GMWatch News Review archive

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MONTHLY REVIEW No. 62
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CONTENTS 
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NEW CAMPAIGN
NEW CAMPAIGN WEBSITE
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
FOOD CRISIS
LOBBYWATCH
GM APPROVALS / EXPANSION
NON-GM SUCCESSES
CORPORATE WELFARE
GM HYPE
RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
RESEARCH
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
CORPORATE CRIMES
BT COTTON
CONTAMINATION
GM MEDICINES
CHINA
GENETIC CROSSROADS

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NEW CAMPAIGN
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+ IMPORTANT NEWS -- SPECIAL EDITION OF THE ECOLOGIST LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN
A new campaign to keep our future GM-free has been launched in a special GM edition of The Ecologist, in the shops from 31 October. More at:
http://www.theecologist.org/pages/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1987

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NEW CAMPAIGN WEBSITE
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GMWatch has launched a new campaigning website at www.banGMfood.org to help people take action, including information on:
*how GM foods are being introduced by stealth
http://www.bangmfood.org/stealth-gmos
*why GM and non-GM food crops can't co-exist
*why we need to act - with detailed references to scientific studies showing the harm caused by GM foods
http://www.bangmfood.org/publications
Plus:
*easy-to-read leaflets for downloading, printing and distribution
http://www.bangmfood.org/publications
*how to warn your political representatives not to be fooled by pro-GM hype
*a campaign telling supermarkets to get stealth GMOs out of our food
http://www.bangmfood.org/take-action

While the campaigning part of the website is focused on the UK and the EU, other parts of the website have global relevance, including information on:
*why there are far better ways than GM to feed the world
http://www.bangmfood.org/feed-the-world
*how to get to see or buy films about GM
http://www.bangmfood.org/films
*campaign websites right around the world
http://www.bangmfood.org/global-links

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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"The biotech industry tells Africans that we need GM crops to tackle the food needs of our population. But the majority of GM crops are used to feed animals in rich countries, to produce damaging agrofuels, and don't even yield more than conventional crops." - Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Nigeria
http://www.feedingtheworldconference.org/

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FOOD CRISIS
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+ POOR STARVE AS MONSANTO PROFITS
A dramatic increase in food prices has pushed nearly a billion people to the brink of starvation. But not everyone is feeling the squeeze from soaring food prices. Some big multinationals linked to agriculture are booming. The biggest winner of all might be Monsanto: its profits for the first quarter amounted to $3.6 billion, a 26% spike over last year.
GM Watch comment: The World Bank is among many who have identified the key catalyst for global food price inflation as the push to use food for fuel - a policy debacle that Monsanto has lobbied for almost harder than anybody, even when it became clear what a disaster it was for the world's poor.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-adm-monsanto-jul25,0,4202606.story
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=18696

+ ORGANIC FARMING "COULD FEED AFRICA" -- STUDY
Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations to be presented today. The study found that traditional practices increased yield by 128 per cent in east Africa. The head of the UN's Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said the report "indicates that the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world maybe far higher than many had supposed".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/organic-farming-could-feed-africa-968641.html

+ UK: WHY IS IAASTD BEING IGNORED?
On World Food Day, 16 October, the UK Food Group issued a statement demanding to know why, amid continuing world hunger, the recommendations of the IAASTD report (small farms, "agroecological" and low-input methods, not GMOs) were not being implemented. The answer, presumably, is because it has little to offer big agribiz.
http://www.ukfg.org.uk

+ FEEDING THE WORLD CONFERENCE
"Feeding the World... Are GM crops fit for purpose? If not, then what?"
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, 12 November 2008, 10am-4.45pm.
This conference will examine, searchingly and honestly, the claims and counter claims of one of the most critical issues of our time - whether GMOs are needed to feed the world. Speakers include scientists and experts working in the field of hunger, poverty and development.
http://www.feedingtheworldconference.org/
BOOKING FORMS HERE
http://feedingtheworldconference.wordpress.com/downloads/

+ GM IS NOT THE WAY TO SUSTAINABILITY
GM crops are unsound and unsafe; the biotech corporations are still making promises that they cannot keep while their real aim is to tighten their stranglehold on seeds to starve the world, writes Prof Peter Saunders in an article for Science in Society magazine.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk:80/GMnotthewaytosustainbility.php

