GMWatch News Review archive

Bangladesh Bt brinjal farmers demand compensation

Farmers in Bangladesh who were given Bt brinjal plants to plant have demanded compensation for huge losses they incurred cultivating the GM crop. British pro-GMO campaigner Mark Lynas had presented the Bt brinjal as a success, claiming that reports about its failure were false "scare stories" put about by anti-GMO activists. The director of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), which oversaw the failed GMO experiment, reportedly became "furious" when asked whether BARI had conducted any research to find out whether Bt brinjal would harm human health. He admitted that no independent health tests were done on Bt brinjal and called the country's GMO labelling requirement "ridiculous".

Guatemala strikes down "Monsanto Law"

In an important victory, Guatemalan lawmakers voted in favour of repealing the "Monsanto Law", which would have authorized stricter property rights and risked monopolizing agricultural processes in the country by placing copyrights on agriculture for the next 25 years. In the picture above, Lolita Chávez from the Mayan People’s Council, which fought to overturn the Monsanto Law, is shown outside the Constitutional Court, Guatemala City.

Philippines: Farmers call to stop GMO golden rice trials

Farmers in the Philippines have renewed their fight against field trials of GM golden rice and want to halt moves towards its commercialization – but with the recent failure of the crop in field trials, the prospect of a commercial release is receding.

USDA deregulates new 2,4-D-tolerant corn and soy

The USDA has deregulated Dow's 2,4-D-tolerant corn and soybeans. The agency ignored 240,000 signatures and thousands of individual submissions opposing approval, including some from scientists. 50 members of Congress wrote to EPA Administrator and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack expressing “grave concerns” about 2,4-D-tolerant GM crops. Center for Food Safety announced it will pursue all available legal options to stop commercialization.

After 90 percent decline, federal protection sought for monarch butterfly

Roundup use with GM crops has wiped out milkweed plants, the monarch caterpillar's only food. Now the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety have joined the Xerces Society and renowned monarch scientist Dr Lincoln Brower in filing a legal petition to the US Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protection for monarch butterflies.

US bullied Vietnam into not labelling GM foods

The US government bulliedVietnam into not putting GMO labelling into practice, even though the country had passed a law requiring such labels.

Kauai Council appeals federal court ruling to save its law to regulate pesticides, GMOs

In Hawaii's Kauai County, a law requiring companies to disclose their use of pesticides and GM crops is invalid, a federal judge has ruled. But the Kauai County Council has approved additional funding to appeal the ruling.

Herbicide resistance in Argentina adds to farmers' woes

Herbicide-resistant weeds are lowering yields and impacting farmer incomes, making maize no longer profitable in Argentina, according to a GMO-growing farmer.

"Monsanto is a monster" – photojournalist

"Stories from a wounded land" is a photo-essay by the journalist Alvaro Ybarra Zavala on the terrible impacts of GMO agriculture in Argentina. Some of the images, for example, of malformations in children whose mothers were exposed to Roundup spraying on GM soy, are shocking.

Study finds Argentina’s soy boom model socially and ecologically unsustainable

Policies taken to allegedly protect domestic food consumption have actually produced food insecurity, concludes a new peer-reviewed study.

Argentine researcher confirms scientific evidence on harmful effects of agrochemicals

Preliminary results show severe damage to the human genome in sprayed populations in GM soy-producing areas.

Roundup sprayed in city parks linked to cancer, study says

The pesticide Roundup, which is frequently sprayed onto public green spaces, may be associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and breast cancer, according to a scientific review published this April.

German supermarket giants demand return to GMO-free fed poultry

German supermarkets have demanded that the German Poultry Association (ZDG) stop using GMO feed for egg and poultry meat production. The argument of insufficient availability of non-GMO soy has been formally retracted by the ZDG.

Toxic glyphosate herbicides fly under the EU's regulatory radar

By the end of this year Roundup formulations containing the toxic surfactant POEA will have been removed from the German market – but the EU has so far turned a blind eye to the damning evidence.

Pesticide regulation amid the influence of industry

Risk assessment is compromised when decisions are made on the basis of a few studies done by the companies that want to commercialise the product, say the authors of a new peer-reviewed study.

EU under pressure to allow GM food imports from US and Canada

The TTIP US-EU free trade agreement is bringing pressure from US industries to allow GM products and other foods into EU markets that would violate the EU’s current standards.

IMF loan for Ukraine may give GMO giant a backdoor into EU

With the IMF set to loan the country $17 billion, the deal could also see GMO crops grown on some of the most fertile lands on the continent.

Science academy falters in launch of new GMO study

The US National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC) has announced that it will carry out a comprehensive new review of GMO crop safety – but has a poor idea of how to carry out a complex study, writes Dr Marcia Ishii-Eiteman. Agriculture experts have already raised a number of concerns with GM crops, including safety and spreading weed resistance, at the first public meeting around the study.

Kenya chooses GM and biotech, but there are smarter ways to feed Africa

GM crops can't address the real issues facing Africa's farmers, writes researcher Andrew Adam-Bradford.

GM Bt cotton production risks in Burkina Faso "high" – study

A study conducted in Burkina Faso has found that due to high seed costs, the risks of GM Bt cotton production are "disproportionately high".

Monitoring of GMO field trials a shambles in India

The State Biotechnology Coordination Committee (SBCC) in Maharashtra, which is supposed to monitor GMO field trials, has not met in years, with some members being unaware even of its existence.

US: Troubling inspection reports reveal vast outdoor experimentation in the US with GMO crops

Investigative reporter Bill Lambrecht has uncovered a trail of mistakes and violations in GMO field trials in the US. At the University of Florida, which received a formal letter from the US regulator APHIS about its failings, a tomato researcher told an inspector that he didn't plan to monitor adjacent land for unwanted volunteer plants and intended to lie about it if asked. Lambrecht found that a pharma corn trial was being run by man whose previous firm was banned from doing GMO field trials.

