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GM FOOD 'HEALTHIER THAN CONVENTIONAL'
GERMAN ACADEMIES COMMISSION
In consuming food derived from genetically modified
(GM) plants approved in the European Union (EU) and in
the United States (USA), the risk is in no way
higher than in the consumption of food from
conventionally grown plants. On the contrary, in some
cases, food from GM plants appears to be superior in
respect to health, the Union of The German Academies of
Science and Humanities Commission writes in a recently
released paper. With various health issues taken into
account, including toxicity, carcinogenicity, and
allergenicity, the Commission concluded that (1) Since
absolute safety is not possible for any food on the
market,
GM or non-GM, the basis for the approval of food
products containing GMO is the evidence that they are at
least as safe and nutritious as the corresponding
products derived by conventional means, and that (2) GMO
products offer the advantage that they have been
exceptionally thoroughly tested in respect to health
risks.
Download the article at
http://www.akademienunion.de/pdf/
memorandum_green_biotechnology.pdf
Asian Giants India, China Bank On GM Technology To Feed
Millions,
(SRC:Agence France Presse -- ATH:n/a)
Scientists and officials say that both India and China
are increasing their investments in biotechnology
research, with the eventual goal of using genetically
modified
(GM) crops to feed their growing populations. Margarita
Escaler of the U.S.-based International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA)
says:
"In China funding for agri-biotech research comes
entirely from the government, and China is only second
now to the United States in research investment.
China
invested 112 million dollars in biotechnology research
in 1999 - that figure will grow by 400 percent in
2005." According to the article, scientists in China
are
working on more than 50 plant species, with a
wide-ranging listof GM food plants. One of these GM
plants is a rice variety with resistance to three major
pests, stem borer, planthopper, and bacterial leaf
blight. The variety has already passed two years of
environmental release trials. Commenting on Indian
research
and development inbiotechnology, Escaler says: "There
are around 50 public research units in India, and they
make investments of about 15 million dollars per year
while private spending in India on agri-biotech research
amounts to over 10 million dollars annually." The
article reports that state-run Indian laboratories are
working to develop 22 different GM food items, ranging
from rice and protein-rich potatoes to groundnuts, which
supply India's staple edible oil. Commenting on
the development of GM groundnuts, Dyno Keatinge, deputy
director general at the India-based International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), says: "We have completed contained
field trials for GM groundnuts and we should get
permission from GEAC next wet season in 2005 to field
test our GM groundnut in farmers' fields." Scientists
expect the GM groundnut to gain commercial approval in
India by 2007.
Keatinge says: "We are eventually
looking to introduce this GM groundnut in several
countries beyond India, including Kenya and South
Africa. But we will follow the biosafety regulations and
laws in
each of those countries."
The article can be viewed
online at the link below.http://www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=5947
SYNGENTA TO DONATE GOLDEN RICE SEEDS/LINES TO
HUMANITARIAN BOARD
Agribusiness giant Syngenta recently announced that it
would donate new Golden Rice seeds and lines to the
Golden Rice Humanitarian Board. The donation includes
the scientific results of the first field trial, as well
as technology, rights, and research. This follows the
successful completion of the first Golden Rice field
trials and
harvest in the United States, World Food Day on the 16th
of October, and the International Year of Rice, as
celebrated by the United Nations.The Golden Rice
Humanitarian Board is led by Ingo Potrykus, Professor
Emeritus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ETH in Zurich, Switzerland; and Professor Peter Beyer
of the University of Freiburg, Germany, the leaders of
the research team who first demonstrated pro-Vitamin A
production in rice. The Board also includes
representatives of the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), the Rockefeller Foundation, the
international public initiative HarvestPlus, and the
United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), among others. Visit
http://www.syngenta.com for the full article.
GM-Crops Are A Dead-end
(SRC: Biotech Activists -- ATH:none given)
This
press release from the Independent Science Panel (ISP)
details the contents of a European Parliament Briefing
that took place October 20 and was sponsored by
ISP and several other organizations. The briefing was
organized to demand that Europe remain free of
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by banning all GM
crop releases and invest instead in "non-GM sustainable
agriculture." In addition, briefing participants joined
the ISP in rejecting the paper "Plants for the Future,
" which was sponsored by the European Commission and
promotes "plant biotechnology for Europe." The press
release quotes Prinz Felix of Lowenstein, president
of the Federation of Organic Food Producers of Germany,
who said, "A major challenge for politicians in Europe
is to guarantee there will be an agriculture free from
GMOs in the long term. The costs for that should be
borne by those who are making it necessary to use GMOs
at all." The press release quotes several other
briefing participants on issues related to the science
of GM crops and sustainable agriculture. The briefing
was also used to showcase the release of French and
Spanish translations of ISP's report, "The Case for a GM
Free Sustainable World," "a complete dossier of evidence
on the known problems and hazards of GM crops and the
proven successes and benefits of sustainable
agriculture." Visit ISP's website,
http://www.indsp.org/index.php
Biotech Events
November 22 - December 3
Analysis of Stress Responsive Plant Genes, Theoretical
and Practical Course, New Delhi, India
Contact:
Mrs HS Narayanan, Chief of Administration, ICGEB New
Delhi Component, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, 110 067 New Delhi,
India;
Tel: +91 (11) 2616 7356;
Fax: +91 (11) 2616 2316; Email:
shubhaicgeb.res.in;
URL:
http://www.icgeb.org/TRAINING/CRS04/Analysis.htm |