+ FROM HOPE TO HUSK -- ETHANOL BOOM AND BUST
An article in the Financial Times says, "Despite the billions more in taxpayers' dollars that was spent to subsidise it, ethanol now eats up nearly one-quarter of the US corn crop without so far fulfilling the hopes held for its beneficial effect either on the environment or US dependence on foreign energy." It adds, "a growing band of influential critics say it has also contributed to higher food prices in the world's poorest countries." The ethanol boom hasn't even benefited investors: "the ethanol industry has undergone a great boom and bust in which a Financial Times analysis has found investors as savvy as Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder, have collectively lost billions of dollars."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32a108a0-9fd2-11dd-a3fa-000077b07658.html

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ UK: NEW SCIENCE MINISTER ANOTHER INDUSTRY CRONY
Lord Drayson has finally taken over Lord Sainsbury's old job as science minister -- an appointment that GM Watch predicted as soon as Sainsbury's departure was first mooted. Drayson, like Sainsbury, has had big financial interests in biotechnology. He is the former head of the BioIndustry Association (motto: "Promoting UK Biotechnology"). Also like Sainsbury, Drayson is a donor to the Labour Party and was given a peerage by the then UK prime minister Blair in controversial circumstances.

The controversy began when Drayson made a substantial donation to Labour while the government was deciding who should be awarded a smallpox vaccine contract. Drayson gave a further donation of half a million pounds to Labour just six weeks after the PM made him Lord Drayson. Controversially, the Blair government awarded Drayson's biotech company, PowderJect, the smallpox vaccine contract without any competition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7651607.stm
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=2224

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GM APPROVALS / EXPANSION
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+ COMMENTS NEEDED BY NOVEMBER 3 TO STOP GE PAPAYA IN FLORIDA!
The US Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments between now and November 3, 2008 on a petition that would allow commercial growing and marketing of the first GM papaya trees on mainland US soil. If approved, this would remove regulatory oversight of this GM papaya.

This petition has implications for all other GM tree species, as the USDA and the industry want to gauge what the public's reaction will be. It is critical that all concerned about the threat of GM foods respond to this USDA petition.
TAKE ACTION: http://gmfoodwatch.tribe.net/thread/cf2fe1b5-f5f5-4e28-9872-3945161ed584

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NON-GM SUCCESSES
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+ SUCCESS FOR PLANTS' PEST CONTROL
Scientists from Lancaster University say they have found a non-GM method of making plants resist pests. This method uses a chemical that is naturally produced by plants.
http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/sci/tech/7656078.stm

+ IRON-FORTIFIED MILLET AND BEANS FOR AFRICA AND ASIA
Non-GM iron-fortified millet and beans are being developed by the HarvestPlus Challenge Program.
http://www.cgiar.org/enews/september2008/story_05.html

+ NON-GM DROUGHT-RESISTANT TEA PLANTS
Russian scientists have identified tea plants that are naturally resistant to drought.
http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/7144/

+ DISEASE-RESISTANT CHILLIS
Scientists in Taiwan have used non-GM methods to develop chillis that resist common diseases.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2008/september/23829.htm

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CORPORATE WELFARE
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+ MONSANTO WANTS BIG SUBSIDY IN PAKISTAN
The Pakistan government is considering paying Monsanto a subsidy of $247 million (Rs 19 billion) annually to sell its Bt cottonseed in the country. The company, during the next 10 years of its "technology transfer" to local seed companies, would pocket $1.2 billion. One farmer said that some officials in the concerned departments are getting "rewarded" for this lucrative deal.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=142524

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GM HYPE
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+ "PURPLE TOMATOES COULD WARD OFF CANCER"
British scientists have genetically engineered a purple tomato that contains high levels of antioxidants called anthocyanins that mop up the free-radicals that cause cancer and heart disease. These GM purple tomatoes are supposed to be good for people who eat badly because they will provide them with similar amounts of anthocyanins as they would get if they ate blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, cherries, red cabbage, cranberries, bilberries, etc.

