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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 41
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FROM REVIEW EDITOR, CLAIRE ROBINSON
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We regret that the GM Watch and LobbyWatch websites are currently down while we investigate whether they've been compromised. We hope to have them up and running very soon.
In the meantime, we've ensured that the links given for the articles below are external. As, for the moment, we can't post this Review onto our own lists, please pass it along to everyone who may be interested.
Many thanks
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
NEW RESEARCH
CONTAMINATION
GM FAILURES
NON-GM SUCCESSES
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
CORPORATE CRIMES
GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSIONS
GM HYPE
GM AND CLONED ANIMALS
BIOWEAPONS
NEW BOOK, DVD
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GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
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+ AFRICA'S SORGHUM SAVED: GM SORGHUM REJECTED - AGAIN!
South Africa's GM regulatory body has decided to once again turn down an application to conduct experiments with GM sorghum. Africa is the centre of origin for sorghum. According to The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), this is a severe and final blow to the GM sorghum project bankrolled by Bill and Melinda Gates to the tune of millions of dollars, and spearheaded by a consortium which includes Pioneer Hi-Bred, lobbyist Florence Wambugu's 'Africa Harvest', and the industry-backed African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), amongst others.
Source: The African Centre for Biosafety, South Africa
+ EU TO DEBATE HUNGARY GM BAN, PLUS GM FLOWERS AND POTATOES
EU environment ministers are expected to reject on 20 February a draft order for Hungary to lift its ban on a GMO maize. Also up for discussion: a proposal to let farmers grow a GM potato, and imports of GM carnations.
http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=6880
+ SYNGENTA TRIES TO GETS ITS GM FARM BACK
The Brazilian subsidiary of Syngenta has asked a court to halt the expropriation of its farm on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The 123-hectare (304-acre) property was confiscated last November by the state government of Parana after officials claimed that Syngenta's research on the farm into GM corn was illegal.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/30/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Syngenta.php
+ SAFEWAY, STARBUCKS DITCH MONSANTO'S GM HORMONE
Safeway announced milk suppliers for its Northwest US processing plants have stopped using recombinant (GM) bovine growth hormone, or rBGH. The announcement came shortly after Starbucks confirmed it was starting to go rBGH-free.
http://www.newsreview.info/article/20070122/NEWS/70122003
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NEW RESEACH
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+ BT TRANSGENE DETECTED IN AQUATIC SYSSTEMS
The Canadian Department of the Environment (also known as Environment Canada) has determined that the pesticidal Bt gene cry1Ab, found in GM corn, persisted in aquatic areas near the site where the Bt crop was planted. Varying amounts of the cry1Ab gene were found in sediment, soil, and surface water samples. The sediments were found to contain about 100-fold more cry1Ab DNA than the surface water. The cry1Ab transgene was also detected as far away as the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers - 82 km downstream from the corn cultivation plot.
Because of the concern that the cry1Ab gene could be transferred to microorganisms through horizontal gene transfer, the researchers recommend monitoring and sustained attention to the fate of transgenes in the environment. Abstract in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, with links to the complete paper for subscribers at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2006.01.002
+ NEW REVIEW SHOWS GM CROPS UNSTABLE AND RISKY
A new paper on transgene insertion confirms that genetic engineering of crops not only lacks precision but causes large scale genetic rearrangements of host DNA at transgene insertion sites, as well as large numbers of mutations scattered throughout the genome of each new transgenic plant. The significance of all this genetic damage is that the food safety of edible crops relies crucially on genetic stability. The paper, published in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews (vol 23, Dec 2006), at http://www.bioscienceresource.org/docs/BSR-2-BGERvol23.pdf
+ NEW STUDY EXPLAINS WHY MONSANTO'S HYPE FOOLED FARMERS IN INDIA
GM promoters claim the number of farmers growing GM cotton in India is a massive vote of confidence in the technology. But an important new study of farmers' Bt cotton adoption in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh explains why Monsanto's campaign of hype has had such an impact. Glenn Davis Stone of Washington University found a process of agricultural deskilling whereby farmers abandoned the old practice of gradual assessment and adoption of seeds and fell victim to "seed fads". Stone adds that farmers' hunger for novelty exacerbates the turnover of seeds in the market. Seed firms even take seeds that have fallen out of favour, rename them, and then resell them with new marketing campaigns.
http://www.huliq.com/8118/effect-of-genetically-modified-crops-on-developing-countries
Download the study (well worth reading in full) http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/stone480102.web.pdf
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CONTAMINATION
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+ NATURE ARTICLE DETAILS GM CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS WITH UNAPPROVED GMOs
This article rightly concludes, "no amount of regulation can guarantee that these crops will not escape and multiply", even when they involve potent pharmaceutical compounds, but it then concludes that we'll just have to put up with it. Why? Because otherwise it will "have a chilling effect on research".
