tagged w/ Biotechnology
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Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis.
The study – carried out over the past three years at the University of Kansas in the US grain belt – has found that GM soya produces about 10 per cent less food than its conventional equivalent, contradicting assertions by advocates of the technology that it increases yields.
Professor Barney Gordon, of the university's department of agronomy, said he started the research – reported in the journal Better Crops – because many farmers who had changed over to the GM crop had "noticed that yields are not as high as expected even under optimal conditions". He added: "People were asking the question 'how come I don't get as high a yield as I used to?'"
He grew a Monsanto GM soybean and an almost identical conventional variety in the same field. The modified crop produced only 70 bushels of grain per acre, compared with 77 bushels from the non-GM one.
The GM crop – engineered to resist Monsanto's own weedkiller, Roundup – recovered only when he added extra manganese, leading to suggestions that the modification hindered the crop's take-up of the essential element from the soil. Even with the addition it brought the GM soya's yield to equal that of the conventional one, rather than surpassing it.
The new study confirms earlier research at the University of Nebraska, which found that another Monsanto GM soya produced 6 per cent less than its closest conventional relative, and 11 per cent less than the best non-GM soya available.
The Nebraska study suggested that two factors are at work. First, it takes time to modify a plant and, while this is being done, better conventional ones are being developed. This is acknowledged even by the fervently pro-GM US Department of Agriculture, which has admitted that the time lag could lead to a "decrease" in yields.
But the fact that GM crops did worse than their near-identical non-GM counterparts suggest that a second factor is also at work, and that the very process of modification depresses productivity. The new Kansas study both confirms this and suggests how it is happening.
A similar situation seems to have happened with GM cotton in the US, where the total US crop declined even as GM technology took over.
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GM food is not the answer to world hunger. Addressing the cause of hunger is. This is only a profit making scheme for CEOs like Hugh Grant of Monsanto to make over THREE MILLION dollars a year not even counting the hundreds of thousands of shares he has in the company while people continue to starve in the world.
And our own FDA has helped them put something on the market that goes in our bodies and the bodies of our children that was not scientifically vetted and is not labelled on our food. It is time to expose the corporate frauds that seek to control our food and water and send more poor farmers in this country and in Asia, Africa, and South America into debt. Patenting life is immoral as is deceiving the public about what they are eating and devastating our environment.
We need to boycott Monsanto, Cargill, ADM, and any other multinational in the business of profit over people until they are held accountable for their deceptions.Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new... more
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Genetically modified soy was not tested properly by Monsanto as to allergic affects and other health risks. Nevertheless, the FDA approved it and it is now on the tables of America while the EU and other European countries have denounced it. To see any corporation with such a far reaching influence over the agencies of the US government that are supposed to be there to protect the citizens is criminal and flies in the face of Democratic principles. This is information people need to know about.
Parts 1& 3 can be found on You Tube if you click on the link.Genetically modified soy was not tested properly by Monsanto as to allergic affects... more
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Soybean farmer David Brumback calls himself a loyal customer of Monsanto Co. His product of choice: genetically engineered seeds resistant to pesticides and weed killers.
So when the biotech giant named Brumback and more than 100 other local farmers in a subpoena seeking five years of sales records, his first reaction was befuddlement. Then anger.
"With Monsanto, you're guilty until you're proven innocent," he said.
Across rural America, Monsanto is known for aggressive legal efforts to protect its patent. Farmers who save and replant the patented seeds in subsequent growing seasons quickly hear from the company's lawyers — and almost always lose, or settle out of court before trial.
Now Monsanto is raising the stakes against this so-called seed piracy with an unprecedented lawsuit against a farm co-op it accuses of aiding the illegal practice by cleaning seeds for use in future crops. That practice violates the contract between Monsanto and farmers which prohibits farmers from stockpiling seeds or selling second-generation seeds.
The St. Louis-based company says it's merely protecting an investment that exceeds $2 million a day in overall research and development costs.
Lawyers for the Pilot Grove Cooperative Elevator Inc. in the central Missouri town, population 750, offer a more nefarious explanation: Monsanto wants to make an example of the co-op through tactics that reek of bullying and intimidation.
"Monsanto is doing its best to make this case so expensive to defend that the co-op will have no choice but to relent," attorney Steven Schwartz wrote in a court motion filed earlier this year. The company sought purchase records and depositions from 114 Pilot Grove customers.
"Its true motive is to gather information for future lawsuits against the co-op, its customers and other farm businesses around Pilot Grove."
