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1.China sacks officials involved in GM rice test
2.China sacks three officials for GMO rice test

EXTRACT: The research team had informed parents of the tested children about the experiment but withheld the truth that GM rice would be used. (item 1)
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1.China sacks officials involved in GM rice test
Comtex News Network, Dec 6 2012 (Xinhua via Comtex)
 http://www.equities.com/news/headline-story?dt=2012-12-06&val=797636&cat=hcare

BEIJING - Three officials who had approved and conducted a controversial test of genetically modified (GM) rice on school children in central China's Hunan Province had been sacked, authorities said on Thursday.

The officials were punished for "violating relevant regulations, scientific ethics and academic integrity" according to a statement jointly released by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, and Hunan provincial CDC.

The officials include Yin Shi'an from China CDC, Wang Yin from Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences and Hu Yuming from Hunan provincial CDC.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health ordered China CDC to investigate whether dozens of children in Hunan were used in 2008 as test subjects in a U.S.-China joint research project that included GM food Golden Rice.

Greenpeace broke the news on the controversial test in late August this year, saying that the joint research involved feeding Golden Rice, which is genetically modified to be rich in beta carotene, to 25 children aged between six and eight in Hunan.

It cited a paper published in the August edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The paper claimed that Golden Rice is effective in providing vitamin A to children.

The research, approved by the National Institutes of Health of the United States in December 2002, was led by Tang Guangwen, director of the Carotenoid and Health Laboratory of Tufts University in the United States. It was intended to explore ways in preventing deficiency of Vitamin A in children.

Tang conducted the research in cooperation with Yin Shi'an from China CDC and Wang Yin from Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences.

In 2008, the test was conducted on 80 pupils in Hengnan County of Hunan Province, with 25 of them being fed 60 grams of Golden Rice on June 2.

The research team had informed parents of the tested children about the experiment but withheld the truth that GM rice would be used.
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2.China sacks three officials for GMO rice test: Xinhua
Reuters, December 6 2012
 http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-china-gmo-golden-ricebre8b51cz-20121206,0,2300556.story

BEIJING - China has sacked three officials for testing genetically modified rice on children as part of a Sino-U.S. research project, state media said on Thursday.

The officials from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences were sacked for violating regulations, scientific ethics and academic integrity, Xinhua news agency said.

The controversial test first came to light when environmental group Greenpeace said a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed study used 24 Chinese children aged between six and eight to test genetically modified "golden rice".

Tufts University, located outside Boston, said it had begun reviewing its 2008 research in August and has a five-member team investigating whether the study was in compliance with Chinese, U.S. and Tufts standards.

"While we respect China's review process which led to the statement, it would be premature for Tufts University to reach any conclusions before investigations currently under way in the United States are completed," university spokeswoman Andrea Goodman said in an e-mail.

Golden rice, a new type of rice that contains beta carotene, is intended to alleviate vitamin A deficiency.

The three officials who were fired are Yin Shi'an from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hu Yuming from the center's Hunan office, and Wang Yin from the Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Xinhua said.

The researchers had been criticized on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, and were accused of behaving unethically by running tests on poor, rural children whose families may not have been properly informed.

China is already the world's largest grower of GMO cotton and the top importer of GMO soybeans.

Although Beijing has approved homegrown strains of GMO rice, it is cautious about introducing the technology on a commercial basis due to food safety concerns.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Michael Roddy)