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070108/full/445132a.html
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GM FAILURES
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+ MORE GOATS AND SHEEP DIE AFTER GRAZING ON BT COTTON
Deaths have been reported from two different locations in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh in the past ten days. Last August the Andhra Pradesh government was said to have admitted the deaths of 132 sheep after grazing on Bt Cotton fields. In the present case, the symptoms and post-mortem lesions reported again do not resemble normally prevalent diseases. Interestingly, Bt Brinjal biosafety data recently presented by Monsanto-Mahyco, showed statistically significant changes in the haemotological as well as clinical parameters in the goat feeding studies.
Source: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, India
+ U.S.: CORN PEST EXPANSION CONSEQUENCE OF GM CROPS?
A corn pest that can devastate yields may be increasing in prevalence across Illinois and other states because Bt crops are reducing predators that once kept the pest at bay. Western bean cutworms, a major pest in Nebraska and Colorado, was first detected in Illinois in 2004 and has spread to 49 counties, according to Marlin Rice, an Extension entomologist at Iowa State University.
http://farmweek.ilfb.org/viewdocument.asp?did=9902&drvid=114&r=0.4567835
+ TEN YEARS OF CONTINUING REJECTION OF GM CROPS
A summary of global reaction against GM in 2006, released by Greenpeace on 18 January, provides evidence that resistance continues to grow among farmers, consumers and governments. "There is irrefutable evidence that governments, farmers and consumers throughout the world recognise that genetic engineering is unreliable, unviable or downright dangerous," said Jeremy Tager of Greenpeace International. "Market reaction to the recent rice contamination scandal was of near epidemic proportions; some countries are banning GM altogether. Romania, for instance, which had 85,000 hectares planted with GM soy in 2005, will drop to zero this year, in keeping with a new government policy banning the cultivation of GM soy."
http://www.greenpeace.eu/downloads/gmo/GlobalStatusGECrops2006.pdf
+ GM CROPS STILL NOT PERFORMING - NEW REPORT
A new report released 9 January shows that GM crops have failed to address the main challenges facing farmers in most countries of the world, and more than 70 percent of large scale GM planting is limited to two countries (US and Argentina). The report, "Who Benefits from GM crops? An analysis of the global performance of genetically modified (GM) crops 1996-2006" also notes that the "second generation" GM farm crops with attractive traits long promised by the industry has failed to appear.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Environ/gm-crops.foe.070110/
+ INDIA: BT COTTON - THE FACTS BEHIND THE HYPE
An excellent summary of the disasters wreaked by GM Bt cotton in India, and the success of an integrated pest management programme that produced high yields with no GM and no chemicals, has been published by GRAIN at
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=457
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NON-GM SUCCESSES
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+ AUSTRALIA: NEW SALT-TOLERANT WHEAT SET TO BRING LIFE TO "DEAD" FARMLAND
Scientists have developed a non-GM salt-tolerant wheat which could allow farmers to crop a third of the 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land lost to salinity across Australia's wheat belt.
http://www.gene.ch/genet/2004/Aug/msg00004.html
+ ZAMBIA: BUMPER NON-GM MAIZE HARVESTS
Although drought-prone Zambia is still facing many problems, huge improvements have been reported in its maize harvests - its main staple crop. A report from Inter Press Service notes, "... production changed dramatically after President Levy Mwanawasa took over from Frederick Chiluba in 2001.... [He] promoted innovations like mixed farming and conservation farming. Mwanawasa rejected GM maize and encouraged the growing of non-GM maize, resulting in bumper harvests for the past three consecutive years."
When the Zambian government rejected GM maize in 2002, there were calls from the US Ambassador to the FAO for its leaders to be tried "for the highest crimes against humanity in the highest courts of the world."
http://freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=339
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36398
+ UK: NON-GM CROP SCIENCE GETS GBP13m BOOST
UK crop scientists have been awarded a GBP13.3m boost in funding to carry out research aimed at delivering benefits for farmers and consumers. Researchers say they will not be producing GM crops. Prof David Pink, from Warwick HRI, University of Warwick, whose team has been awarded GBP500,000 to identify genes in broccoli that will extend its shelf life and maintain its nutritional value for longer, said, "We are not going down that [GM] route because GM is not acceptable at the moment, and not acceptable to our plant breeding partner."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6245529.stm
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ BP's HALF BILLION DOLLAR BERKELEY BIOFUEL BONANZA
A new $500 million biofuels institute will be built at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, with funds from the oil giant, BP, a recent member of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation. UC Berkeley was previously notorious for its tie-up with gene giant Syngenta, but the Berkeley-BP deal dwarfs its predecessor by a factor of ten. Others involved in the partnership are the weapons-designing LBL National Laboratory and the corn-growing University of Illinois.