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And with Monsanto taking over so much of the seed business, farmers have no where to go. This is truly nefarious.Soybean farmer David Brumback calls himself a loyal customer of Monsanto Co. His... more
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Therefore be it resolved that the American Nurses Association:
Support the development of national and state laws, regulations and policies that specifically reduce the use of rBGH or rBST in milk and dairy production in the United States,
Work collaboratively with other nursing organizations and hospital and healthcare organizations to eliminate purchasing milk and dairy products for use in the health care industry that contain artificial hormones such as recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) and any other food containing inappropriate additives,
Educate nurses regarding the known and projected harmful effects of the use of food additives, rBGH and other hormones and antibiotics in milk and dairy production and in agriculture,
Support the public's right to know through support of appropriate food labeling including country-of-origin and genetic modification, and of nutritional information for food served in institutions, restaurants, and fast food chains
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This is great. Hopefully we will see more organizations lining up to denounce Monsanto and its deception. I am going to be contacting my board of education as well, because I don't want to see children served milk in school lunches and milk programs that have these hormones in them. We have to stand up together as healthcare professionals, parents, educators, and citizens to companies like Monsanto that push poison for a profit and the FDA that covers for them in lieu of protecting the health of Americans.Therefore be it resolved that the American Nurses Association:
Support the... more
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Gary Rinehart clearly remembers the summer day in 2002 when the stranger walked in and issued his threat. Rinehart was behind the counter of the Square Deal, his “old-time country store,” as he calls it, on the fading town square of Eagleville, Missouri, a tiny farm community 100 miles north of Kansas City.
The Square Deal is a fixture in Eagleville, a place where farmers and townspeople can go for lightbulbs, greeting cards, hunting gear, ice cream, aspirin, and dozens of other small items without having to drive to a big-box store in Bethany, the county seat, 15 miles down Interstate 35.
Everyone knows Rinehart, who was born and raised in the area and runs one of Eagleville’s few surviving businesses. The stranger came up to the counter and asked for him by name.
“Well, that’s me,” said Rinehart.
As Rinehart would recall, the man began verbally attacking him, saying he had proof that Rinehart had planted Monsanto’s genetically modified (G.M.) soybeans in violation of the company’s patent. Better come clean and settle with Monsanto, Rinehart says the man told him—or face the consequences.
Rinehart was incredulous, listening to the words as puzzled customers and employees looked on. Like many others in rural America, Rinehart knew of Monsanto’s fierce reputation for enforcing its patents and suing anyone who allegedly violated them. But Rinehart wasn’t a farmer. He wasn’t a seed dealer. He hadn’t planted any seeds or sold any seeds. He owned a small—a really small—country store in a town of 350 people. He was angry that somebody could just barge into the store and embarrass him in front of everyone. “It made me and my business look bad,” he says. Rinehart says he told the intruder, “You got the wrong guy.”
When the stranger persisted, Rinehart showed him the door. On the way out the man kept making threats. Rinehart says he can’t remember the exact words, but they were to the effect of: “Monsanto is big. You can’t win. We will get you. You will pay.”
Scenes like this are playing out in many parts of rural America these days as Monsanto goes after farmers, farmers’ co-ops, seed dealers—anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the “seed police” and use words such as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” to describe their tactics.
Gary Rinehart clearly remembers the summer day in 2002 when the stranger walked in and... more
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The Organic Trade Association (OTA) today filed a legal complaint against Ohio's Department of Agriculture, challenging as unconstitutional an "emergency" rule seeking to prevent labeling that tells a consumer whether the cows were treated with rBST, the synthetic growth hormone manufactured and sold by Monsanto under the brand Posilac(R). The lawsuit represents a determined effort not only to protect the consumer's rights to receive truthful information about how organic milk and dairy products are produced, but also to protect the rights of organic dairy farmers and processors to communicate truthfully with consumers.
"The Organic Trade Association firmly believes that consumers have a right to know, and want to know, about the products they purchase, and organic farmers and processors have a right to communicate with their consumers regarding federally regulated organic production practices," stated Caren Wilcox, executive director for the OTA. Attorney Randall J. Sunshine, a partner at Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstreif LLP, is representing the OTA in this matter.
The federally mandated USDA National Organic Standards prohibit the use of hormones to promote growth or increase production, genetically engineered organisms (GMOS), antibiotics and toxic, persistent pesticides and have a rigorous system for inspection, certification and verification which protects consumers from false claims. In issuing its rule prohibiting organic products from being labeled "produced with milk from cows that have not been treated with synthetic growth hormones", the State of Ohio, however, has essentially chosen not to recognize the federal Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA).
