29. Genetically Modified Food/Crops

Date Source Title Summary Other Categories
06.10.2001 New York Times As Biotech Crops Multiply, Consumers Get Little Choice "Despite persistent concerns about genetically modified crops, they are spreading so rapidly that it has become almost impossible for consumers to avoid them, agriculture experts say."
05.26.2001 Globe and Mail Canola farmer given appeal money Saskatchewan farmer Schmeiser has reportedly received $50,000 from supporters to back an appeal of the recent decision which found him to be using Monsanto canola. 24. Monsanto
05.24.2001 Nature GM Cows Face Slaughter in Multiple Sclerosis Experiment The fate of cows pregnant with embryos genetically modified for multiple sclerosis research in New Zealand hangs in the balance as a second New Zealand High Court decision to terminate the experiment is reviewed by the body responsible for allowing the experiment.
05.24.2001 Nature Plans for GM Livestock Fail the Poor The Royal Society warns that the current drive in Britain's research in genetically modified animals to benefit only Western agriculture ignores the opportunity to aid developing nations.
05.23.2001 Globe and Mail Against the grain The Canadian Wheat board is lobbying the Canadian government to deny Monsanto approval to grow and sell its genetically modified wheat as the corporate giant prepares to test its product in the field. 24. Monsanto
05.21.2001 Globe and Mail Buyers distrust modified wheat Monsanto is preparing to test Roundup ready, genetically modified wheat in fields across Canada, but domestic and international concerns may prove fatal to the crop's marketability.  Review of Canada's involvement in testing genetically modified crops. 24. Monsanto
05.19.2001 Washington Post Really Big Fish The ecosystem may or may not be ready for the first genetically engineered salmon, but the regulatory system is emphatically not. The piecemeal authority that exists won’t foster consumer confidence in GM organisms, especially given the irrational fears that have swept Europe.
05.09.2001 New York Times Moratorium Sought on Engineered Fish Genetic engineering of food products have yet to be approved for use as human food.  Various public interest groups however, have begun to petition the government to place a moratorium on genetically engineered fish.
05.03.2001 Globe and Mail Loblaw rejects call to take GM foods off store shelves Loblaws responded to a call to remove from its shelves Genetically Modified foods by saying that the population is divided in its opinion of GM foods.  No labels appear on the products, but are not required by federal standards.
04.06.2001 BBC News Indian firms embrace biotechnology Multinational and Indian research companies are investing heavily in the industry, encouraged by biotechnology-friendly policies. India's ministers have launched biotechnology strategies to increase funding, create infrastructure, curtail biopiracy and focus on agricultural research. Although research and entry of GM crops are still controversial. 19. General Patent or Biotechnology Information
04.05.2001 Globe and Mail CBAC seeks grass roots feedback on genetically modified food The Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC) is on a cross-country tour, meeting with public interest groups and experts to get grass-roots feedback about how genetically modified foods should be regulated.
03.30.2001 Washington Post Farmer Liable For Growing Biotech Crops A judge yesterday ordered a Canadian farmer to pay the biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. thousands of dollars because the company's genetically engineered canola plants were found growing on his field. 2. Patent Law
03.19.2001 Asia Pacific Biotech News "Golden Rice" to Reach Indian Market in 5 to 6 Years The article briefly describes how a vitamin A rich "golden rice" is expected to be available in the Indian market five to six years from now.
03.18.2001 Washington Post Biotech Grain Is in 430 Million Bushels of Corn, Firm Says The article discusses how a crops of corn were inadvertently mixed with engineered corn not approved for consumption.  
03.15.2001 New York Times Scientists: More Research Is Needed Scientists advising the government on genetically engineered corn say more research is needed to determine its impact on the environment and assess the health risks of new varieties of the grain.