The story has gained massive media coverage. But none of the articles we have seen ask why the people this tomato is said to be designed for - described as "fussy eaters who won't change their diet", would choose a tomato that looks like a cross between an orange and a black pudding!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15040-purple-tomatoes-could-ward-off-cance r.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head_dn15040
http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-10-28_128275116.html
"Purple GMO Tomato Inferior to Nature's Offerings": good article at http://www.naturalnews.com/024658.html

+ ITALY'S PURPLE TOMATO WITHOUT GMOs
News of the British discovery comes not long after an Italian research team announced their own variety of purple tomato, the "Sun Black". The tomato was created using traditional breeding and has a purple skin but traditional red flesh. Like the British team, the Italian researchers were trying to boost anthocyanin levels in the tomato. "This Italian tomato is completely free of GMOs and combines all the nutritional elements of tomatoes, black grapes and blackberries, which contain high levels of the antioxidant anthocyanins,'' commented one of the researchers. "It is now in its second harvest and combines the nutritional qualities of several fruits in a single food source".
http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-10-28_128275116.html


+ DROUGHT-RESISTANT GM CROPS "READY IN FOUR YEARS"?
GM crops that are drought resistant will be grown by farmers within four to five years, according to Dr David Dennis, the chief executive of Performance Plants Inc. in Kingston, Ontario. But Clare Oxborrow of Friends of the Earth commented, "We would take any claims that these crops are just around the corner with a large pinch of salt because we have heard it all before."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/gmcrops.food

+ RESPONSE TO "DROUGHT-RESISTANT CROPS" BY DOUG GURIAN-SHERMAN
Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former biotech specialist at the EPA comments on the above article (EXCERPT): The gene targeted by this company has been reported by them in the science literature to provide significant drought tolerance, and to provide normal yields under adequate moisture -- an important consideration. But genes and proteins often have multiple functions ... In this case, a recent study ... has determined that the same gene as is used by this company to confer drought tolerance also makes plants more susceptible to a variety of important plant disease organisms. The gene may be a basic part of plant disease resistance. It may confer some drought tolerance -- but at the expense of making the crop substantially more susceptible to diseases, which could result in crop loss and higher pesticide use.

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RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
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+ AUSTRALIA: BIG RALLY AGAINST GM
A rally against the introduction of GM crops drew nearly 1000 people to the steps of the Western Australian Parliament. Farmers attending brought along goats, chickens and even a prize-winning bull. Conservationist and gardener Peter Cundall said: "I was absolutely astounded by the success of the rally. I knew that GM crops and GM technology are unpopular but today just goes to show just how unpopular it is. There is no question about it -- the overall majority don't want GM and the state government must take notice and let democracy prevail."
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,27574,24577779-2761,00.html

+ SYNGENTA HANDS BACK FARM IN BRAZIL WHERE TWO WERE KILLED
Marking an end to a violent conflict, Syngenta has handed over its experimental farm in Paraná state, in the South of Brazil, to the state government. This brings to a conclusion a long-standing land dispute between landless workers movements and the Swiss company, which led to the deaths of two men. The government has now promised to use the land for the production of native seeds for distribution to smallholder farmers and impoverished countries who have suffered devastation from hurricanes. The 127-hectare farm in Santa Tereza do Oeste was used by Syngenta to field-test its GM crops. This was contested because it potentially contravened an environmental zoning law.
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/10091/

+ NON-GM SOYA SUMMIT IN BRUSSELS
Government officials and industry members from around the world converged for the 2nd International Non-GMO Soy Summit in Brussels from 7-9 October. One speaker was Cesar Borges da Sousa, president of ABRANGE, the Brazilian Association of Non-GMO Grain Producers. The organisation aims to become the world's premier supplier of GM-free soya and to "grow non-transgenic soy for the EU as long as Europe wants to buy them".
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

+ HAWAII: COUNCIL BANS GM TARO, COFFEE
The genetic modification of taro and coffee on Hawaii's Big Island has been banned in a unanimous vote in the County Council.

+ EU KEEPS ZERO TOLERANCE ON IMPORTS
The European Union for now will keep its "zero tolerance" policy on allowing the presence of unapproved varieties of GM plants in imported food and animal feed. Biotech interests and feed importers sought a change to the policy because of concerns that imports with trace amounts of unapproved GM plants would be blocked from the EU.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200810200534DOWJONESDJ ONLINE000159.htm
GM Watch comment: It seems all the industry scaremongering on this has failed, for now at least. The reality is that if they had to label meat, eggs and dairy products from animals reared on GM feed, the market for GM animal feed would be dead overnight. Only consumer deception allows it to continue - see:
http://www.bangmfood.org/stealth-gmos

