Biotech // Current TV

Anti-consumer safety quote of the week: they eat them like Skittles

Heath says, plucking one of the bulbs and popping it in his mouth...

NonGMOTalk
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2 years ago
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US court rules against Monsanto's GMO sugarbeets

* Court finds USDA failed to evaluate risk * Orders environmental impact report... more

mae37
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2 years ago
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3 comments

Anticancer Nanotech

Technology.am (Sept. 17, 2009) — Tiny particles of albumin, a protein found in... more

Anyother
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2 years ago
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Gene Therapy Cures Color-Blind Monkeys

After receiving injections of genes that produce color-detecting proteins, two... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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Gates and Monsanto-strong-arming Africa

Superb must-read article on the Gates Foundation - Africa's ultimate... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid

The Telegraph reports that men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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LIA Prescribes 100% Non-GMO Diet

Therese Yang, MD, FAAFP, a specialist in Lyme Disease, says, “I am very... more

NonGMOTalk
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2 years ago
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U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis criticizes Clinton/Vilsack Kenya bio-tech tour

On the eve of an upcoming visit to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Representatives Donald Payne and Nita Lowey, the U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis today challenged the Obama Administration’s plans to fund a new “Green Revolution” in Africa in tandem with the Gates Foundation. The Working Group believes a new approach to agriculture research is needed instead of the broken status quo that emphasizes biotechnology and industrial agriculture models.

The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis, comprised of religious, anti-hunger, family farm and farmworker, food justice, environmental, labor, consumer and international development groups, urges a new approach towards addressing food security based on the findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report. The IAASTD is a landmark study conducted by over 400 scientists and development experts sponsored by the United Nations and the World Bank that emphasized the importance of investing in agroecological methods and warned that chemical-intensive production continues to have adverse health and environmental effects, while “modern biotechnology” (genetically engineered seed) has so far contributed few verifiable positive impacts on equitable and sustainable development.

In the 1990s, USAID, together with Monsanto, helped spearhead a 14-year, $6 million project through the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to develop a genetically modified, virus-resistant sweet potato. The project has proven to be a failure. Local varieties outperformed GM varieties in field trials. Researchers in Uganda developed a virus-resistant hybrid through conventional breeding techniques at a tiny fraction of the cost. KARI continues to collaborate with the Monsanto Corporation and USAID researching biotechnological projects, advocating a model of agricultural development that relies upon a top-down approach and unproven, expensive investments.

Ben Burkett, president of the National Family Farm Coalition, a member of the international farmers movement La Via Campesina, cautioned, “As an African American farmer who has visited farmers in Africa many times, I am deeply concerned that much of the Obama Administration’s pledge to spend $1 billion on agriculture research will be wasted on biotech research that benefits Monsanto more than it does small-scale farmers. While I applaud the renewed focus on helping Africa feed itself, our taxpayer money is doomed to be wasted if it continues to fund business as usual. Secretary Clinton and Secretary Vilsack need to learn from previous disastrous biotechnology experiments such as the Kenyan GM sweet potato project. Many Kenyan farmers resent the U.S., Monsanto and the Gates Foundation for continuing to shove unwanted biotechnology down their throats.”

The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis’s vision for reforming agriculture policy to help end the global food crisis calls on governments to:

Re-regulate commodity futures markets to end excessive speculation
Halt expansion of industrial agrofuels in developing countries
Stabilize commodity prices through international and domestic food reserves
Establish fairer regional and global trade arrangements
Direct farm policy, research, education and investment toward agroecological farming practices

Dr. Molly Anderson, a coordinating lead author of the IAASTD report, said, “The IAASTD is the most authoritative and broad-based resource available on the full impacts of past investment in agricultural development and future options. It shows that conventional agricultural practices are endangering the planet, and just increasing productivity and yields will not rectify the hunger of millions or improve the status of small-scale landholders, landless and women farmers who make up the majority of the world’s poorest...On the eve of an upcoming visit to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) by... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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New website exposes myths and propaganda of biotech industry

GMWatch has just launched its new website: http://www.gmwatch.org, which replaces the... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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11 comments

Philips Develops Roadside Drug-Testing Device

A handheld developed by Philips for law enforcement detects traces of cocaine, heroin,... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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15 comments

Malaria Vaccine, Via Mosquito

"The AP is reporting that mosquitoes have been used for the first time to deliver... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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Biotech Treatment for Lupus

From Article Reuters News Service

The odds of Human Genome's drug succeeding were, according to most analysts, low. Results from an earlier trial had been disappointing and other drugs, including Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB.O) and Roche Holding AG's (ROG.VX) Rituxan, and La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co's (LJPC.O) Riquent -- both failed in late-stage lupus trials.

Yet, results of Human Genome's 52-week trial -- the first of two requested by U.S. regulators -- showed 57.6 percent of patients taking a high dose of Benlysta experienced an improvement in their symptoms, compared with 43.6 percent who took a placebo.