In a time of unprecedented food and fuel costs, and following a year in which over 3000 of the nation's dairy farms shut their doors, the State of Ohio has stepped in to further exacerbate small dairy farmers' problems. For those farmers who have chosen to not use rBST on their cows, and who were finding new and growing markets by marketing their milk as no-rBST or organic, Ohio has passed an "emergency" rule which will hurt the farmers' ability to convey to consumers how they produce their milk.
Monsanto was the driving force behind getting FDA approval for rBST and then turned its substantial resources towards lobbying the Ohio Department of Agriculture for this new "emergency" rule.
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Monsanto is even stronger than the Federal government. They can put their lobbying weight behind a government agency to get a rule changed that clearly puts the consumer's right to disclosure and their health at risk. This isn't only unconstitutional, this is criminal. However, all Monsanto cares about is profit.
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) today filed a legal complaint against Ohio's... more
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Some people have a mutation that makes them amazingly resistant to HIV -- and now, scientists may have found a way to give that immunity to anyone.Some people have a mutation that makes them amazingly resistant to HIV -- and now,... more
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bshipp
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3 years ago
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"The Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) organization committed to the acceleration of progress toward a cure for age-related disease, disability, suffering, and death. ""The Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) organization committed to the... more
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This WIRED Magazine article profiles Aubrey De Grey and his Biotechnology and Public Policy conference happening June 28th at UCLA's Royce Hall! Fascinating article people!
WILL YOU LIVE FOREVER?This WIRED Magazine article profiles Aubrey De Grey and his Biotechnology and Public... more
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A South Korean team led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said Thursday it has created 17 clones of an endangered dog breed popular in China.
The Sooam Biotech Research Foundation said in a statement that the cloned Tibetan mastiff dogs were born in April, two months after being requested by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The foundation said it takes two months to produce cloned dogs from pregnancy, but it declined to discuss its success rate, citing internal policy.
...Hwang scandalized the international scientific community in 2005 when his breakthrough human cloning research involving embryonic stem cells was found to have been faked...A South Korean team led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said Thursday... more
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To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.Unbelievably, this is not science fiction Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of a giant Lexus SUV . Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world.Mr Pal is a senior director of LS9, one of several companies in or near Silicon Valley that have spurned traditional high-tech activities such as software and networking and embarked instead on an extraordinary race to make $140-a-barrel oil (£70) from Saudi Arabia obsolete.What is most remarkable about what they are doing is that instead of trying to reengineer the global economy – as is required, for example, for the use of hydrogen fuel – they are trying to make a product that is interchangeable with oil. The company claims that this “Oil 2.0” will not only be renewable but also carbon negative – meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made.The main problem is: although LS9 can produce its bug fuel in laboratory beakers, it has no idea whether it will be able produce the same results on a nationwide or even global scale.“Our plan is to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010 and, in parallel, we’ll be working on the design and construction of a commercial-scale facility to open in 2011,” says Mr Pal, adding that if LS9 used Brazilian sugar cane as its feedstock, its fuel would probably cost about $50 a barrel.To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones... more
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Jacque Fresco is a genius, architect, engineer, designer of cities and transportation modes, inventor, economist, philosopher and futurist. Did I mention that he has comprehensive plans to redesign the world? Jacque Fresco is a genius, architect, engineer, designer of cities and transportation... more
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AN EMERGING field of science which is being used to create artificial life is at risk of damaging the ecosystem and being abused by terrorists, according to a new report.
Scientists have high hopes for a new technique called synthetic biology, which involves engineering organisms so they work in new ways that do not currently exist in nature.
It has been claimed that the process could create new fuels to replace petrol and new drugs to combat disease.
In the United States, scientists have controversially used the technique to create an entirely new type of life. However, a report by scientists at the University of Nottingham highlights ethical and social concerns over the use of synthetic biology and recommends new controls and regulations need to be put in place.
One area of concern is "bioterrorism", where synthetic biology could be used to produce new organisms designed to be hostile to humans.
Andrew Balmer and Professor Paul Martin, the report's authors, also suggest a threat from "garage biology", with people experimenting at home.
And they emphasise that there is no policy on the impact of synthetic biology on international bioweapons conventions.
The report, "Synthetic Biology: Social and Ethical Challenges", also highlights concerns about the accidental release of synthetic organisms into the environment.
The authors, from the Institute for Science and Society at the University if Nottingham, write: "By their very nature, such biological machines could evolve, proliferate and produce unexpected interactions that might alter the ecosystem."
They highlight anxieties over the idea of creating artificial life, with the process of synthetic biology provoking fears about scientists "playing God".