+ KEEP CLONES OUT OF THE FOOD CHAIN, DEMAND SHOPPERS
The vast majority of consumers across Europe believe cloned animals and their offspring should not be farmed for food, according to an EU study. Currently, there is no law to stop meat and milk from these animals getting into the food chain. Nor is there any requirement to label food from clone offspring.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1076023/Keep-cloned-animals-offspring-food-chain-demand-shoppers.html

+ PROTECT AGRICULTURE AGAINST GMOs
The EU is suffering from a debilitating bout of Monsantosis, caused by its lax and unscientific approach to GMOs, Greenpeace warned EU environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg. With ministers discussing the future of the EU's GM authorisation system, Greenpeace volunteers riding in an ambulance distributed a life-saving GMO first aid kit to help fight off the lies of the agro-biotech industry. Greenpeace's Marco Contiero said, "Given the climate and food crises the world is currently facing, ministers need to protect Europe from the dangerous distraction of GMOs and instead focus on real solutions. We need modern farming methods that ensure higher yields, are more climate-resilient, do not destroy natural resources and can guarantee food security."

+ AMERICA STARTING TO TURN AGAINST GM FOOD?
Major new developments suggest that the tide may finally be turning against GM technology in the US. The Soil Association has published a briefing on:
*the launch of a major new non-GM labelling initiative in the US;
*the latest on US farmers' rejection of new GM crops;
*the staggering collapse in the market for Monsanto's GM milk hormone.
These are significant developments that are being ignored in the current UK debate on GM.

The non-GM label will be launched by more than 400 American processors and retailers next year and has the backing of presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Soil Association's policy director, Peter Melchett, said: "Labelling stopped consumers buying milk from cattle treated with the growth hormone rBGH, leading Costco, Kroger, Publix, Safeway and Wal-Mart to turn to non-GM own-brand milk. It is the beginning of the end for GM worldwide."

For details of the report: http://www.soilassociation.org/gm
Download the report:
Land of the GM-Free? How the American public are starting to turn against GM food
http://www.soilassociation.org/Web/SA/saweb.nsf/cfff6730b881e40e80256a6a002a765c /62b3b08dfb6cdaea80256a9500473789/$FILE/Land_of_free_GM_Report.pdf
Daily Mail article about the report:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1077297/U-S-begins-turn-GM-crops- report-claims.html?ITO=1490
Farmers Weekly article about the report:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/10/13/112619/us-consumers-rejecting-gms-says- soil-association.html
England 'out of touch' on GM -- Farmers Guardian article about the report:
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=21973

+ U.S.: NON-GM SOYA MAKES A COMEBACK
Lower seed and weed-control costs and high yields have renewed interest in non-GM varieties of soyabeans, said Grover Shannon, an agronomist at the University of Missouri Delta Research Center. Overseas demand for non-GM soybeans and the tripling of costs for glyphosate herbicide have made conventional varieties more appealing to many growers, he said.
http://agebb.missouri.edu/news/ext/showall.asp?story_num=4547&iln=49
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/14/113813/15

+ INDIA: CAMPAIGN AGAINST BT BRINJAL GAINS MOMENTUM
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=338486&chkFlg=

+ GM ANIMAL FEED WORRIES NORDIC COUNCIL
The Nordic Council has called for GM-free zones and tighter labelling of GM products in the Nordic Region on the grounds that this could give the region a competitive advantage by producing organic GMO-free products.
http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=8240&lang=6

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RESEARCH
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+ BEE LEARNING BEHAVIOUR AFFECTED BY BT TOXIN
Bee populations are declining and colony collapse disorder (CCD) has dramatically worsened the situation. More than one factor is widely believed to be responsible. A recent study identifies GM Bt crops as possible culprits. The study found that honey bees fed on the active form of purified Cry1Ab protein (present in Bt crops) can be affected in the learning responses necessary to associate nectar sources with odourants.
http://www.bioscienceresource.org/news/article.php?id=35

+ BT COTTON DAMAGES SOIL QUALITY
Bt cotton inhibits the activity of friendly microbes in the soil, says a study from the Indian Agriculture Research Institute. The study also found Bt cotton soil had lower mineral nitrogen than in non-Bt cotton soil. Reduced microbial activity could have also affected nitrogen availability in soil as the microbes make nitrogen available to plants, the scientists said.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20081031&filename=sci&sec_id=12&sid=1

