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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 00/01/16Thanks to Dennis Dey, Richard Wolfson, and NLP Wessex for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------
BBC News Online: Sci/Tech
Organic Food 'Proven' Healthier
Alex Kirby reports for BBC News Researchers say there is now firm evidence that organically-grown produce is healthier to eat than conventional crops. The Soil Association, the group which campaigns for organic farming, has told BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth programme that organic crops contain more nutrients. Director Patrick Holden said research has shown that they contain more secondary metabolites than conventionally-grown plants. Secondary metabolite are substances which form part of the plants' immune systems, and which also help to fight cancer in humans. Mr Holden said organic crops also have a measurably higher level of vitamins, and that this can benefit people who eat them. By contrast, he said, "intensive farming is devitalising our food". Mr Holden said the research, from Denmark and Germany, would be presented in the UK at the association's conference on organic food on 8 January... Poor people would find it hard to afford the fruit and vegetables they needed to reduce their cancer risk, he argued. But the World Health Organisation has estimated that between 3.5 and 5m people globally suffer acute pesticide poisoning every year. So the programme concludes that, whatever the individual benefits of organic food may be, it is almost certainly beneficial on a wider scale. ------------------ Copyright 2000 BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation January 13, 2000, Thursday Vatican Says Yes to Plant, Animal Engineering Despite controversy surrounding the ill effects of biotechnology, top Catholic Church officials are convinced that this latest progeny of science is a gain rather than a loss to humanity. Biotechnology, or the use of biological techniques to improve agricultural products and medicine, has been in hot water since news broke that some of its practical applications in the market such as Genetically Modified Products (GMPs) could cause cancer, gene mutation and other health hazards. "I have stopped all those who demand condemnation of these (genetically modified) products," said Bishop Elio Sgreccia, Vatican director of Bioethics and vice-president of the Pontifical Academy of Life (PAL). He emphasized that biotechnological research could resolve global problems such as hunger since it enables agricultural productivity even in arid lands. "We (PAL members) are increasingly encouraged that the advantages of genetic engineering of plants and animals are greater than the risks," explained Bishop Sgreccia. "The risks should be carefully followed through openness, analysis and control, but without a sense of alarm." Another PAL fellow, Giuseppe Bertoni, criticized the "catastrophic sensationalism" of press reports that substantially contribute to biotechnology's current infamous image. "It's true that ethical limits must be respected but, above all, the reality of biotechnology must be known," said Bertoni. "If you know biotechnology, you don't fear it." He further pointed out that the "idea of conceiving scientific progress is something to be feared" should be rejected. PAL, being an authority on science's moral and ethical issues, presented two volumes of documents two months ago regarding biotechnology. Though clearly not in favor of human cloning, PAL scholars gave a "prudent yes" to plant and animal engineering since it is a potential mechanism to alleviate certain human problems such as world hunger, incurable diseases and the like. Though not part of PAL, theologian Daniel McGee shared PAL's view that "God is a presence who continues in the marvelous creative process" and mankind partakes in all of these divine efforts. ------------------ Copyright 2000 The Washington Post January 16, 2000, Sunday, Final Edition EPA Restricts Gene-Altered Corn in Response to Concerns; Farmers Must Plant Conventional 'Refuges' to Reduce Threat of Ecological Damage By Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer The Environmental Protection Agency has placed new restrictions on the cultivation of genetically modified corn, a response to concerns that gene-altered crops may be causing ecological disruptions. The new restrictions, which were released late Friday and are effective immediately, make unprecedented demands on the producers of biotech seeds and on farmers who wish to plant so-called Bt corn, which has been endowed with a gene that allows the corn to make its own insecticide. Among the new restrictions is a requirement that farmers plant 20 percent to 50 percent of their acreage in conventional corn, which some farmers have said would be burdensome and some experts said could lead to a decline in plantings of the high-tech seeds. Bt corn has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity among farmers since it was approved for sale in 1996, and was planted on more than one-third of U.S. corn acres last year... A straw poll of 400 farmers conducted by Reuters last week at the annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation found that some farmers are planning to call it quits with biotech varieties. Farmers said demands by U.S. consumers that engineered food products be labeled, and ongoing European rejection of the crops, could depress the prices farmers will get at harvest for the costly new varieties. The poll results predict a 24 percent decline in plantings of Bt corn compared with last year, and a 26 percent decline in plantings of Bt cotton. They also predict a 15 percent decline in RoundUp Ready soybeans--a gene-altered variety of soy that protects the plants against the popular weed killer made by St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. and was planted on more than half of all U.S. soy acres last year. And it predicts a 22 percent drop in RoundUp Ready corn. ...The new EPA restrictions, described in letters to biotech seed producers from Janet L. Andersen, director of EPA's biopesticides and pollution prevention division, could influence those decisions for corn. They demand that farmers plant large "refuges" of conventional corn near their Bt corn to reduce Bt pressures on insects and delay the evolution of resistance in pest populations. Farmers will not be allowed to spray refuges with conventional insecticides unless they can prove that pests have exceeded certain levels. And biotech seed producers and farmers will have to monitor insect populations for the emergence of insecticide resistance. At the first sign that such resistance is occurring, sales of the new seed varieties must be halted. The rules also demand that seed producers develop grower agreements that farmers must sign or produce educational materials and programs such as workshops and publications to ensure compliance with the rules. Companies must submit details of those plans to the EPA for approval by Jan. 31. ------------------ Thursday, 13 January, 2000, 19:03 GMT Yellow Rice Gives Dietary Boost Researchers have genetically engineered a more nutritious type of rice which could help alleviate the serious problem of vitamin A deficiency. It is estimated 124 million children worldwide lack vitamin A, putting them at risk of permanent blindness and other serious ailments. The scientists, based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, inserted three genes into rice that make the plant produce beta-carotene. This is the substance all mammals, including humans, must take into their bodies to make vitamin A. Beta-carotene, or provitamin A as it is known, gives the new rice a golden colour. The team, whose research is reported in the journal Science, says breeding lines of the plant are now being established and the seeds will be made freely available to farmers in developing countries. This will please aid organisations who have expressed concern that the new plant technologies will be priced beyond the reach of the world's poorest farmers. Biochemical pathway Commentators say the science represents a "technical tour de force" as it is the first time a plant has been engineered with a complete biochemical pathway - that is to say, all the different steps an organism must complete to make a particular product. Professor Ingo Potrykus, one of the rice researchers, told the BBC many scientists did not believe it would be possible when work began on the project eight years ago, He said: "When we started the project, and throughout the progress of this project, the scientific community was convinced that it could not work because nobody previously had been able to engineer a complete biochemical pathway." The technology is being given to a number of rice institutes around the world, where traditional breeding methods will be used to integrate the beta-carotene genes into local varieties. Prof Potrykus said: "We are already starting to do the same with wheat. We are close to doing the same with cassava. "We will probably also introduce it to barley. We have initiated collaborations to put the same genes into banana and sweet potato. The number of important core plants which don't have enough or any provitamin A can be engineered now to achieve the same." ------------------ [India Agrees to Eliminate Trade Barriers to U.S. Farm Goods] WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday India has agreed to eliminate trade barriers to U.S. farm goods, textiles and a wide range of other products, one month after the collapse of global trade talks in Seattle. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the agreement calls for India to lift more than 1,400 specific restrictions, clearing the way for shipments of U.S. grain, automobiles, wines and other goods. Half of these restrictions will be lifted within three months; the rest will be lifted by April 1, 2001, well ahead of similar agreements with the European Union and Japan... India agreed to lift the import bans and licensing requirements following a World Trade Organisation ruling in August 1999, which found New Delhi in violation of its market-access obligations as a WTO member... India has reached similar market-opening agreements with the European Union, Japan and other countries to remove trade barriers by April 2003. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Copyright 2000 Xinhua News Agency Xinhua General News Service January 15, 2000, Saturday Ghana Checks Influx of Genetically Modified Food Ghanaian Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Cletus Avoka Friday assured the nation that his ministry is doing everything possible to check the influx of genetically modified (GM) foods on the market. Avoka, who was answering a parliamentary question, said the GM food issue has generated a lot of controversy in developed countries and Ghana, a developing country, would not risk allowing its use, Ghana News Agency reported. On the dreadful terminator seed technology, he said the government would not tolerate its use since it has the potential to harm crop management in the country. He said his ministry is participating in the development of a global biosafety protocol, which, among other things, would insulate the world biodiversity from possible adverse effects of GM organisms. The Minister asked Ghanaians to see environmental management as a shared responsibility, which needs the collaboration of all. ------------------ Copyright 2000 The Omaha World-Herald Company January 6, 2000, Thursday SUNRISE EDITION In The Legislature By Leslie Reed, Robynn Tysver Nancy Hicks Companies that hold the license for genetically modified seed could be held liable if genetically engineered crops cross-pollinated the crops of farmers growing nongenetically engineered crops, under a bill (LB 949) introduced by Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing. Farmers could be compensated for the loss of price premiums they get for nongenetically engineered crops, for transportation and storage costs they would not have otherwise incurred and for breach-of-contract penalties they incur for failure to deliver a nongenetically engineered product. ------------------ Tuesday January 11 7:48 PM ET More Input Offered on Trade Issues WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration, which watched as thousands protested against U.S. trade policies in Seattle last month, pledged on Tuesday to provide more opportunities for environmental, labor and consumer organizations to offer advice on trade issues... In November, a federal district court in Seattle ordered the trade representative and the Commerce Department to include qualified environmental representatives on two existing industry advisory committees. The announcement Tuesday said the two agencies would comply with that ruling while it is being appealed by the Justice Department. Daley said that the court's ruling, "if allowed to stand, could undermine the framework Congress has established" for officials to receive trade negotiating advice from U.S. industries. ------------------ Wednesday, 12 January, 2000, 22:27 GMT 'Human' GM Cow Milk Plans Denied PPL say their cows only produce medical products A UK biotechnology company has denied reports that it plans to produce commercial baby formula milk from genetically-modified cows. PPL Therapeutics denied the comments made by a senior researcher David Ayres at its US subsidiary on a documentary being broadcast on Wednesday. Mr Ayres told the Channel 4 programme the company had a 20-strong herd of cows whose milk contained a protein component of human milk. However, PPL's corporate headquarters in Edinburgh has issued a statement saying it had no more than three cows producing the protein, human alpha-lactalbumin, and it was intended only as a dietary supplement for premature babies who could not be breast-fed. A purified version of the protein would be a medical product and not a consumer item, and would require clinical trials, PPL said. ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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