Craig Venter, a controversial DNA researcher, was last year credited with creating an artificial life form in the laboratory.
The report recommends that robust controls are put in place before the science develops, with a review of existing regulations and the development of new measures.
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I am ambivalent about this. While I believe under the right controls this type of biology may make advances in curing diseases, I too am wary of controls over it and it falling into the wrong hands. Not unlike my disdain for Monsanto and their GM crops. No telling how much a company like it or a defense contractor would pay to have the technology to make cells into bioweapons.AN EMERGING field of science which is being used to create artificial life is at risk... more
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For years now, Monsanto has been buying up seed, plant and biotech companies in order to establish control over the world's food. According to Mr Robert Farley of Monsanto, "what you are seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it's really a consolidation of the entire food chain. Since water is as central to food production as seed is, and without water life is not possible, Monsanto is now trying to establish its control over water. During 1999, Monsanto plans to launch a new water business, starting with India and Mexico, since both these countries are facing water shortages."
In other words, the crisis of pollution and depletion of water resources is viewed by Monsanto as a business opportunity:
"The business logic of sustainable development is that population growth and economic development will apply increasing pressure on the natural resource markets... These are the markets that are most relevant to us as a life sciences company committed to delivering food, health and hope to the world, and there are markets in which there are predictable sustainability challenges and therefore opportunities to create business value."
The crisis of pollution and depletion of water resources
is viewed by Monsanto as a business opportunity.
By 2010 about 2.5 billion people in the world are projected to lack access to safe drinking water. At least 30 per cent of the population in China, India, Mexico and the US is expected to face severe water stress. By 2025, the supply of water in India will be 700 cubic km per year, while the demand is expected to rise to 1,050 units. Control over this scarce and vital resource will, of course, be a source of guaranteed profits. As John Bastin of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has said, "Water is the last infrastructure frontier for private investors."
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Dr. Vandana Shiva, author of the book, Water Wars, and renowned environmentalist and activist for environmental democracy knows full well of the intentions of Monsanto. Their true intent must be brought to light to as many people as possible. Their intent is world domination of food and water sources at the expense of many lives by taking advantage of others' misery for their own economic benefit. And it isn't just control of the seeds, it is control of the water that grows them. Insidious.For years now, Monsanto has been buying up seed, plant and biotech companies in order... more
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Africa must not let multinational corporations and international donors dictate its biotechnology agenda, says David Fig.
Africa is rapidly becoming a focal point for multinational crop and chemical corporations clearing the way for the extended uptake of their products and technologies. In particular, African governments are facing enormous pressure to endorse and adopt genetically modified (GM) crops.
Organisations like the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa — bankrolled by the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations — are partly to blame through their heavy investment in infrastructure aimed at supporting the development and distribution of GM crops and seeds.
But the African Union (AU) itself is now also encouraging the adoption of GM technology. Working in tandem with its development wing, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), the AU's High Level Panel on Modern Biotechnology is soon to release a Freedom to Innovate plan — the clearest expression yet of the trend to back this controversial and risky technology. And it does so uncritically, rather than taking a more rational precautionary position that would safeguard Africa's rich biodiversity and agriculture.
The AU is also engaged in efforts to revise the carefully crafted African Model Law on Biosafety, which outlines the biosafety provisions necessary for African environmental conditions.
The revisions emanate from those seeking to make the biosafety content less stringent, placing Africa under even more pressure to conform to the needs of the gene corporations.
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This is one facet of the current worldwide food crisis we are hearing about that I am wary of. There is no doubt that there is food insecurity and famine in our world. However, we have what we need to feed everyone on this planet (enough goes in the trash in this country alone everyday to do it) except for the fact that organizations like the World Bank and governments control the process behind getting that food to people and the accessability of funds.
This is why I believe calls that there is a crisis regarding food need to be something we continue to be vigilant of in regards to the World Bank which is in league with companies like Monsanto giving loans to developing countries now. Will one of the stipulations to this money for food aid be that they must allow Monsanto and other multi national biotech companies to grow their GM crops? Surely people do not believe that the World Bank loans money to these developing countries giving them full freedom regarding what they do with it.
This is what they did regarding loans for water infrastructure that stipulated they had to allow private companies to come in and build the infrastructure thus causing prices to skyrocket to the point where many could not afford the water and wound up getting sick from drinking polluted water. Do they deliberately wait until the conditions are at such a crisis stage in order to force people in these developing countries to take their stipulations to get the loans because they are too hungry and thirsty to refuse? Africa must not let multinational corporations and international donors dictate its... more
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Stanford University researchers have developed an artificial cornea, which may enable the blind to once again see the light of day.
