Review 583: GMOs in General – Corporate Control and Other Topics

Welcome to our latest Review, which covers CORPORATE CONTROL AND PATENTS, GMO-ASSOCIATED PESTICIDES, LABELLING, and the dangers of MIRROR LIFE. There are stories on GMO ANIMAL FEED, FEEDING THE WORLD, BIOTECH FRAUD, GMO ANIMALS, and GMO TREES, as well as yet more GMO FAILURES.
Several of these topics were areas of concern for Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday. The first Latin American pontiff spoke out fearlessly on the damaging impacts of GMOs, with his words giving rise to headlines such as Pope Francis Joins Battle Against Transgenic Crops and Pope Criticises “Ruinous” Impact of GM Foods.

He also warned about such technologies creating “a vicious circle in which the intervention of the human being to solve a problem often worsens the situation further. For example, many birds and insects die out as a result of toxic pesticides created by technology, they are useful to agriculture itself, and their disappearance will be compensated with another technological intervention that probably will bring new harmful effects.” Pope Francis also pointed out that ending hunger required tackling monopolistic corporations, food speculation, and food waste – rather than GMOs – and that our spiritual welfare depended on the protection of the natural world.
We end this Review with a section on COVID ORIGINS – our first in a while. We had stopped covering this important issue, which we were among the first to report on, because it had gone mainstream and was being so well covered elsewhere. But several recent major developments have led us to return to this topic in this Review.

CORPORATE CONTROL AND PATENTS

Corporate control in seed sector threatens Nigeria’s food sovereignty – expert
A food safety expert has warned that Nigeria’s food sovereignty is seriously threatened as multinational corporations tighten their grip on the seed sector through patenting and intellectual property rights. Prof Qrisstuberg Amua, the executive director of the Centre for Food Safety and Agricultural Research (CEFSAR), pointed out that foreign companies are leveraging intellectual property laws to dominate global and Nigeria’s seed markets. This trend, he argued, would limit seed diversity, driving up prices and restricting farmers’ rights to save and replant seeds while eroding traditional farming. He said, “In countries such as India, where Bt cotton was once celebrated as a success story, farmers are now trapped in cycles of debt due to the high cost of GMO seeds and related agricultural inputs.”

Impossible Foods prevails in EU patent dispute
A decision by the European Patent Office (EPO) to revoke a key EU patent granted to Impossible Foods has been overturned following a lengthy appeals process. The patent in question covers the use of Impossible Foods’ heme proteins (made by a genetically engineered yeast strain) and flavour precursor molecules to modulate the flavour and aroma of meat substitutes.

GMO FAILURES

Pesticide use increases from supposedly pesticide-decreasing GM crops – new scientific analysis

An incisive new analysis from an international team of authors, including Glenn Davis Stone and K. R. Kranthi, finds that pesticide use increases from supposedly pesticide-decreasing GM crops. The paper states, “Genetically modified (GM) crops are a technology with the theoretical potential to make agriculture more efficient as a function of yield per input (e.g., water, fuel, fertiliser and pesticide) or unit of land. Like other technological efficiencies, however, the increased use of GM crops over the past 30 years has not contributed to input reductions nor to land reclamations, but to the expansion of agricultural land and increased use of the very pesticides these technologies are purported to curtail. Here, we present a global analysis of Herbicide Tolerant crops and an empirical case study from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in India. In lowering the costs for pesticide applications at the farm level, GM crops not only induce greater overall consumption of those pesticides but also help to sustain this larger system of chemical-intensive monoculture.” The paper adds, “Though promoted with the potential to reduce agrichemical applications, purporting to make the system less costly, dangerous and environmentally destructive, their [GM crops’] aggregate adoption and subsequent normalisation has had the opposite effect of spurring ever-greater agrichemical use.”

Bayer introduces GM five-herbicide-tolerant soybeans
As weed resistance intensifies, Bayer Crop Science has announced Vyconic soybeans, a new GM trait technology that will be the first to feature five herbicide tolerances including dicamba, glufosinate, mesotrione, 2,4-D and glyphosate. Vyconic soybeans will enable the use of five herbicides “for an integrated weed management programme to help address specific field needs and challenges, including weed resistance management”.

GMO crops have led to increased tillage and greenhouse gas emissions in US corn-soy
Tillage (ploughing) can increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by disturbing the soil and releasing stored carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, as well as potentially increasing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. GMO proponents often claim that GM herbicide-tolerant corn and soy have decreased tillage, saving soil from erosion and reducing GHG emissions. But a scientific paper published in Nature Food shows that GM herbicide-tolerant corn and soy only led to decreased tillage until 2008, then weed resistance led to increased tillage and GHG emissions. The paper concludes, “As weed resistance persists or grows, tillage intensity is anticipated to continue rising, probably increasing GHG emissions. Our results imply that farmers’ choices in managing herbicide resistance may help mitigate agricultural GHG emissions, underscoring the importance of an alternative strategy to control weeds.”