"Benlysta could be the first true disease-modifying therapy for lupus patients -- a blockbuster opportunity," said Joseph Schwartz, an analyst at Leerink Swann.

Of patients who took a low dose of the drug, which is administered once a month by IV infusion, 51.7 percent showed improvement in their symptoms, a figure that was also statistically significant. [ID:N201399]

Benlysta's success moved the shares of other companies trying to develop lupus drugs, such as Immunomedics Inc (IMMU.O) and ZymoGenetics Inc (ZGEN.O).

Shares of Immunomedics rose 12.5 percent to $3.43, while shares of ZymoGenetics, which is developing a drug in combination with Merck Serono, a unit of Germany's Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE), rose more than 13 percent to $4.94.

Lupus is a complex disease that causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue and organs, including the joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood or skin. Symptoms include achy joints, fever, arthritis, kidney damage, chest pain and skin rash.

Data from the 867-person trial, known as BLISS-52, take the company one step closer to being the first to have a new lupus drug approved in 50 years. Multiple drugs are approved for other indications and used to treat lupus, but none has been approved specifically for the disease in decades.
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This is an interesting development as autoimmune dissorders are notoriously hard to treat. This may lead to further interesting developments down the road.From Article Reuters News Service The odds of Human Genome's drug succeeding... more

ocanada
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2 years ago
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Second round of fighting begins over genetically modified wheat

If the comments here from Monsanto's rep are true, then it is obvious... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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DNA Differences Observed Between Blood and Organs

"Researcher working on a rare type of aortic abnormality found that the DNA from... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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Monsanto is back to force genetically modified wheat down your throat

Just to reference the last line of this article wherein the reasoning for this is... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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Puerto Rico: ground zero for secret GMO field trials

In the global debate regarding genetically modified (GM) foods and organisms (GMO's), the little-known role of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in testing and propagating GM crops has gone largely unnoticed and unexamined. The agricultural biotechnology activity in this tropical US colony is simply massive.

"Puerto Rico attracts agricultural biotechnology companies because of the tropical climate that permits up to four harvests yearly and the willingness of the government to fast-track permits", according to professors Margarita Irizarry and José Rodríguez Orengo, of the University of Puerto Rico's Medical Sciences Campus. "Furthermore, the opposition to GM foods is almost non-existent on the island and no particular environmental group is protesting the presence of Dow, Syngenta Seeds, Pioneer HiBred, Mycogen Seeds, Rice Tech, AgReliant Genetics, Bayer Croposcience, and Monsanto."

Since 2004 we at the Puerto Rico Project on Biosafety have been trying to find out just what is going on in our land regarding GM crops. We have obtained very little information so far, but what little we have managed to get is quite worrying.

The most recent US Department of Agriculture Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) data we have obtained show that as of January 2005 it had authorized 1,330 field releases for experimental GM crops in the island, which resulted in 3,483 field tests. Of the field releases, 944 were for corn, 262 for soy, 99 for cotton, 15 for rice, 8 for tomato, 1 for papaya and 1 for tobacco. According to the documentation, these releases were being authorized as early as 1987, almost a full decade before US authorities permitted GM foods for human consumption. Where in Puerto Rico exactly? What traits have been tested? The BRS says it's all "confidential business information".

With the sole exception of Hawai'i, no state in the USA has had so many GM crop experiments per square mile. The only ones that had more field tests than Puerto Rico's 3,483 were Hawai'i (5,413), Illinois (5,092) and Iowa (4,659). Keep in mind that Puerto Rico has less than 4,000 square miles, whereas Illinois and Iowa each have over 50,000 square miles. Puerto Rico surpassed California by far, which had only 1,964 field tests, although California is 40 times larger.

These data, of course, must be updated. We have been walking around with these and showing them to everyone for four years now. But we do not see any reason to believe that the situation has significantly changed since 2005.

It must be pointed out that not all the GM crop activity in our territory is experimental. There is also commercial GM production, about which we know even less. Commercial GM crop production is exported to the US- and who knows where else- for use as seed.

Most of these crops are planted in the southern plains, between the municipalities of Juana Díaz and Guayama, and especially concentrated in the stretch of land between the towns of Santa Isabel and Salinas, south of expressway 52 and north of route 1. Various eyewitnesses have told us that security in these lands is extreme. You cannot even stop your car alongside these fields without having policemen show up and ask you what your business is. And no, you cannot film or even take photos. They claim to be concerned about theft of crops. While we acknowledge that theft- of both produce and machinery- is one of the most serious problems facing Puerto Rican agriculture today, we also note that no other farming operations in the island enjoy such dilligent police protection.

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Why all the security? What are they hiding? This shows the extent of government big ag walking hand in hand for profit without concern for the health or environmental effects of planting these untested crops in the open.In the global debate regarding genetically modified (GM) foods and organisms... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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Genetically modified eucalyptus trees threaten the U.S. south

The U.S. government is set to approve [1] a request from ArborGen, the genetically engineered (GE) tree research and development giant, for permission to plant 260,000 GE cold tolerant eucalyptus trees in 29 "field trials" across seven southern U.S. states. Approval of such a large-scale planting of these dangerous flowering GE forest trees in the U.S. is completely unprecedented. The GE eucalyptus, to be planted in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, would be allowed to flower and produce seeds, enabling them to potentially escape into native ecosystems and forests.