Although the cornea is yet to be tested on humans, studies performed on animals have shown promising results. The findings will be published in the June issue of ACS' Biotechnology Progress journal.
According to researcher Curtis W. Frank, the implantable polymer-based cornea, similar to human donor corneas, is made of two interwoven polymer gels that resemble the material used in soft contact lensesStanford University researchers have developed an artificial cornea, which may enable... more
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Tethic
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Some of the world's major agri-biotech companies are applying for hundreds of patents on genetically engineered 'climate crops', carrying out what amounts to an "intellectual property grab" in the lucrative market, according to a recent report.
BASF, Monsanto and Syngenta have applied for patents to control almost two-thirds of gene families resistant to environmental stresses that will increase with climate change, according to the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC) Group, a Canada-based civil society organisation.
About 530 patents have been applied for worldwide, with a few dozen granted and hundreds pending. They include traits such as drought, flooding, high salt level, high temperatures and ultraviolet radiation — all of which endanger food security.
The report says that this move could hinder farmers in the developing world. Patents demand that farmers purchase new seeds every year, rather than saving seeds for subsequent re-plantation.
Control of the seed industry by only a few multinationals may undermine publicly- funded creation of freely available crop varieties, the report says, as well as using the dominance of the crops to tap into previously resistant markets.
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These large agri companies need to be taken down. They are intent on now using climate change to control the survival of millions of people! There is nothing else to say but that this is evil to the core. People will starve to death if this is allowed to happen because farmers in the developing world already committing suicide because of poverty and loans they cannot repay will not be able to afford purchasing seeds every year. Especially with the effects of climate change already being felt in these regions.Some of the world's major agri-biotech companies are applying for hundreds of... more
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Documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin's film "Le Monde selon Monsanto" ("The World According to Monsanto") explores the history and future direction of chemical and so-called "life sciences" industrial company Monsanto. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Monsanto was founded in 1901 to manufacture the synthetic sweetener saccharin. The multinational biotech company in the intervening decades has produced styrene and PCBs; became the leading producer of Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War; manufactures Roundup, the best-selling herbicide; and has advanced the development of genetically engineered seeds and bovine growth hormone. The company has also had a history of mergers and spin-offs, and in 2000 merged with Pharmacia and Upjohn.
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" aired on the French-German television network ARTE earlier this year, and had its premiere in Switzlerland in February. Marie-Monique Robin's film -- based on her book "Le Monde selon Monsanto" -- is the result of three years of research and interviews from around the world, and explores the biotech giant's legal battles and controversies in the manufacture of toxic herbicides and the production of genetically modified organisms. Monsanto currently markets its brand as a "life sciences" company emphasizing its green image.
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" will have public screenings at Ex-Centris in Montreal on Friday, May 23; at Cinéma Le Clap in Quebec City starting Friday, May 23; and at the Toronto Mediatheque on Monday, May 26.
Check out the National Film Board of Canada's newsletter for details:
http://www.nfb.ca/newsletters/20080514/
The NFB / ONF site for further film information:
http://nfb.ca/webextension/monsanto/?ec=en20080514
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" (ARTE.tv official site -- in French)
http://www.arte.tv/fr/connaissance-decouverte/Le-monde-selon-Monsanto/1912794.html
Documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin's film "Le Monde selon... more
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Meet Mike, a scientist at Insmed, a Boulder, Colorado-based biotechnology company. Mike wants Washington to act now to allow access to safe, affordable follow-on biologics, or biogeneric medicines to treat diseases like cancer, MS, anemia, Lou Gehrig's disease or kidney failure.
Help Mike by telling your story about why Congress needs to act in the interest of patients, savings and competition.
While an estimated $20 billion worth of biologic drugs are expected to come off patent by 2015, no approval pathway currently exists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make follow-on biologics available to patients. Without this important pathway biotech companies will continue to have a monopoly and competition will not exist in the market. Without competition access to these critical medicines will remain expensive and will continue to drive up the overall healthcare expenditures in the US.Meet Mike, a scientist at Insmed, a Boulder, Colorado-based biotechnology company.... more
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Meet the hybrid car that gets over 100 miles to the gallon.
You can see it all here:
http://science.discovery.com/video/invention-nation.html
We are never limited by ideas and inventions, we are only limited by lack of financial resources to do it. -Stopnoise 2008 [T]Meet the hybrid car that gets over 100 miles to the gallon.
You can see it all... more
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