+ DROUGHT RESISTANCE PROVES ELUSIVE
An article in the New York Times looks at scientists' attempts to genetically engineer drought resistance into crops. One problem is unexpected effects of genetic engineering: "with so many downstream genes activated, there could be other effects on the plants besides less need for water. At a recent biotechnology conference, a university researcher showed a photograph of a cotton plant with an inserted gene for a transcription factor. The plant was missing most of its leaves." The article concludes, "No single approach is likely to suffice for all types of dry conditions." Jian-Kang Zhu, a professor of plant biology at the University of California, Riverside, comments, "Probably no one has found the magic gene yet. Probably there is no magic gene."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/23drought.html?hp

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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ FOOD AUTHORITY ACCUSED OVER GM DECISIONS
The food authority responsible for approving GM products in Australia and New Zealand has been accused of pandering to agrochemical giants at the expense of consumer health, in a report analysing the authority's recent decisions. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is one of only a few regulators to have approved every application for GM food products, the director of the University of Canterbury's Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety, Prof Jack Heinemann has warned. "Many other regulators have at least stood up once where FSANZ appears to have cowered under industry or political pressure." Prof Heinemann said, describing the authority as the victim of "flawed legislation that mixes the goals of trade and public health".
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/10/20/1224351155224.html?feed=fairfaxdigital xml
Report available from Louise Sales - Louise.SalesATgreenpeace.org

+ ITALY SHOULD LIFT GM BAN -- HEALTH MINISTER
Italy should lift a ban on growing GM crops, welfare and health minister Maurizio Sacconi said. Comment by GM-free Ireland: Italian farmers and consumers will never allow this to happen! Maurizio Sacconi was appointed to the job of minister by Berlusconi. He is a member of the neo-fascist party Forza Italia, and has been compared to Nikita Krushchev for banging his shoe on conference podia. His wife Enrica Giorgetti is the director-general of the agri-pharmaceutical industry lobby group Farmindustria. This conflict of interest has been criticised in an editorial in the science magazine Nature, "Clean hands, please: The Italian government needs to maintain a careful distance from industry", Nature # 454, 667, 7 August 2008.
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/10/20/afx5578934.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7205/full/454667b.html

+ MONSANTO REFUSES TO SUPPORT U.S. CONSTITUTION
Monsanto is refusing to "support and defend" the US Constitution against the nation's enemies, according to an investment company which is questioning the company's loyalty. Harrington Investments, Inc. (HII) has introduced a binding amendment to Monsanto's corporate bylaws requiring its directors to "support and defend the Constitution...". But Monsanto is fighting the proposal. In 2005, HII submitted a resolution that called for the formation of an ethics oversight committee in response to Monsanto being fined for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20081021183714zzzz.nb/topstory.html

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CORPORATE CRIMES
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+ MONSANTO HURTING IOWA FARMERS
Iowa farmers are paying higher seed prices with less choice in the marketplace because Monsanto controls more than 90 percent of the market for many farm crops. "The company has raised prices drastically every year with no competition, taking money from farmers' pockets and rural Iowa's economy," writes Chris Petersen, Iowa Farmers Union president. Petersen's article appears in the Des Moines Register, a newspaper that rarely prints material that is critical of Monsanto. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has been investigating Monsanto's market practices to determine whether it violates antitrust laws.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081017/OPINION04/810170347/-1/NEWS04

+ BAYER FACES 1,200 RICE LAWSUITS
Bayer's defeat of a bid by US rice farmers to sue the company as a group for contamination by its unapproved GM rice doesn't end the matter. The company still faces 1,200 individual claims of crop contamination. Don Downing, lawyer for the growers, said damages might exceed $1 billion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auu3BOBRYwaE&refer=home

+ MONSANTO BATTLES BIOPIRACY CLAIMS
The Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board is seeking royalty payments from Monsanto India Ltd for genetic information it alleges was "stolen" from Bt bacteria found in the soils in the state.
http://www.livemint.com:80/2008/10/30000949/Monsanto-battles-biopiracy-cla.html

+ CHARLES: "I BLAME GM CROPS FOR FARMERS' SUICIDES"
GM crop failures have helped to cause a "truly appalling and tragic" number of suicides among poor farmers in India, Prince Charles alleged in his most outspoken attack on the technology to date. He called cultivating the modified crops "a global moral question" and "a wrong turning on the route to feeding the world". He associated the technology with "commerce without morality" and "science without humanity".

