In
This Issue:
Increase
in Overall Biotech Acreage in US
The annual
prospective planting survey released by the US Department of Agriculture's
(USDA) National Agricultural Statistics reports overall biotech acreage
with significant increases in soybeans and cotton. The USDA estimates
that 63% of soybeans will be genetically engineered, which is up
from an estimated 54% last year. Cotton will be about 64% biotech,
up from 61%in 2000. Corn, however, will be 24% of acreage, down from
25% last year. The USDA report confirmed that farmers are cutting
back on overall corn acreage this year largely because of higher
energy and fertilizer prices and switching to soybeans. The full
report can be found at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/field/pcp-bbp
Surveys
Reveal US Consumers Views on Food Biotech
Despite
extensive media coverage on the recall of products containing biotechnology
corn not yet approved for food use, only 2 % named "altered/engineered
food" as something American consumers were concerned about when
it comes to food safety. In fact, only one in four consumers has
heard anything about recalls of food produced through biotechnology.
In the fifth survey released by the International Food Information
Council (IFIC) on US consumers attitudes toward food biotechnology,
the same number of consumers responded that they would like to see "genetically
altered" as an information on food labels. Majority (74%) said
they could not think of any additional information they would like
to see on food labels. IFIC also noticed that since it began its
surveys, the number of Americans expecting to benefit from biotechnology
in the future increased. More information about this survey and IFIC
can be found online at http://www.ific.org.
Meanwhile, in another survey conducted by the University of Richmond
and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Americans were found to
know little about genetically modified (GM) foods, are uncertain
about their safety, and change their views about safety when more
information about widespread used of GM foods is revealed. "Despite
the heated national debate about agricultural biotechnology, most
Americans do not have strong or well-informed opinions about this
new technology," said Mike Rodemeyer, executive direction of
the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. "Essentially,
public opinion is "up for grabs" because this technology
has moved faster than the public's ability to fully understand it
and its implications."
Codex
Task Force Meet on Biotech Standards
The joint
FAO/WHO Alimentarius Commission's Ad Hoc Intergovermental Task Force
on Foods Derived from Biotechnology are nearing consensus on a draft
text of "general principles for risk analysis of foods derived
from biotechnology." Codex Alimentarius is the body charged
with the development of international standards for food safety and
consumer protection. The Task Force is composed of officials from
35 countries and representatives of 24 nongovernmental organizations
including Consumers International,industry groups and Greenpeace.
The Task Force agreed on a draft guideline for the conduct of safety
assessment of foods derived from recombinant-DNA plants. The guidelines
pay special attention to the question of allergenicity that might
be transferred to new genetically modified plant varieties.
GM
Cotton Arrives in Indonesia
Indonesia
is now home to 40 tons of genetically modified Bollgard cotton seed
from South Africa. The cotton seeds imported by Jakarta-based PT
Monagro Kimia will be distributed to seven regencies based on the
recommendations of Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih. The
Ministry of Agriculture issued decree no. 107/2001 in February 2001
allowing limited sales of GM seed in Sulawesi. Reacting to strong
protests from environmentalists, Tri Soekirman of Monsanto said that
the cotton seed was imported to meet the needs of the province's
farmers. "It's the first import of such seed into the country.
There are at least 400,000 hectares of cotton plantations to be developed
by the farmers here."
Japan
Allows Foods to Contain up to 5% Biotech
New safety
guidelines will take effect in Japan this April 2001. Part of the
guidelines includes a provision that food products containing genetically
modified corn in levels up to 5% will be allowed in this Asian country.
The Japanese government set a threshold for GM corn after new technology
made it possible to detect it in processed foods.
Public
Institutions Conduct Most of Australia's GM Food Trials
The Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia's
chief scientific research organization, leads multinational companies
like Monsanto and Aventis in GM crop trials. CSIRO and other public
institutions like Murdoch University, University of Queensland and
the University of Alelaide account for 60 % of the nation's trials
based on a breakdown of trials approved by or before the Genetic
Manipulation Advisory Committee. Thomas Higgins of CSIRO which conducts
40% of all trials, says that is important for public institutions
to carry our research into genetic modification, adding, "Absolutely,
it is very important for us to keep involved, to have trials, and
to provide some competition to the multinationals. This new technology
could offer us all sorts of benefits in terms of sustainable development."
Australian
Government Funds ABA
The Australian
Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin,
is awarding $450,000 to assist the Australian Biotechnology Association
to become a strong national voice for the biotechnology industry.
The need for developing a strong network within the biotechnology
industry was identified under the Commonwealth Government's National
Biotechnology Strategy (NBS) launched in July last year. The funding,
to be delivered over three years, will allow the Australian Biotechnology
Association to expand its focus on representing the interests of
the biotechnology sector. This will include nurturing sustainable
biotechnology enterprises; increasing links between industry and
researchers; and increasing awareness of biotechnology with potential
investors, researchers, governments and the broader community. The
Australian Biotechnology Association will develop information databases
such as the Biotechnology Directory and monitor industry trends,
allowing the Association to provide valuable input to Government
on policy development.
New
Biotech School in India
The Indian
Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) has announced the establishment
of a new School of Biosciences and Bioengineering. This school will
integrate the existing bio-related activities of various science
and engineering departments of the institute and provide a new thrust
to them. The announcement came at the launching ceremony of the new
School of Biosciences and Bioengineering on the IIT Bombay campus.
The establishment of the school has been made possible in large part
through a generous gift from the Mehta Family Foundation in Houston,
Texas, USA. The new school is aiming to be a center of excellence
that will focus on teaching and research in areas of molecular, structural
and computational biology, bioinformatics and biomedical sciences
and engineering, and bioprocessing. The Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School
of Biosciences and Bioengineering will have a strong focus on basic
and applied research through independent and collaborative programs
that will enable advances in healthcare through the discovery of
new knowledge, processes, products and protocols. Initially the School
will continue to offer the existing academic programs, an MSc program
in Biotechnology (supported by DBT, New Delhi), MTech program in
Biomedical engineering and Ph.D. programs in Biotechnology and Biomedical
Engineering. Its research activities will focus on themes of applied
importance in gene cloning and gene technology, nutrition, protein
chemistry and drug discovery and delivery, medical diagnostics, devices
and therapeutic systems, cell-cell environment engineering, physiological
systems and signals, and bioprocessing with emphasis on clean and
efficient technologies.
India
gives $65M to Genomics Research
India's
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is to spend three billion rupees
($65 million) on genomics research over the next five years, bringing
five-year forecasts for the country's genomics spending to $85 million,
according to Manju Sharma, Secretary of the DBT. Sharma told a biotechnology
summit that the funds will be distributed among 15 to 20 research
teams in government centers and universities across the country.
The major focus will be on medical research. |