LABELLING

Nigeria: Ensure all GMOs products are labelled, committee tells biotech development agency
Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology has urged the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) to ensure that all GMOs are clearly labelled in line with global best practices.

GMO ANIMAL FEED

Slovakia feed industry considers certification for non-GMO feed
At the end of 2024, the Slovakian Association of Feed Producers, Storekeepers and Trading Companies developed an initiative under which feed crops grown without the use of GMO technologies would receive relevant certification and labelling.

Removing soy from dairy cattle’s diets increases milk production (audio broadcast)
A trial at the University of Nottingham on dairy cattle suggests removing soy completely from their diet can actually increase milk production, according to a BBC report on the research. The soy (most of which is GM, though the BBC doesn’t mention that) was replaced in the trial by supplementing with alternative feed with the appropriate amino acids. Nigel Armstrong, dairy herd manager at the University, said, “We’ve seen the yield go up, haven’t seen anything negative on fertility, it's all been positive... I wish I’d done it sooner, to be honest.”

FEEDING THE WORLD

Only political will can end world hunger: Food isn’t scarce, but many people can’t access it
History has shown that so long as inequality goes unchecked, no amount of technology can ensure people are well fed, writes Jennifer Clapp, Member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, in an article that reflects GMWatch’s views in the context of GMO industry claims that their products will “feed the world”. Clapp writes, “Today, the world produces more food per person than ever before. Yet hunger and malnutrition persist in every corner of the globe — even, and increasingly, in some of its wealthiest countries. The major drivers of food insecurity are well known: conflict, poverty, inequality, economic shocks and escalating climate change. In other words, the causes of hunger are fundamentally political and economic. The urgency of the hunger crisis has prompted 150 Nobel and World Food Prize laureates to call for ‘moonshot’ technological and agricultural innovations to boost food production, meaning monumental and lofty efforts. However, they largely ignored hunger’s root causes – and the need to confront powerful entities and make courageous political choices.”

GMO ANIMALS

Male mosquitoes genetically modified to produce poison
Mosquitoes carry pathogens that cause diseases such as malaria and dengue fever – these are therefore known as vector-borne diseases. As part of the fight against these mosquitoes, researchers at Macquarie University (Australia) are considering a new genetic strategy. The idea is to genetically modify male mosquitoes so that their sperm produces molecules that will poison female mosquitoes. The researchers consider that the impact of these venoms on the mosquito’s natural predators, such as birds, bats and certain amphibians, needs to be determined. But they are reassuring, stating that “the oral toxicity of venom proteins is typically between 1 and 2 orders of magnitude lower than when they are directly injected, and venom proteins can be selected which have greater toxicity for the target species relative to natural predators”. However, this is theory. These GMO mosquitoes have not been studied under real conditions in a complex ecosystem.

Scientists sound alarm about using mosquitoes to vaccinate humans
Human clinical trials are underway to use mosquitoes to vaccinate people against malaria, cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough reported. McCullough cited a double-blind, controlled clinical trial which evaluated the safety, side effects and efficacy of immunising people via mosquito bites, using mosquitoes infected with a genetically engineered version of the parasite that causes malaria. McCullough believes “there should be a moratorium, a ban, on all mosquito vector research right now for human conditions”. He added, “No Institutional Review Board would agree to... mass vaccinating a population without their consent with mosquitoes.”

Gene-edited mice with two dads have been created using CRISPR – but lots went wrong
GMO gene-edited mice with two fathers have been born – and have survived to adulthood – following a complex set of experiments by a team in China. The scientists used CRISPR to create the mice, using a novel approach to target genes that normally need to be inherited from both male and female parents. The team transferred 164 gene-edited embryos, but only 7 live pups were born. And those that were born weren’t normal. They grew to be bigger than untreated mice and their organs appeared enlarged. They didn’t live as long as normal mice and were infertile.

Sign petition against commercialisation of GMO pets
The Rabbit.org Foundation urges the public, policymakers, and the scientific community to take a stand against the commercialisation of genetically modified pets.

GMO TREES

GMO trees promoted as potential future solution to citrus greening disease – but is the (non-GMO) solution already out there?
Researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed genetically engineered trees that create a protein that forms holes in the gut of psyllids, insects viewed as pests, and kills them (it’s unclear whether the GMO trees contain Bt toxins, which also make holes in insects’ guts, or some other GMO technology). The psyllids infect the trees with bacteria that strangle the root system, resulting in citrus greening disease. The disease has devastated Florida’s citrus production. The GMO insecticidal tree “solution” – if it works – is expected to take 10-15 years to become available. However, a non-GMO solution may already be out there. Frank Dean of Performance Nutrition has developed a simpler, safer, and more publicly acceptable cure for the disease. It doesn’t involve antibiotic sprays, GMOs, or any significant cost to the grower.