The STOP GE Trees Campaign, an international alliance of organizations that has banded together with the goal of globally banning the open-air release of genetically engineered trees, this week issued an "Urgent Action Alert" about ArborGen's potentially disastrous plans, with information about how the public can make comments to the government to help stop this large-scale release of GE trees.

"This is absolutely unprecedented--the government wants to approve the mass release of 260,000 flowering GE forest trees in so-called "field trials," stated Dr. Neil Carman who works with the Sierra Club in Texas. "You cannot call over a quarter of a million trees over 330 acres "field trials." These are experimental forests being planted outdoors under the disguise of "field trials" as a loophole. The government must produce an Environmental Impact Statement to carefully review all of the potential environmental threats from this large-scale GE tree release," Dr. Carman continued.

Eucalyptus are internationally known for their devastating impacts--from invasiveness to wildfires to their ability to worsen droughts. Massive wildfires in Australia earlier this year were fueled by eucalyptus, which contains a highly volatile oil. These wildfires moved at 100 km/hr and killed 173 people, who literally did not have time to escape. Additionally, eucalyptus grandis, one of the species in the GE eucalyptus hybrid, is also a known host to Cryptococcus gattii, a fungus that can cause fatal fungal meningitis in people and animals that inhale its spores. C. gattii was recently found in the U.S. [2]

"In Brazil, eucalyptus plantations are known as 'green deserts' because they do not allow anything else to live," stated Camila Moreno, an attorney and Global Justice Ecology Project staff consultant in Brazil. "No understory plants, no wildlife, no communities--only eucalyptus trees can survive there. They are a disaster for Brazil, which is why there exists a large social movement against eucalyptus in Brazil and many hectares of plantations have been destroyed by communities," Moreno continued.

"ArborGen and their corporate owners, International Paper, Mead Westvaco and Rubicon [3] could not be more irresponsible. The large-scale planting of these GE eucalyptus would spell disaster," added Danna Smith, Executive Director of the North Carolina based Dogwood Alliance. "Already millions of acres of land in the South have been converted to pine plantations. We cannot afford to lose any more of the precious native forests of the South--and especially not to eucalyptus plantations, which could make kudzu [4] look tame by comparison," she continued.

Public comments on the government's plans to approve the planting of 260,000 GE eucalyptus trees are being accepted until 6 July 2009 at 5 pm eastern U.S. time. Also as a Public Service, the STOP GE Trees Campaign has created a sign-on Comment Letter demanding rejection of ArborGen's request to which members of the public can add their name. That Comment Letter with signatures will be submitted to the government.The U.S. government is set to approve [1] a request from ArborGen, the genetically... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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Want better oversight of GM crops? Now's your chance!

In the waning months of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a proposal to completely overhaul its regulation of genetically engineered crops, significantly weakening its oversight. The proposed rules would virtually ensure that contamination of organic and conventional crops will become even more frequent, and even excuses the Agency from taking any action to remedy such contamination. The rules would continue to allow the dangerous practice of producing drugs and industrial chemicals in food crops grown in the open environment, and in many cases even allow the biotechnology industry to decide whether their GE crops are regulated at all.

Over four years ago, USDA promised stricter oversight of genetically engineered crops; unfortunately, improvements considered early on have vanished and the regulations have instead become weaker. The proposed rule now has even more gaping holes than the regulations it is replacing, and creates a few new ones as well, resulting in more public exposure to untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods. Instead of tightening controls to protect the public and the environment from contamination and harm, what USDA has offered further endangers your right to choose the foods you and your family eat and farmers’ right to their chosen livelihoods.

To make matters worse, USDA published the rules before publishing the full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as required by law, and in the absence of public review of the data needed to make regulatory recommendations. Clearly, there is something wrong with this picture. We are calling on the Obama Administration to reject the irresponsible Bush "anything goes" biotech policy, and to put in place rules that will create real change in the regulation and oversight of GE crops. And we are requesting a moratorium on commercial planting of any new GE crops until such comprehensive regulations are in place.

The comment period has been extended to June 29, 2009. Please send your comment to USDA today – the Agency is listening, let’s demand better oversight of GE crops to protect citizens, farmers, wildlife, and the environment!
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Time to get loud about this. They have ignored the health and environmental hazards of GMOs for long enough.In the waning months of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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4 comments

Forgotten Ulcer Drug Energizes Stem Cells

"When cancer patients get a heavy dose of chemotherapy and radiation, it can... more

Tyrannous
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2 years ago
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New paper makes a damning case against genetically modified food crops

But will this be on any television network today? Will any of the American people who... more

JanforGore
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2 years ago
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