03.12.2001 New York Times Patents: Part of Fierce Battle Over Genetic Engineering After agreeing last month to hear a dispute between two corn-seed companies struggling for economic advantage in the lucrative market for genetically engineered plants, the United States Supreme Court is preparing to settle whether such seeds should be awarded the kinds of patents that usually cover mechanical, electrical or chemical inventions. 2. Patent Law, 3. Theory of Patents
02.22.2001 Nature  European Union moves to curb moratorium on transgenic plants In a bid to end the impasse that has effectively prevented transgenic crops from being grown on European farms, the European Union (EU) has adopted tighter rules for their use. Industry welcomed the new rules, which it hopes will eventually lead to the acceptance of genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe. Environmental groups indicated that they would accept the rules as long as the ban on the technology was maintained. The directive was adopted after being approved last week by the European Parliament. But the nations behind the de facto moratorium — France, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Austria and Luxemburg — reaffirmed their intention to block GM crops altogether.
02.15.2001 Nature UK names sites for transgenic crop trials The British government has released details of the next stage of its genetically modified crop field trials, renewing controversy on GMOs.
02.15.2001 Nature Transgenic plant patents get the go-ahead The European Patent Office's appeals board has confirmed the validity of two controversial patents on transgenic plants. The board overruled objections filed by environmentalist groups against patents on a herbicide-resistant plant developed by AgrEvo and Monsanto's 'Flavr Savr' tomato.
02.15.2001 Nature Call for tighter controls on transgenic foods A senior panel of scientific experts has surprised Canadian regulators — and many Canadians — by calling for far tighter regulation of genetically modified (GM) foods. The recommendations made by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) include, most importantly, rejecting the doctrine of 'substantial equivalence', by which regulators treat the approval of GM crops as though they were much the same as conventionally grown crops. It also calls on the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Commission to "review problems related to the increasing domination of the public research agenda by private, commercial interests". 
02.08.2001 Nature Biotechnology: Transgenic crops in natural habitats The authors present the results of a long-term study of the performance of transgenic crops in natural habitats. Four different crops (oilseed rape, potato, maize and sugar beet) were grown in 12 different habitats and monitored over a period of 10 years. In no case were the genetically modified plants found to be more invasive or more persistent than their conventional counterparts.
02.08.2001 Nature No traces of modified DNA in poultry fed on GM corn Researchers at Japan's Scientific Feed Association say there is no sign of modified DNA or protein in chickens that had been continuously fed Starlink genetically modified corn.
02.01.2001 Nature Designer rice to combat diet deficiencies makes its debut The first free samples of "Golden Rice"— genetically engineered to contain vitamin A precursors — were last week shipped to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to conduct biosafety studies, and then use traditional breeding techniques to confer the beneficial traits of the transgenic rice to strains adapted to local growing conditions. A unique arrangement between the inventors of Golden Rice and the agribusiness Syngenta, to which the inventors assigned all commercial rights, subsistence farmers in any developing country can cultivate Golden Rice varieties, once available, licence-free.
01.26.2001 BBC News Rice genome falls to science Syngenta and Myriad Genetics Inc say that knowing the genome required to build the plant will enable the development of new strains with greater yields and better tolerance of harsh conditions.  The completed DNA sequence, of the variety Nippon-Bare, will not be published in a scientific journal or on the internet but will be made freely available to scientists who want to use it. 19. General Patent and/or Biotechnology Information
01.2001 Nature Biotech EC study reveals an informed public A European Commission-funded study of Public Perceptions of Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe (PABE) will be published this month. It finds that the public's reaction to GMOs has been influenced by the misassumption—on the parts of not only regulatory authorities, scientists, and industry, but also non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—that the public needs to be educated, rather than consulted. Emphasis ought to be on the public's control over the trajectory of technology and not its mere knowledge. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology, 30. Xenotransplantation
01.2001 Nature Biotech GM vines: focal point for EC power struggle The European Parliament has approved a set of amendments to directive 68/193. Although the draft doesn't mark any real change in European legislation with respect to GMOs, the way it was reached suggests a subtle shift in European Community politics and attitude to anti-GMO extremism. Some savvy politicians sought to include GM vines under under the agricultural regime rather than the environmental regime and thereby circumvent political hurdles to regulation.
