Several interesting items in this news roundup from AgBiotechNet, which describes itself as "the complete agricultural biotechnology information service".
It includes this, which suggests GM crop production creates so few employment opportunities that even calling it a niche industry would be to wildly overstate its economic significance:
"Plant genetic engineering in Germany employs less than 500 people, and intensified application will not increase this, due to likely fusions in the agrarian industry..."
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The following news stories are available on AgBiotechNet http://www.agbiotechnet.com/articles.asp
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ASA Says Biotech Crops Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
15/06/2006
Greenhouse gases can be greatly reduced by the adoption of biotechnology crops, says the American Soybean Association (ASA). The technology offers a far superior way to control greenhouse gas emissions from farming operations than the "cap and...
Canadian Network to Find New Biofuels and CO2-Reducing Plants
15/06/2006
Canadian plant researchers are joining forces with the federal government and industry partners to come up with new ways to use crops to reduce greenhouse gases, provide alternative energy sources and mitigate climate change. The Green Crop...
GeneThera and IZSLER to Collaborate on BSE
15/06/2006
GeneThera, Inc. has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (Agreement) with Italy's leading applied research laboratory, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), to collaborate on...
German Group Claims Few Jobs from Biotech
15/06/2006
Plant genetic engineering in Germany employs less than 500 people, and intensified application will not increase this, due to likely fusions in the agrarian industry, claimed BUND (the German federation for environment and nature protection). The...
GTC Biotherapeutics Receives $1 M from LEO Pharma
15/06/2006
GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. has received a $1 million payment from LEO Pharma A/S for achieving the milestone of a positive opinion on the market authorization application for transgenic animal produced ATryn® from the Committee for Medicinal...
SemBioSys Obtains Safflower Rights From Syngenta
15/06/2006
SemBioSys Genetics Inc. is to acquire technology assets and in-license intellectual property related to the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals in safflower from Syngenta Crop Protection AG. The assets and intellectual property will allow SemBioSys...
Biogemma and Evogene Join European Research Consortium
13/06/2006
Evogene Ltd. and Biogemma are participating in the TAGIP European FP6 research consortium. The TAGIP consortium is focused on enabling the targeted integration of genes in plants. The consortium, led by Avi Levy of the Weizmann Institute of...
NZBio Gets 3 More Years Funding
13/06/2006
New Zealand's biotechnology industry body, NZBio, welcomes the news that its Government funding will continue for a further three years. The announcement was made today by Minister for Economic Development, the Hon Trevor...
Rice Was Domesticated More Than Once
13/06/2006
Biologists from Washington University in St. Louis and their collaborators from Taiwan have examined the DNA sequence family trees of rice varieties and have determined that the crop was domesticated independently at least twice in various Asian...
Rob Martienssen Appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of London
13/06/2006
Orion Genomics said today that its scientific co-founder, Rob Martienssen was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the oldest and most venerated scientific academy in the world. The Society offers Fellowship only to the most eminent...
Avian Biosciences Center Formed at Delaware
12/06/2006
The University of Delaware's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has announced the formation of a new Avian Biosciences Center, which will bring together resources from an array of disciplines to conduct research and communicate...
Biosecurity NZ Consults on GM Medicago Testing
12/06/2006
Biosecurity New Zealand, part of the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), is consulting on a seed testing protocol for lucerne/alfalfa seed (Medicago sativa), similar to testing already in place for maize, canola and soyabean seed....
ALLERCA Reveal Hypoallergenic Cats
09/06/2006
ALLERCA has unveiled the world's first hypoallergenic cats. ALLERCA's first customers are expected to take delivery of their hypoallergenic kittens in early 2007. The ALLERCA hypoallergenic cat is the first of a planned series of lifestyle pets...
Biotech Industry Offers Support to New EU Biofuels Initiative
09/06/2006
The European association for bioindustries, EuropaBio, has warmly welcomed the European Commission's launch of the Biofuels Technology Platform and has announced the set up of a Biofuels Task Force within EuropaBio to co-ordinate the industry...
Center for Food Safety Files Lawsuit Against FDA
09/06/2006
A lawsuit filed by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) on 7 June seeks to force the US government to conduct mandatory reviews of genetically engineered foods and require labelling of GM foods once they are approved. The Washington-based group...
Salk Scientists Root Out Key Plant Cell Fate Gene
09/06/2006
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have determined why plants with a defective TOPLESS gene form an extra root where the shoot should be. Their findings, published in the June 9 issue of the journal Science, suggest that...
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