Yet it seems that the solution is being ignored by the US government and the universities alike. More about it here.

BIOTECH FRAUD

US court upholds Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s conviction
A US court has upheld the conviction of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the biotech company Theranos, for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars while operating her failed blood-testing startup, once valued at $9bn, rejecting her multi-year appeal. Holmes claimed that Theranos’s error-prone Edison blood-testing machine could perform a wide swathe of medical tests with a single drop of a patient’s blood, but the technology never lived up to her promises. As GMWatch has noted before, former Monsanto president and CEO Robert Shapiro was a Theranos director for several years. Monsanto also failed to deliver on its fairytale promises but, unlike Theranos, found a way to successfully monetise its products’ failure. More on this here.

MIRROR LIFE

“Mirror life” microbes pose “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth

Leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create “mirror life” microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth. The international group, including Nobel laureates, warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could become established in the environment and slip past the immune defences of natural organisms, putting humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections that could spread without check. However, some scientists and medics who have spoken out against the reckless “gain-of-function” (GoF) research on viruses which likely caused the COVID pandemic that sickened over 770 million people and killed over seven million have commented on X that focusing on future possible risks is a dangerous distraction from the immediate problem of ongoing GoF virology research that could create another pandemic right now (see COVID ORIGINS, below).

COVID ORIGINS, ETC.

Risky gain-of-function research about to be banned in the US?
A sweeping executive order banning gain-of-function research, which makes viruses more dangerous in the lab by genetic engineering and other methods, is expected as soon as 6 May, according to Emily Kopp, who made her name reporting for US Right to Know and now works for the Daily Caller. However, Kopp’s source told her that significant unresolved issues remain, “including whether violators will be subject to criminal penalties as bioweaponeers”. A growing number of experts say that it is likely that the COVID-19 crisis was a lab-generated pandemic, and that without major policy changes, it might not be the last one.

White House launches website devoted to COVID-19
A White House website, drawing on the report of a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the US House of Representatives, has been launched. It states, “A lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of COVID-19” and “Current government mechanisms for overseeing this dangerous gain-of-function research are incomplete, severely convoluted, and lack global applicability.” But Gary Ruskin of US Right to Know is among those pointing out that the Trump administration has still not declassified and released intelligence on the origin of COVID, as required by the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, and that they are also obstructing the release of other key Covid origins-related documents held by other US agencies, most notably NIH.

“Corrupt” British zoologist Peter Daszak sanctioned over Wuhan experiments that may have sparked COVID

British zoologist Dr Peter Daszak has become the first individual to be stripped of US government funding over his involvement in dangerous experiments which may have sparked the COVID pandemic. The US Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS), on the final day of Joe Biden’s administration, debarred Dr Daszak, and US-based EcoHealth Alliance, blocking both from receiving federal funds for five years. James Comer, the house committee on oversight and government reform chairman, called Daszak “corrupt”. Ironically, when Daszak was put in charge of a prestigious Task Force investigating the origins of COVID back in 2020, there was only a limited outcry, with no mainstream media outlet reporting how insanely inappropriate it was. But GMWatch did flag it up, just as we drew attention to the absurdity of Daszak being treated as a go-to media expert on the issue, despite his huge conflicts of interest and easily proven dishonesty.

EcoHealth Alliance shuts down but Daszak launches new organisation
EcoHealth Alliance is closing, but its recent president, Peter Daszak, has already started a similar non-profit under a different name: Nature.Health.Global. Alina Chan commented, “Debarring EcoHealth/Daszak was clearly insufficient as a response to a pandemic plausibly caused by their international research program”.

Virologist declines to rule out that researchers brought Ebola to West Africa in 2014
In 2024 the Senate committee on the Origin of COVID-19 made its first and so far only investigative foray into the origin of the Ebola outbreak that ravaged West Africa in 2014. Committee members questioned virologist Prof Bob Garry of Tulane University about his authorship of the infamous Proximal Origins paper on COVID-19 (which denied a lab leak). They also submitted questions about the Ebola 2014 outbreak which has attracted concern since it occurred far from the normal range of Ebola virus. Garry’s answers point the finger at an organisation that worked at Kenema, Sierra Leone in 2013 and 2014 – the company Metabiota, whose employees were sampling for human pathogenic viruses in Central Africa shortly before the outbreak.

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