In his lecture videocast to the Indian NGO Navdanya in Delhi, India, the Prince made it clear that he was going to continue speaking out against GM crops. "The reason I keep sticking my 60-year-old head above an increasingly dangerous parapet is not because it is good for my health," he said, "but precisely because I believe fundamentally that unless we work with nature, we will fail to restore the equilibrium we need in order to survive on this planet."
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/charles-i--blame-gm-crops- for-farmers-suicides-951807.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/charles-targets-gm-crop-gi ants-in-fiercest-attack-yet-951808.html

+ RESPONSES TO CHARLES' SPEECH
Dr Julian Little of the biotech industry's Agricultural Biotechnology Council wrote to the Independent on Sunday to say Charles's claims were emotive and not based on facts. So here are some facts for Dr Little to ponder.
*Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the farmers' NGO on the ground in Vidharbha, has consistently reported that it is Monsanto-Mahyco's Bt cotton that the majority of cotton farmers have been growing in Vidarbha who've taken their own lives.
*The failure of Bt cotton in the main cotton growing area of Vidarbha has even been confirmed by the (pro-GM) Maharashtra agriculture minister Balasaheb Thorat.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/Bt_cotton_has_failed_in_Vidarbh a/articleshow/2030488.cms
*Aruna Rodrigues, who led the recent public interest lawsuit to stop GM releases in India, included data on the suicide problem among Bt cotton farmers in sworn evidence before the Supreme Court of India.
*The terrible problems with Bt cotton have also been attested to by the renowned Indian development journalist P. Sainath from his on-the-ground investigations and from official reports.
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/25/stories/2006112502891100.htm
P. Sainath has called the impact of Monsanto in Maharashtra "devastating" and the hyping of expensive Bt cotton seed to debt-laden farmers, who are overwhelmingly cultivating cotton in dry unirrigated conditions, "murderous... stupid... killing."
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main19.asp?filename=Ne090906The_relief_CS.asp

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BT COTTON
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+ BT PROBLEMS HIT FRONT PAGE IN INDIA
Eenaadu, a leading daily newspaper in Andhra Pradesh, had a front-page story on 21 October with the headline ""Blow to cotton crop with diseases". Here are summary points from Kavitha Kuruganti of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture:
* Cotton farmers are in for a period of difficulties. Diseases are affecting cotton crop and the yields are declining.
* It is estimated that there would be a 40-50% decline in the cotton production estimated at 56,000 bales this year.
* Mealy bug has spread extensively, along with tobacco caterpillar and wilting.
* Initially this season there were good rains and then there was a long dry spell. This was when the mealy bug attack started. The crop in Adilabad, Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts is expected to yield less. It appears that farmers will not be able to recover their investments.
* The cost of crop protection has increased a lot this year. Farmers who resorted to herbicides spent nearly 2,000 rupees an acre on them; further, at least six sprays of pesticides so far have cost them more than three thousand rupees an acre on an average.

+ BT COTTON DEATHS -- UPDATE
We've received a new report from Dr Sudhir Kumar Kaura on the horrific effects of Bt cotton on people and animals in Haryana state. Many buffaloes fed on Bt cottonseed cake have fallen ill or suddenly died. Fertility problems have arisen. The report states: "Farmers of the area say that the problems in animals related to dislike of feed items containing cotton seeds like whole seed meals and cotton seed oilcake, prolapse of uterus, premature deliveries, sudden deaths of buffaloes, reduction in milk and fat content of milk, skin problems and many other previously not so common or rare problems in animals are rising. According to villagers and medical practitioners, in humans as well, skin related itching and eruptions and subsequent wounds are very common who work in Bt cotton fields. People say that all these problems are coinciding with the introduction of Bt cotton in the area."

+ INDIA: KILLER BT COTTON FAILS AGAIN IN VIDHARBA
Bt cotton has once again failed in the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. Sixty per cent of the standing crop which was earlier affected by the mealy bug has now been destroyed by a fungal disease. Farmers vexed with the government's lack of action are threatening to go on a "fast unto death" agitation.
http://www.merinews.com/shareArticle.do?detail=Print&articleID=145093#

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CONTAMINATION
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+ GM CONTAMINATION IN CHILE
GM contamination of maize has occurred in central Chile. "This is a very serious situation as the contaminated corn was grown illegally, was not approved for seeds by the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG), nor for human consumption," said Maria Isabel Manzur from Fundación Sociedades Sustentables.

