GMWatch News Review archive

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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all

Welcome to WW49 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.

If you've ever wondered how a population gets brainwashed, don't miss the feature "AGRISCIENCE BUS" TAKES TEACHERS FOR A RIDE (HIGHLIGHTS). Writer Jane Garrison gives a fascinating glimpse into how American schoolchildren are being moulded by teachers, who, in turn, are trained by the biotech industry in a freebie summer school. It seems there's a gap in the US educational market for lessons in critical thinking.

That, of course, hasn't stopped Scottish Enterprise trying to inflict the same kind of propaganda exercise on Scottish school children and there have been other 'educational' initiatives courtesy of GM proponents in the UK (HIGHLIGHTS).

Meanwhile, a comprehensive new report shows the lies that such Orwellian exercises are built on.  Official US Dept of Agriculture data shows that far from decreasing pesticide use in the 8 years since GM crops were introduced into the US (1996-2003), GM crops have massively increased the overall use of pesticides (see SETBACKS).

Claire    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.ngin.org.uk

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CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
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+ MONSANTO'S GM SOY SAFETY ASSESSMENT FLAWED, SAYS SCIENTIST
Monsanto's safety assessment application to the Japanese health ministry for Roundup Ready soybeans was "inadequate and incomplete," according to assistant professor Masaharu Kawata, of Nagoya University, Japan. According to the Japanese study, Monsanto's safety tests misrepresent data and included testing proteins not derived from the GM plant; insufficient feeding experiments; and intentional neglect of "inappropriate" data. Since the components of the GE soybean that people are eating are still unknown, governments who have approved the GE soybean should review their safety assessments.

Excerpt from Kawata's study:
Minimal feeding tests
Animal feeding tests are important for safety assessment. Monsanto conducted these experiments on rats, cows, chickens, catfish and quail. However, the scale of the experiments was very inadequate. For example, in rat experiments, raw and toasted soybeans both genetically modified and non-modified were fed to only 10 rats in each group and the feeding period was only 28 days. Toxicity across generations or chronic toxicity will not be measured by such limited experiments.

Even with these far from satisfactory experiments, the data for body and organ weight of liver, kidney and testicles show obvious differences in the male rats between groups fed wild strain soybean and those fed bio-engin eered soybean.

Raw soybean-fed groups showed no difference. But male groups fed toasted GE soybean, weighed 6.7% less than the group fed the ordinary soybean and 13% less than the group fed the commercial feed-mix at the end of the tes t period of 28 days. Though this difference is described as statistically significant in the data sheet, the conclusion ignores these results and states that "no statistical significance is observed."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1718

+ ENVIRONMENT TRUMPING GENES
A sign that biotech research is going nowhere comes from Nobel Laureate genome sequencer Sydney Brenner, who has recently called for a new appraisal of public healthcare instead of going in the direction of the human genome banks and personalised medicines. There are good reasons for Brenner and other scientists to break ranks with the pro-GM brigade.

Diet is found to affect genetic imprinting, a developing process in which genes are marked to become silent, resulting in immediate and longer-term health impacts on the unborn. The malnutrition of teenage mothers with too little to spend on food is a potential time bomb for the already overstretched public health service.
- Dr Maewan Ho, editorial, Science in Society 20, Autumn/Winter 2003 Order your copy from the ISIS online store
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/onlinestore/magazines.php
Read more of the editorial at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1726

+ GM CROPS NOW INCREASING PESTICIDE USE IN THE UNITED STATES
The planting of 550 million acres of genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybeans and cotton in the US since 1996 has increased pesticide use by about 50 million pounds, according to a report by the Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center.

The report is the first comprehensive study of the impacts of all major commercial GE crops on pesticide use in the US over the first eight years of commercial use, 1996-2003. It draws on official US Dept of Agriculture data on pesticide use by crop and state. The report is entitled "Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Eight Years," and is the sixth in a series of "Technical Papers" prepared for Ag BioTech InfoNet.

It is being published via the Internet (hard copies will not be provided, but can be printed for free from the website). The report calculates the difference between the average pounds of pesticides applied on acres planted to GE crops compared to the pounds applied to otherwise similar conventional crops. In their first three years of commercial sales (1996-1998), GE crops reduced pesticide use by about 25.4 million pounds, but in the last three years (2001-2003), over 73 million more pounds of pesticides were applied on GE acres.

