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Four African Presidents Support Biotech, US Official
Says
(SRC:U.S. State
Department Website -- ATH:Kathryn McConnell)
Discussing the first day of the June 21-23 ministerial
conference on agricultural science and technology in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs Pamela
Bridgewater said that the heads of state of Burkina
Faso, Ghana, Mali and Niger expressed support for
agricultural biotechnology during their opening
addresses at the conference. Although the leaders
"indicated that they and their citizens want to learn
more about biosecurity in order to feel confident about
the safety of genetically improved foods," Bridgewater
said they agreed that biotechnology has the potential to
increase agricultural
production and improve the environment in their
countries. According to the press release, the
Ouagadougou conference has drawn more than 200
participants, primarily government officials and
agricultural researchers, from Africa, North America,
and Europe. Bridgewater said conference participants
hope that the meeting will launch a series of follow-up
events to share information about new agricultural
technologies. The article can be viewed online at the
link below.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200406220755.html
GM PLANTS TO MANUFACTURE ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
Researchers led by Baoxiu Qi of the University of
Bristol, United Kingdom, reported the production of two
very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in
substantial quantities in a higher plant. The production
of essential oils in Arabidopsis thaliana
suggests transgenic plants could become a dietary source
of these essential fatty acids normally obtained only
from fish. In an article in the journal Nature entitled
“Production of very long chain polyunsaturated omega-3
and omega-6 fatty acids in plants”, the researchers
discussed the successful genetic engineering of
Arabidopsis to produce arachidonic acid and
eiconsapentaenoic acid. In the same issue of Nature,
Allan Green puts the study in context. He noted that
while the main source for the essential fatty acids is
fish oils, the depletion of fish resources and the
accumulation of toxins in various species becomes a
problem. Hence, the research has enormous potential in
developing an alternative source. He cautioned however,
that there continues to be many scientific challenges
but results provide a significant impetus for further
research to resolve these issues. See the full articles
online at
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v22/n6/abs/nbt972.html
and
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v22/n6/full/nbt0604-680.html.
CHINA ALL OUT ON GM RICE
China's fear of being unable to produce enough rice to
meet domestic demand may impel the country to become the
first in the world to approve genetically modified (GM)
rice. In an article in the journal Nature, Hepeng Jia,
K.S. Jayaraman and Sabine Louet noted that China has
increased its budget for research and field trials of GM
rice since 2001. Its biotech budget for 2001-2005 is
$1.2 billion, a 400% increase compared with 1996-2000.
About $120 million out of the current budget is devoted
to GM rice programs. Jia and colleagues reported that
Chinese researchers have developed several GM rice
varieties that are resistant to the country's major rice
pests and diseases, such as the stem borer, bacteria
blight, rice blast fungus and rice dwarf virus.
Significant progress has also been made with drought-
and salt-tolerant varieties of GM rice, which have been
in field trials since 1998. The article quoted Jikun
Huang, director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural
Policy in Beijing, as saying that the government thinks
that high-output and insect-resistant GM rice varieties
may help solve the country's supply problem. For the
full article online see
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v22/n6/full/nbt0604-642.html.
Indian Farmers Defying Government To Grow Gene-Modified
Cotton in the North
(SRC:AP -- ATH:S.
Srinivasan)
Farmers in the North Indian agricultural states of
Punjab and Haryana are illegally planting Bt cotton
seeds smuggled in from other states, India's federal
textile minister has reported. The minister,
Shankarsinh Vaghela, told reporters that North Indian
farmers wanting to grow Bt cotton were traveling "all
the way" to the Indian state of Gujarat to buy the
seeds. Although Bt cotton is approved for cultivation in
six southern and western Indian states, the country's
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) last year
barred its cultivation in Punjab and Haryana, citing
findings that the crop was vulnerable to leaf-curl
virus.
Commenting on the situation, the anti-biotech group
Greenpeace said that the presence of Bt cotton in
unapproved areas demonstrated that genetically modified
(GM) crops could not be regulated effectively. "One
problem is the government's inaction and inability to
regulate the cultivation of Bt cotton," said Divya
Raghunandan, a Greenpeace campaigner in Bangalore.
"The other problem is the inherent nature of the
technology, which cannot be regulated. It keeps
spreading across fields,"
he said. In its response to the news, Monsanto Co.,
which owns and markets Bt cotton technology, said it had
no control over what happened in the north of India.
Monsanto Spokesperson Ranjana Smetacek commented, "We do
not sell the seeds there.
If somebody buys from where it is approved and takes it
to the north, it is not in our control." The article
can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=5611
Israeli Company Launches Tomato Strain Immune to Leaf
Curl Virus
(SRC:Israel
21 -- ATH:n/a)
Israeli seed company Hazera Genetics has developed a
genetically modified (GM) tomato with resistance to
tomato leaf curl virus, which affects tomato crops
throughout the Mediterranean region, the Middle East,
and the tropical areas of Africa and Central America.
The GM tomato will be commercially available in Israel
next year. The article can be viewed online at the link
below.
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfmfuseaction=news&doc_id=7967&start=1&control=188&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
Biotech Events
July 8
- 11
8th
International Conference on Agricultural Biotechnology:
International Trade and Domestic Production
Ravello, Italy
Contact:
Vittorio Santaniello, University of Rome " Tor Vergata
", Via Columbia 2, 00133 - Rome, Italy; Fax: +39 (06)
7259 5721;
Email:
icabr@economia.uniroma2.it;
URL:
http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/conferenze/icabr2004/
July 18 - 23
Plant
Molecular Biology
Plymouth NH, USA
Contact:
Gordon Research Conferences, 3071 Route 138, Kingston,
RI 02881, USA; Tel: +1 (401) 783 4011; Fax: +1 (401) 783
7644;
Email:
grc@grcmail.grc.uri.edu;
URL:
http://www.grc.uri.edu/grc_home.htm |