Genome editing not as precise as it's made out

New GM techniques that are supposedly more precise than old-fashioned transgenic GM can have major unintended knock-on effects, including toxic and allergenic products and nutritional disturbances, genetic engineer Dr Michael Antoniou explains.

Bt corn rootworm resistance in Pennsylvania

Fields in Pennsylvania have been heavily damaged by western corn rootworms, writes entomologist and agricultural extension specialist John Tooker.

Is Monsanto admitting guilt in "Zombie" GMO wheat settlement?

Monsanto has reportedly reached a settlement with Oregon farmers whose wheat was contaminated with unauthorised GM seeds.

GMO meltdown in China

In China, the safety certificates for two kinds of GM rice and one type of Monsanto GM corn – the only three types of GM food that still had national GM certificates – have expired, effectively meaning that they are no longer regarded as safe by the authorities. The development has raised questions about the future of GMO research in China. China has turned away 1.25 million tonnes of US corn and dried distillers grains (DDG) this year after discovering the presence of an unapproved GMO strain known as MIR 162, developed by Syngenta. Ingredion, a manufacturer of sweeteners and starches made from corn, will not buy MIR 162 due to China's rejection of the crop. Agribusiness giant Cargill has sued Syngenta for selling MIR 162 without first obtaining import approval from China.

These developments come in the wake of reports from students at a university in China alleging that an illegal GM rice trial on the university's students has led to an incidence of acute leukemia of up to three times the normal rate.

Syngenta can't force Bunge elevator to accept its GMO corn – court

The Syngenta biotech firm cannot force the Bunge grain elevator company to accept its Agrisure Viptera variety of GM corn, a US federal appeals court ruled. The trait has not been approved by officials in China.

Russian government approves fines for improper GMO labelling

The Russian cabinet has approved a bill introducing heavy fines for businesses that violate the rules on obligatory labelling of foods containing GM products. Proposals are even being considered for a full ban on GM foods.

Tasmania to remain free of GMO for at least five more years

Tasmanian agriculture is set to remain free of genetically modified organisms for at least five more years, with the State Government opting to extend a longstanding GMO ban.

US: GMO labelling measure makes Colorado’s November ballot

A similar measure has already qualified for the ballot in Oregon.

The GMO Deception: Q&A with Prof Sheldon Krimsky

In his newest book of essays, “The GMO Deception,” Sheldon Krimsky, head of the Council for Responsible Genetics, criticizes the agriculture and food industries for genetically modifying the food we eat.

Brazil evaluates commercial release of GM eucalyptus trees

The studies presented on GM eucalyptus trees are inadequate to prove safety, say critics.

GM mosquito town in Brazil still suffering increased dengue

The town in Brazil where GM mosquitoes intended to fight dengue fever were released is still suffering increased dengue incidence, leading to a decree renewing the state of emergency. The UK deputy prime minister is reportedly targeting India for the next GM mosquito release.

Ruin is forever: Why GMOs should be banned on the basis of the precautionary principle

GMOs pose systemic risks to ecologies and human health, writes the Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Taleb says the precautionary principle should be used to prescribe severe limits on GMOs.

LOBBYWATCH

Cornell gets $5.6 million to "depolarize" GMO debate

Cornell University is embarking on a campaign to “depolarize the charged debate” around GMO – supported by a $5.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and with the GMO industry as its partners.

Biofortified's "big list of studies" misleads the public on GMO safety

The pro-GMO lobby group Biology Fortified, Inc (BFI or Biofortified) has launched its new database of GMO studies, GENERA – but much of what's being said about it is demonstrably false, says GMWatch's Claire Robinson. Biofortified's co-founder and co-executive editor Dr Anastasia Bodnar responded to Claire's critique but her response sells the science short and continues to mislead the public.

Keith Kloor: Trash-talking the enviros – or just talking trash?

Blogger Keith Kloor tries to discredit environmentalists by putting them in the same "anti-science" box as climate denialists, but science and logic don't support the tactic, writes GMWatch's Jonathan Matthews.

US politician took money from Monsanto/Forbes publishes advertorial

A prominent Hawaiian politician has taken money from Monsanto, and part of Forbes magazine's content is paid advertorial. The latter point perhaps explains why Jon Entine can use the magazine to publish vitriolic attacks on those who threaten the interests of the GMO industry.

British think tank tells Africans to grow and eat GMOs

A report from the British foreign policy think tank Chatham House on agricultural biotechnology in Africa claims that GM "offers advantages over conventional plant-breeding approaches". But the report is highly misleading, as GMWatch's Claire Robinson explains.

NGO backlash to Chief Scientific Advisor position grows

More European NGOs have thrown their weight behind a call for the European Commission to scrap the untransparent position of the chief scientific advisor in a new letter sent to the incoming EU president, Jean-Claude Juncker. Dr Michael Warhurst of ChemTrust, one of the signatory organisations to the original letter asking for the chief scientific advisor position to be scrapped, explained that science policy is about debate and discussion – not one person working in secret, in the style of the current incumbent, Anne Glover.

Prof Jack Heinemann on vaccines, climate, power, and GMOs

Prof Jack Heinemann challenges Monsanto PR woman Janice Person's suggestion that opposition to GMOs is comparable to opposition to vaccines and explains why opposition to GMOs is not equivalent to "climate denial". He also takes on the pro-GMO blogger Keith Kloor over his attacks on Reuters journalist Carey Gillam, who covers both sides of the GMO debate.

Responses to Michael Specter's pro-GMO article in the New Yorker

Raj Patel and Aruna Rodrigues point out misleading notions in Michael Specter's article promoting GMOs.

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