Substantial increases in herbicide use on "Herbicide Tolerant" (HT) crops, especially soybeans, accounted for the increase in pesticide use on GE acres compared to acres planted to conventional plant varieties. Many farmers have had to spray incrementally more herbicides on GE acres in order to keep up with shifts in weeds toward tougher-to-control species, coupled with the emergence of genetic resistance in certain weed populations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1722

+ GM ADVISORS FAIL TO ANSWER THE ULTIMATE GM RIDDLE
A new UK government report on 'coexistence' designed to examine whether GM crops can be grown without contaminating non-GM and organic crops has failed to answer this crucial question. The report published by the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) also looks at who should foot the bill if something goes wrong. 'GM Crops? Coexistence and Liability ' is the Government's final piece of evidence in helping decide whether or not GM crops are to be grown commercially in the UK.

Responding to the report, Greenpeace GM Campaigner Ben Ayliffe said: "The Commission has failed to answer the crucial question about whether GM can actually coexist with conventional and organic crops in the UK. This is because they can't - coexistence is impossible and widespread contamination will be inevitable if GM is commercialised in this country."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1725

+ CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ETHICS OF GMOs
The full paper presented by the Jesuit priests Father Roland Lesseps SJ and Father Peter Henriot SJ at the International Symposium on "Genetically Modified Organisms, Threat or Hope?", held in Rome 10-11 November 2003 is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1730
The symposium was organized by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and presided by Council Prefect Cardinal Renato Martino. Fathers Henriot and Lesseps quote an ancient but topical prayer by St Basil:

"O God, enlarge within us a sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers and sisters the animals, to whom you gave the earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised high dominion with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to you in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live not for us alone but for themselves and for you, and that they love the sweetness of life."

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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+ GOVERNMENT'S GM ADVISOR CALLS FOR NEW CONTAMINATION AND LIABILITY LAWS
New laws must be introduced if GM crops are ever allowed to be commercially grown in the UK, the government's main GM policy advisor said on 25 November. This should include measures to prevent contamination from GM crops and rules to enable farmers to claim compensation if it occurs. Friends of the Earth has broadly welcomed the report, but insists that biotech companies must be strictly liable for any harm caused.

The report by the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) also calls for changes to the Environmental Protection Act so that the costs of cleaning up environmental damage caused by GM crops would be charged to biotech companies, even if the law has not been broken.

The main recommendations in the AEBC report include:
. Coexistence should be governed by legally binding protocols to meet contamination thresholds
. GM commercial crops should be subject to a probationary period of limited growing to test how effective the coexistence rules will be
. GM approvals could be suspended if coexistence rules break down and consumer choice is compromised
. Farmers suffering contamination above the statutory threshold (0.9 %) should automatically be compensated
. Compensation from industry for environmental remediation costs should be available to regulators irrespective of criminal liability
. Costs for remediation of diffuse impacts of GM (from an unidentifiable source) could be chargeable to biotech companies
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1724
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1731

+ "AGRISCIENCE BUS" TAKES TEACHERS FOR A RIDE
"Agriscience Bus", a 3-day summer course sponsored by ag industry groups and free to teachers is teaching American schoolchildren about agriculture - of the high-tech industrial, intensive, GM variety. Whether this is education or brainwashing is the topic of an excellent article by Jane Garrison at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1721

Excerpts:
When the topic of genetically modified foods came up in the teachers' lounge one day, my friend Tom (not his real name) chimed in, "It's like when nectarines were made from peaches and plums." He said he had learned this on the "Agriscience Bus."

Having a working knowledge of genetically modified foods and knowing the fallacy of that analogy, I asked other previous Agriscience Bus participants about it. They all had the same impression, saying things like, "The course really opened my eyes to biotechnology" and "Some important biotech research is making big differences in improving the world's food supply." I asked whether any fellow course participants had brought up concerns over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). "Well, no," they answered, "it's hard to know what to ask when a geneticist is talking."

Opening Message of the "Biotechnology Basics Activity Book" (shown on our cover)
Hi Kids,
This is an activity book for young people like you about biotechnology -- a really neat topic. Why is it such a neat topic? Because biotechnology is helping to improve the health of the Earth and the people who call it home. In this book, you will take a closer look at biotechnology. You will see that biotechnology is being used to figure out how to: 1) grow more food; 2) help the environment; and 3) grow more nutritious food that improves our health. As you work through the puzzles in this book, you will learn more about biotechnology and all of the wonderful ways it can help people live better lives in a healthier world.
Have Fun!
-- sponsored by the Council For Biotechnology Information, an industry trade group

More on such teaching materials can be read at
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE2/Biotechnology-And-You.htm

For other 'educational' initiatives see:
Fury at pro-GM school materials
http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/news/progematerial.cfm
The education section of a report on the John Innes Centre
http://www.gmwatch.org/p2temp2.asp?aid=12&page=1&op=1
A review of a play created to sell GM in UK secondary school
http://www.gmwatch.org/p2temp2.asp?aid=31&page=1&op=1

+ BRAZIL'S ENVIRONMENTALISTS CRYING FOUL
The environmental movement celebrated when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected Brazil's president in October last year. More than a year later, though, environmentalists are talking of betrayal. On virtually every major issue - from Amazon deforestation and GM food to nuclear power and squatter invasions of national parks - Mr. da Silva has turned his back on them, environmentalists say, in many cases abandoning campaign pledges.