Berkeley's Dr Ignacio Chapela told us, "BP's logo now replaces that of the University or the State, and the flags of Nation, State, University and Corporation are in perfect alignment. The coalition will be dedicated to producing "new" plants and microbes (read: transgenic, or synthetic-biology critters)." To date, Dr Chapela pointed out, it's unclear if there will be any oversight from government or faculties at either Berkeley or Illinois.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/201/1
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/01_ebi.shtml
+ GM LOBBYISTS EXPOSED IN GERMAN PRESS
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine has published a clear-eyed report exposing the undeclared corporate interests of the scientists involved with a working group of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences, which is lobbying for the acceptance of GM crops. Conflicted-out scientists named in the report include Kameswara Rao, Vivian Moses, Martin Chrispeels, Klaus-Dieter Jany, and Klaus Ammann.
Source: AgBioView, USA
+ GEAC SPROG IN BED WITH GM SEED COMPANY
Yet another conflict of interest has emerged in India. India's ag minister's son was previously said to have financial interests in a Bt cotton seed touting business. Now, Dr Hrishikesh Mayee, the son of the co-chairman of GM regulatory body GEAC, Dr C D Mayee, has married the daughter of Vijay Kashikar, a director of Ankur Seeds. Ankur Seeds has been permitted by GEAC to sell its GM cotton seeds to farmers. Dr Mayee himself is on the board of the industry body, ISAAA.
Source: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, India
+ RESEARCHERS FIND BIAS IN INDUSTRY-FUNDED STUDIES
Research into the health benefits of drinks may be severely biased in favour of food industry funders, American doctors say. A survey of research on the nutritional value of drinks found that studies funded entirely by food and drink companies were approximately eight times more likely to produce results favourable to their funders.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1985721,00.html
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CORPORATE CRIMES
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+ BAYER REACHES SETTLEMENT OVER FAILING TO DISCLOSE RISKS
Biotech giant Bayer Corp. will pay $8 million to 30 US states as part of a settlement requiring the company to disclose when drugs pose risks for patients with specific health conditions. According to the settlement, Bayer failed to warn physicians and patients of clinical studies revealing serious consequences of taking Baycol, a cholesterol-lowering drug. Company documents that came to light in the case reveal that senior executives at Bayer were aware of the problems long before the company pulled it from the market.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/01/22/daily29.html
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GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSIONS
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+ MONSANTO'S "SEED OF HOPE CAMPAIGN" IN SOUTH AFRICA
In a programme funded by large amounts of public money, Monsanto and other seed companies have been giving away GM maize seeds and agrochemicals to small-scale farmers in South Africa as a way of expanding markets and garnering positive PR. The African Centre for Biosafety has produced a new briefing paper, "Monsanto's Seed of Hope Campaign in South Africa".
Source: The African Centre for Biosafety, South Africa
+ SOUTH AFRICAN GOVT BLAMED FOR ENCOURAGING GM CROPS
An opposition legislator has blamed the South African government for enabling GM crops "to run riot" in the country. Cheryllyn Dudley, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Member of Parliament, said the government had not considered the safety of the crops.
http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/recent.fullStory&sp=l168032
+ FIELD TESTING OF GM SUGAR CANE IN BRAZIL
Brazil's private Center for Cane Technology (CTC) has announced that it will begin field tests in the coming weeks on three GM sugarcane varieties that produce high levels of sucrose.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=14322&start=31&control=222&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
+ ACTION: CALL ON EU TO ABANDON TARGETS FOR BIOFUEL USE
A new European-based group called "Biofuelwatch" has issued an open letter addressed to the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and citizens of Europe, urging the EU to abandon its targets for biofuel use in Europe. Already, several other organizations and individuals have signed onto the letter.
