's crimes continue with GM, Aldis writes.
http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/300908/life_le.htm

+ VIETNAMESE VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE BRING LAWSUIT
Millions of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, spread by US Air Force in the Vietnam War, will bring a lawsuit against Monsanto and other manufacturers of the toxic substance before the US Supreme Court of Justice.
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B0F7EA356-4163-4039-8372-AFABA002A218%7D&language=EN
http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/300908/life_ag.htm

----------------------------------------------------------- 
GOLDEN RICE
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ PATENT SYSTEM "STIFLING SCIENCE"
You may have thought that it was the failure of genetic scientists to engineer enough pro-vitamin A into Golden Rice that was holding up its public launch. But an article for the BBC entitled "Patent system 'stifling science'" says the delay is due to the patent quagmire created by all the "companies holding patents for technologies used to engineer the rice". "It has taken years just to figure out how many patents there actually are and who owns them. We must address this lack of transparency," says Dr Richard Gold, professor of intellectual property law at McGill University in Montreal.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7632318.stm

----------------------------------------------------------- 
FOOD ETHICS MAGAZINE
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ FOOD ETHICS MAGAZINE: AUTUMN 2008 ISSUE ON GM FOOD
The Autumn 2008 edition of Food Ethics magazine takes stock of a decade of study and research around GM food, asks what lessons we've learnt, and invites contributors to explain what they'd do to solve some of the key problems GM foods are claimed to address.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/29-GM-foods-the-wrong-debate.html

+ CONTRIBUTOR QUOTES FROM FOOD ETHICS MAGAZINE
"There have been large numbers of animal studies...[that] are generally neither peer-reviewed by independent professional toxicologists nor published in scientific literature; moreover, they are often conducted by the very companies who are applying for permission to market the foods that they are testing."
-- Dr Peter Lund, senior lecturer in molecular genetics, cell biology and biotechnology at the University of Birmingham, and member of the Government's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes

"If some people are allowed to choose to grow, sell and consume GM foods, soon nobody will be able to choose food, or a biosphere, free of GM. It's a one way choice, like the introduction of rabbits or cane toads to Australia; once it's made, it can't be reversed."
-- Roger Levett, specialist in sustainable development policy

"Poor people only starve because we maintain a global economic order which allows rich nations and people to outbid poor ones for the fruit of the land."
-- Roger Levett, specialist in sustainable development policy
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/29-GM-foods-the-wrong-debate.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
GM TREES
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ UK: FORESTRY COMMISSION AND GM TREES
GM tree researchers in the UK see this as an ideal time to revive efforts to introduce GM trees.
Contact the Forestry Commission: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/HCOU-4U4HZS
http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/24-Bid-to-plant-GM-trees-in-UK.html

----------------------------------------------------------- 
CLONING AND GM ANIMALS
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ MEPs VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY FOR BAN ON CLONING FOR FOOD
European parliamentarians have voted with an overwhelming majority in favour of a proposal to ban cloning of animals for food. Protagonists on both sides of the debate acknowledge that cloned animals are faced with a wide range of health problems, with a high death rate and a high incidence of disease.
http://euobserver.com/19/26681
http://www.farminguk.com/Commission-urged-to-prohibit-cloning-for-food-after-MEP s-vote-to-support-ban8460.asp
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4247

+ ANIMAL CLONES' OFFSPRING ARE IN U.S. FOOD SUPPLY
Milk and meat from the offspring of cloned livestock are entering the US food supply, and no one is keeping track, says an article in the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122031044800588585.html [subscription needed]

+ CANADIANS: ALREADY DINING ON CLONES?
Canadians may have been consuming food from clones for years without knowing it, despite a Health Canada ban.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4259

+ U.S.: SECRET APPROVAL, NO LABELING FOR GM ANIMALS
The Center for Food Safety issued a statement in response to the US FDA's release of a draft guidance outlining the approval process for GM animals. CFS calls the proposed FDA rules "seriously flawed". The new proposal uses a secret approval process wherein no one other than FDA reviewers can see the data submitted before final approval. And FDA maintains that GM animals should not be labeled.
http://wistechnology.com/articles/5041/

+ NEW ZEALAND: DEFORMED CALVES DON'T ENHANCE NEW ZEALAND'S IMAGE
New Zealand's Green Party has condemned the government-funded Agresearch institute over its planned continued involvement in GM animals. Greens Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons noted that Agresearch "admits a less than 9 percent live birth rate, aborted deformed foetuses, deformed calves, gangrenous udders and 'animals suffering from respiratory conditions', but denies there are animal welfare concerns."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0809/S00091.htm
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/2049104

----------------------------------------------------------- 
MONSANTO FILM
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ HOW TO BUY 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO'
This must-see movie is now readily available on DVD in the U.S.:
http://www.fsicart.com/seeds
If you're outside the US, then exact instructions on how to obtain a copy can be found in English at:
http://www.arteboutique.com/HomeEn.action?lang=en
The film is currently available in 3 different languages: English, French and German.
Jeffrey Smith's review of the film: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showDocumentFile?objectID=178

----------------------------------------------------------- 
GENETIC CROSSROADS
News and Views from the Center for Genetics and Society
----------------------------------------------------------- 

+ CONTROVERSIAL STEM-CELL CO. SINKING IN DEBT
Advanced Cell Technology may be on its last breath. It is vacating its Massachusetts facility and not renewing its lease on a California research center.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4264

+ HOW THE (NOT SO) MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN
by Osagie Obasogie, Biopolitical Times
Just three years ago, NitroMed (makers of BiDil, the first FDA-approved race specific medicine) was heralded as a promising pharmaceutical company with a business model for BiDil that led some analysts to predict sales of between $500 million and $1 billion by 2010. Yet, BiDil’s fortunes have swung drastically in the other direction
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4305

+ DESIGNING THE $100,000 BABY
New reproductive technologies are giving would-be parents more options -- if they can cough up enough money. One day, some experts say, parents might be able to order blue-eyed, academically inclined, cancer-free kids.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4303

+ NEO-CON LOGIC: DESIGNER BABIES FOR ALL
by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times
A neo-conservative pundit endorses inheritable genetic enhancement.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4263

+ SCIENTISTS REPROGRAM ADULT CELLS' FUNCTION
Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, an advance that could sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4240

+ CALIFORNIA STEM CELL PROGRAM TO GO UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
by Jesse Reynolds, Biopolitical Times
The governance of California's $3 billion stem cell research program will finally face some long-overdue scrutiny.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4304

+ DRAFT LAW TIGHTENS SURROGACY NORMS [INDIA]
The Indian government has unveiled a bill to regulate assisted reproduction, including surrogacy.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4306

+ DEMAND FOR JEWISH EGGS ATTRACTS ISRAELI DONORS
Driven by Altruism and Money, a Trend Raises Ethical Concerns
A small but growing number of Jewish Israeli women are traveling to the United States to donate their eggs to infertile Jewish couples undergoing in vitro fertilization.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4302

+ IN INDIA, SURROGACY HAS BECOME A GLOBAL BUSINESS
They come from Europe, Asia and America. Couples unable to have their own children are finding a booming market for surrogate motherhood in India. But what happens when a baby is born that suddenly belongs to no one?
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4301

+ CURES, JOBS, ETHICS ON THE LINE IN VOTE ON STEM CELL RESEARCH
Michigan voters will decide the emotionally charged issue of embryonic stem cell research on the basis of a 100-word ballot initiative.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4294