The hottest spark to ignite the discontent that had simmered for months was Mr. da Silva's decision in September to approve the planting of GM soybeans. That was one of half a dozen policy differences that Congressman Fernando Gabeira cited when he announced that he would bolt from President da Silva's governing Workers' Party.

"I always defended a Green-Red coalition in Brazil, supposing that the Red component would act like European Social Democrats," Mr. Gabeira said. "But I have found that they act more like Eastern European Communist leaders." He said they concentrated power in a small elite that "breaks with party policies without talking to its partners" and "leaves environmental devastation behind."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1719
'
+ LORD MAY ACCUSES 'GM WARRIORS OF KILLING DEBATE
Lord Robert May, president of the Royal Society, has published an article in The Guardian complaining that the findings of the GM farm scale evaluations "have been obscured by the kneejerk responses of the GM warriors issued immediately after, and in some cases before, the publication of the eight detailed scientific papers describing the farm trials results."

This, let it be remembered, is the president of a Society that set out to systematically rubbish Pusztai and Ewen's research both pre- and post- its peer reviewed publication in The Lancet. Indeed, this is the president of a Society that sat in judgement on Pusztai's research even before it had been submitted for publication!

The truth is that 2 types of GM crop were found to be less beneficial to the environment. The third was based on comparison with a type of herbicide that is about to be banned. What is irrational or unscientific about saying that that provides no basis for commercialisation?

May's comments are part of a damage limitation campaign launched by the pro-GM lobby in which Sense About Science, the Royal Society's close ally, is doing the dirty work while May and the RS pretend to keep their hands clean.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1723

Read a scorching response to May by Dr Brian John of GM-FREE Cymru at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1727
Excerpts:
"I heard your piece on the BBC Today programme yesterday, and was saddened by the manner in which the Royal Society is still intent upon promoting GM technology whenever an opportunity presents itself.  It was, I fear, difficult to sort out what it was that you were trying to say, but the overall message appeared to be that since modern farming uses nasty chemicals all the time, and since GM crops also use nasty chemicals, then we might as well commercialize GM crops since they are only slightly worse than the others. ... These trials were scientifically fraudulent, and we are saddened that the Royal Society also now appears to be signed up to this fraud."

+ GM OPPONENTS SHOULD STAND TRIAL - GOLDEN RICE INVENTOR
Ingo Potrykus, the inventor of GM 'golden rice', says GM opponents should stand trial for opposing the technology. It's the delays in getting golden rice released in developing countries for which Dr Potrykus believes GM opponents must be held accountable. "I would tell those opponents that they are responsible for the hundreds of thousands of children who go blind every year," he said. "I would make them responsible, have them in an international court and get them to justify the pain and suffering they are inflicting on so many people."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1729

But Potrykus stands condemned out of his own mouth as a biotech salesman without scruple with regard to either truth or the holding out of false promises to some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the world. Potrykus has claimed for years to have solved the problem of Vitamin A Deficiency despite all the evidence to the contrary.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1729

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HEADLINES OF THE WEEK:  from the GMWATCH archive
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21/11/2003 Brazil's Environmentalists Crying Foul
21/11/2003 Monsanto GM soy safety assessment flawed, researcher says
21/11/2003 THE WEEKLY WATCH number 48
24/11/2003 "Agriscience Bus" Takes Teachers For a Ride
25/11/2003 GM advisors fail to answer the ultimate GM riddle
25/11/2003 GM Crops Now Increasing Pesticide Use in the United States
25/11/2003 GM warriors have killed the debate
25/11/2003 Government's GM advisor calls for new contamination and liability laws
26/11/2003 Church's social teaching and the ethics of GMOs
26/11/2003 GM opponents should stand trial - golden rice inventor
26/11/2003 Lord May's claims refuted
26/11/2003 Report warns of risks posed by GM crops
27/11/2003 Science in Society 20, Autumn/Winter 2003
FOR THE COMPLETE GMWATCH ARCHIVE: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp

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