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2007Jan31-signatures.html
You or your organisation can sign this Open Letter by sending a message to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+ AFRICA'S WEALTH OF SEED DIVERSITY AND FARMER KNOWLEDGE UNDER THREAT
Representatives of 70 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 12 African countries have issued a statement criticizing the Rockefeller and Gates Foundations' new Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as well as the concept of a "so-called 'green revolution' or 'gene revolution'". The groups' statement was issued at the conclusion of the 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.
http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1610
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GM HYPE
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+ PR MASQUERADES AS FACT IN GM PLANTING CLAIMS
The biotech industry's mouthpiece, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agrobiotechnology Applications (ISAAA), has been exposed for grossly inflating the figures of GM crops grown globally. Its latest report even lists countries growing GM crops that do not grow them, or that have banned them.
Read on at: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GlobalGMCropsAreaExaggerated.php
See also: http://www.greenpeace.eu/downloads/gmo/GlobalStatusGECrops2006.pdf
+ IS INDIA'S BUMPER COTTON CROP DUE TO BT COTTON?
The Bt cotton industry is going to town with claims that India has touched record cotton production this year and the biotech industry is also claiming such increases are attributable to the increasing adoption of Bt cotton in the country.
Coalition for GM-Free India, using data from USDA and ISAAA, shows that growth in Indian cotton production and productivity fluctuated and showed impressive improvements, before the introduction of Bt cotton. For instance, Indian cotton productivity showed a growth of 10.8% over the previous year in 2001-02, when no Bt cotton cultivation was allowed in the country. In the year 2003-04, when Bt cotton cultivation constituted a mere 1.3% of the total cotton grown, the highest increase in productivity was seen - 26.3%! Whatever the factors behind such increases, Bt cotton does not appear to be one of them.
Source: Coalition for GM-Free India, India
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GM AND CLONED ANIMALS
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+ CLONED MEAT - THE HIDDEN AGENDAS
Who is pushing to legalize cloned meat? Follow the money - and there are strong connections to human genetic engineering, says Pete Shanks, author of Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed. Pete writes: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s draft risk assessment leans heavily on the work of animal-cloning companies Cyagra and ViaGen. Over a quarter of the 700-page draft is a data dump from those two.
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/CloneRiskAssessment.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/28cnd-clone.html
http://www.genetics-and-society.org/resources/items/20020429_fortune_warner.html
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/immortal.html
+ UK: TRUST IN BRITISH FOOD THREATENED BY BIRTH OF CLONED CALF
The UK government has been accused of "inexcusable and irresponsible" behaviour after it emerged that the calf of an American cloned cow had been born on a British farm.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/11/nembryo11.xml
+ GM BSE-FREE COWS?
US and Japanese scientists are claiming that they "used genetic engineering to produce cattle that resist mad cow disease... Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers said their cattle were healthy at the age of 20 months..." However, as the earliest age at which *any* cow has been found to have BSE in Britain, the supposed hotspot of the disease, is 20 months, it's a mystery as to why this is claimed to be a significant achievement.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2525853,00.html
+ GM HENS LAY EGGS "TO FIGHT CANCER"
Scientists have genetically modified hens to lay eggs which they claim produce
drugs that fight cancer and other diseases.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2546462_1,00.html
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BIOWEAPONS
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+ MOVIE TELLS STORY OF PERSECUTED ARTIST
A new documentary film, "Strange Culture", tells the story of American artist Steve Kurtz. Kurtz is being persecuted by the FBI for supposed bioterrorism as a result of his keeping harmless bacteria in his apartment as part of his art equipment. He is a critic of GM crops and corporate influence on agriculture. The FBI first raided his apartment on the night his wife died of heart failure.
http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=9553
Read an article on the real bioterrorist threat: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0414-21.htm
+ 113 INSTITUTIONS CHARGED WITH REFUSING TO REVEAL BIOTECH RESEARCH
Some 113 university, government, hospital and corporate laboratories engaged in research with potential to be used for germ warfare have refused to disclose their operations to the public as required by Federal rules, the Sunshine Project has revealed.
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/4641/1/231/
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NEW BOOK, DVD
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+ WHAT'S IN YOUR MILK? - EXPOSE OF INDUSTRY AND GOVT COVER-UP
Dr Samuel S. Epstein, professor emeritus of environmental medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, has announced the publication of his new book, "What's in Your Milk?", an expose of the dangers of milk produced with Monsanto's GM bovine growth hormone, and the company's conspiracy to suppress this information.
http://www.world-wire.com/news/0701030001.html
+ NEW DVD ON GM IN HAWAII
Earthjustice has produced a new video entitled "Islands at Risk - Genetic Engineering in Hawaii". Focusing on local experiments with GMOs, the video features local farmers, teachers, legal and medical experts, and community activists. Copies are available from
http://www.namaka.com