01.2001 Nature Biotech EPA re-evaluates StarLink license A summary of the incidents surrounding the Starlink contamination in the food supply (November 2000) and the more recent US regulatory struggles (in December 2000) with a request from Aventis CropScience to permit limited human consumption of its StarLink corn. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology
01.2001 Nature Biotech Aventis to shed ag The supervisory board of Aventis SA revealed plans in November to divest the agricultural business Aventis CropScience by the end of 2001 in order to focus on pharmaceuticals, which accounts for 75% of the parent business. The divestment may take the form of an IPO under the name "Agreva," but big players in the agrochemical market have shown interest in purchasing the division.
01.2001 Nature Biotech GM crop data—agronomy and ecology in tandem Article puts forward the argument that biosafety data on GM crops could be gathered efficiently if US researchers would collect ecological data during large-scale trials and commercial uses of GM crops. In such a practice, all parties would stand to benefit: industry in overcoming negative public perception and mistrust; the public and the regulators in obtaining additional and relevant data for current risk assessments and for future monitoring; and academics in acquiring funding.
12.2000 Nature Biotech Italian minister axes GMOs Italian minister of agriculture Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio has explicitly told scientists they will no longer receive funding from the ministry unless they eliminate GMOs entirely from their experiments. 16. Economics and Biotechnology
12.2000 Nature Biotech GMO roundup The five defendants charged with criminal damage for removing an Aventis GM oilseed rape crop from a field in the North of England used Arpad Pusztai's research, "peer-reviewed and published in The Lancet" as part of their defense in their trial in mid-November. They argued that if they had not destroyed the crop it was likely that personal injury or death would have almost certainly resulted. Pusztai's paper was used as "proof of the dangers caused by GM contaminated foods." 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology
11.21.2000 NY Times Golden Rice in a Grenade-Proof Greenhouse A scientist in Switzerland has developed a strain of genetically engineered rice that could save lives in developing countries.  However, he has been unable to export it for over a year because of patents used to create the rice and potential legislation that might prohibit the export of GMOs from Switzerland. He has worked out a deal with Zeneca Agrichemicals, which has patents on some of the crucial genetic instructions used to make the rice.  Zeneca gets a license to market the rice in developed countries as an enriched crop containing antioxidants.  In return, Zeneca will secure rights to some of the other patents covering the rice and grant the inventors a license to give the rice to international research institutes that are developing new varieties of rice in developing countries.
11.2000 Nature Biotech Italian GMO ban could spread The European Commission is under renewed pressure to reverse unjustified bans on GM products following Italy's rejection of GM maize. The banning of the sale and use of GM products by individual EU member states has focused on article 16 of the European directive 90/220 covering the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment. If the Commission fails to act and unblock the regulatory impasse that has dogged the reversal of previous unjustified bans, it could be opening the doors to a new wave of embargoes that could be far more widespread.
11.2000 Nature Biotech Taco dispute underscores need for standardized tests In fall (2000) Kraft Foods recalled all Taco Bell Home Originals taco shell products, and Safeway removed its home-brand taco shells from supermarket shelves after traces of a GM corn not yet approved for human consumption had been found in the shells. This article examines this what went wrong in these episodes and illustrates the need for standardized tests and the importance that EPA set thresholds for the accidental mixing of ingredients.
11.2000 Nature Biotech GM food policy upheld The US District Court in Washington threw out a case filed by a coalition of biotech activists against the federal government in 1998. Referring to FDA's 1992 policy statement on Foods Derived From New Plant Varieties the group demanded a revision of food safety laws whereby the FDA impose mandatory safety testing and labeling. The summary dismissal of this case upholds existing FDA policies based on a science-based regulatory system for reviewing and labeling foods improved through biotechnology.
11.23.2000 Nature Aventis gets short shrift over release of modified corn The US government looks unlikely to bow to demands from Aventis that it temporarily approve the company's genetically modified StarLink corn for human consumption, following the inadvertent and embarrassing release of the strain into the food chain.