+ USDA RULES COULD ALLOW DRUGS IN FOOD
Proposed new USDA (United States Dept of Agriculture) rules will not protect the US food supply from potential contamination by drugs from "pharma" crops, and could allow drugs that it deems "safe" to enter the food supply, said the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The USDA ignored recommendations for a ban on the outdoor production of pharma food crops from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, major food companies, UCS, and more than 100 environmental, agricultural, health, and consumer organizations.
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/commentary/usda-biotech-regulations-0148.html

+ TELL HERSHEY'S TO STOP USING GMO SUGAR
GM foods are unlabelled in the US, untested for safety, and have been shown by independent scientists to be highly suspect, especially for children who are especially vulnerable to toxins. Let Hershey's (chocolate manufacturer) know what you think about their use of GM sugar.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26087

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GM MEDICINES
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+ GM INSULIN'S SIDE EFFECTS
In the row over GM in Australia, GM proponents have been citing GM insulin for diabetics as one of the supposed benefits of the technology. This has prompted two diabetics to write to the South Gippsland Sentinel Times to describe the side-effects they suffered after being put on GM insulin. In one case, these included "speech and conversation problems, fatigue, lethargy, migraines, mood swings, depression, sensitivities, night sweats, fevers, being off balance, faint, allergy type facial swelling, waking every morning ailing, body and joint pain, and living in a clouded state". Both people recovered their health after switching to non-GM animal insulin.

Their experiences are supported by the Rockefeller Foundation-backed 1996 Bellagio report by scientists, who looked at the side-effects of GM insulin and concluded that animal insulin should "remain available in all countries which presently have that facility" and that in future, greater recognition should be given "to the value of patient experiences in relation to adverse drug reactions".
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1996/07/01/645.html

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CHINA
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+ IS CHINA READY FOR GM RICE?
An interesting article in the science journal Nature examines the reasons why China is pushing ahead with the genetic engineering of rice. The article does not avoid the problems encountered so far, including the emergence of secondary pests, decreased biodiversity, reduced genetic pool, and cross-contamination. It also has an intelligent quote from Kong Luen Heong, an entomologist at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, the Philippines, who calls pest-resistant GM crops a short-term fix for long-term problems caused by crop monoculture and overuse of broad-spectrum pesticides. "Pests thrive where biodiversity is at peril," says Heong. "Instead of genetic engineering, why don't we engineer the ecology by increasing biodiversity?"
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081015/full/455850a.html

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GENETIC CROSSROADS
News and Views from the Center for Genetics and Society
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+ SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY DEBATE
by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times
A key civil society advocate debates a synthetic biology pioneer about "genetic engineering on steroids" - building artificial life from scratch.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4347

+ WILL THE UN REVISIT CLONING?
by Jesse Reynolds, Biopolitical Times
How are recent developments affecting a potential revival of a United Nations effort towards an international prohibition against cloning?
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4348

+ UK GRANTS ALL THE SCIENTISTS' WISHES
by Jesse Reynolds, Biopolitical Times
The bill overhauling the United Kingdom's oversight of assisted reproduction and embryo research granted researchers essentially all that they asked for, and then some.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4344

+ MORE OF THE SAME
by Osagie K. Obasogie, Biopolitical Times
Falling prices and celebrity endorsements are likely to be trends that are here to stay for the personal genomics industry.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4337

+ DESIGNER BABIES: CREATING THE PERFECT CHILD
The Center for Genetics and Society is trying to encourage debate on the topic of genetic selection as soon as possible. Executive director of the organization, Richard Hayes, told CNN that the general public of most countries was missing out on taking part in the debate.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4349

+ FRESH HOPES AND CONCERNS AS FETAL DNA TESTS ADVANCE
Powerful new DNA tests screen fetuses for a wider range of genetic abnormalities, have triggered complaints that they mark another step toward a society that seeks to weed out aberrations in the quest for the perfect child.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4339

+ EUGENICS PANEL WEIGHS OPTIONS FOR LEGISLATION IN 2009 SESSION
Between 1929 and 1978, more than 7,600 people were sterilized through the North Carolina eugenics program. Many of those people have died, but a committee of state legislators is trying to figure out how to make amends to those who are still living.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=4343