11.09.2000 Nature Japan's GM corn will undergo tests Reports that an unapproved form of GM corn has found its way into the Japanese food supply have prompted government action in both Japan and the US. StarLink corn, produced in the US by Aventis CropScience, contains the pesticide Cry9C.
10.11.2000 NY Times Caught in Headlights of the Biotech Debate The article reviews Genetics ID, a company doing DNA testing to identify genetically modified foods. Issues surrounding GM foods and their testing and labeling are raised. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology  
10.10.2000 BBC News GM giant 'will threaten seed supplies' Some public NGOs concerned at the potential impact of GM plants say a planned new company (Syngenta) will threaten farmers in developing countries. They believe Syngenta could make it impossible for farmers to save seeds from one year to the next. Primarily, they are concerned with 'terminator seeds' -  seeds modified to grow plants which produce infertile seed - and other genetic techniques that they allege the new company will employ to create dependent relationships between farmers and Syngenta.
09.26.2000 Nature What hopes for GM food? A summary of recent GM foods controversies as well as a brief critique of the "GM misinformation" that is in the public domain created by anti-GM fundamentalists, and media and acquiesced by the silence of the GM foods industry.
09.2000 Nature Novartis pins hopes for GM seeds on new marker system The multinational company Novartis Seeds [August 2000]launched a campaign to gain worldwide support from the plant-science community for its new marker-gene system, Positech. The campaign follows the company's recent announcement that it plans to phase out antibiotic-resistance marker genes in its future products, in an attempt to restore public confidence in the safety of genetically modified foodstuffs. The move comes on the heels of concerns that antibiotic resistance genes could 'jump' from transgenic plants to microorganisms such as gut bacteria, increasing antibiotic resistance in humans. Basic researchers, who can use 'Positech' without royalties, have welcomed the launch stating that the availability of less controversial marker genes would improve the acceptance of research, and "cool down" the public debate. Some enviormental groups, however, are more cynical about this news. 4. Social and Ethical Concerns Arising Out of Biotech
06.22.2000 The Globe and Mail Mosquito recruited to fight malaria Modified insect would be released into wild European scientists have created the world's first genetically modified mosquito, in what they believe may be a step toward eliminating malaria by introducing harmless versions of the insect into the wild. The team introduced a piece of foreign DNA into mosquito eggs, which then "jumped" into the chromosomes of the larva, according to their research, published in today's issue of the British weekly Nature.
06.15.2000 Globe and Mail Farmer to destroy canola crop A British farmer plans to destroy a crop of canola which may contain genetically modified plants not approved for sale in Europe. The crop came from Advanta Seeds UK, a joint venture between Anglo-Swedish group AstraZeneca Plc and the Dutch co-operative Cosun. "The problem is that 1 per cent of Advanta's seeds were contaminated," but they don't know which seeds contain the contamination. The British government has advised the farmers to destroy GM-tainted crops, but declined to pay compensation.
06.15.2000 Globe and Mail A new breed of superweed An Alberta farmer planted 3 crops of genetically modified canola, each resistant to a different herbicide.  3 years later, when he wanted to change the fields to grow wheat, he found stray canola plants resistant to all 3 herbicides. shuffling of herbicides.  This is the first documented case of gene stacking in canola occurring without human intervention.
06.09.2000 Europa EU will pay farmers who were affected by unauthorised GMOs in rapeseed The Cereals Management Committee of the EU has approved today a European Commission's proposal to allow farmers who had to destroy colza plants containing unauthorised GMOs to receive the payments they are entitled to under existing rules for traditional area payments. This payment is not an emergency aid but a derogation from the existing rules under the arable crops support regime. The crop must be maintained under normal growth conditions until flowering or until 30 June for the farmers to receive the usual payment. Farmers can now choose to re-sow the plots of land for a new spring crop immediately or to sow later in the year for autumn cereals. In the first case farmers will not be entitled to another payment for the new sowing.