In
This Issue:
UK
Conference: Have Balanced Biotech Crop Debate
There
is a need for balanced debate on the development of genetically modified
(GM) crops. More attention to farm management techniques could alleviate
any negative impact. This opinion was forwarded by a group of scientists
from the United Kingdom in a conference held recently in London on
the effects of agricultural biotechnology.
Phil Dale,
leader of the Genetic Modification and Biosafety Research Safety
Croup at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, said that while the science
of genetic modification cannot be "uninvented," its development
should not be left simply to market forces.
The best
path, added Dale, is a phased introduction of GM crops, accompanied
by rigorous environmental monitoring.
Borlaug
Calls for Compulsory GM Studies
Nobel
Peace prize winner, Dr. Norman Borlaug, has called on wealthy urban
nations to introduce compulsory biology studies to improve understanding
of food and agricultural issues. Borlaug, one of the keynote speakers
in an international biotechnology conference in London, said that
this would help counter the irrational fears being fostered by groups
against genetic modification techniques.
Borlaug
was quoted to have averred that "many of the most rabid crop
biotech opponents are driven more by a hatred of capitalism and globalization
than by the actual safety of transgenic plants... The Green Revolution
of the last four decades had led to vast increases in food supplies
at lower prices to millions in developing countries but it needed
to be taken on further with biotechnology; again with those countries
as prime beneficiaries."
Private
life science companies, according to Borlaug, should establish concessionary
pricing of GM materials for low income countries and to share their
expertise with public research institutions and scientists concerned
with smallholder agriculture. He called on governments to establish
a stake in GM research to produce "public goods" and to
ensure farmers and the public were not held hostage to possible private
sector monopolies.
Haskins:
Wrong for Shops to Drop GM Foods
Northern
Foods Chairman Lord Haskins thinks that supermarkets in the United
Kingdom made a mistake in not selling genetically modified (GM) foods
to consumers. He said that people can decide for themselves whether
to buy these products or not. Haskins's company, one of Britain's
leading chilled food and grocery manufacturers, supplies supermarkets
like Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Safeway as well as Marks and Spencers.
Speaking
at a conference in UK, Haskins added that Britain could miss out
on the GM revolution by giving in to "paranoid" consumers
and environmental pressure groups. Supermarkets should not have introduced
voluntary bans on GM foods but offered consumers a choice instead.
Haskins
agreed with scientists that there should be further testing of GM
food and crops and more research into the effect of crops on the
environment before they are grown commercially.
Chinese
Academy Calls for GM Labeling
China's
Academy of Medicine has asked the Environment and Food Bureau for
mandatory labeling of genetically modified (GM) food to extend to
all products. In addition, the level of GM content at which labeling
is required should be cut from five to one per cent. Initially, mandatory
labeling could be confined to pre-packaged or processed food and
the threshold set at 5% or above. A three-month public consultation
on GM labeling ended recently.
The academy
admitted that labeling all food items could be technically impossible.
However, it said that it should be a general principle and its application
should only be limited by labeling technology.
Three
labeling options were outlined in the Government's consultation paper:
a voluntary system, a mandatory one and a voluntary system to be
made mandatory after a period of time. While the third option is
most likely to be adopted, Professor Lam Tai-hing, president of the
Academy's College of Family Medicine, was cited as saying that only
the mandatory option was acceptable.
Potatoes
As Edible Vaccines?
Nature
Biotechnology reports that scientists have developed vaccine-carrying
potatoes that when fed to mice, immunized them against both rotavirus
and enterogenic Escherichia coli. The team of William Langridge and
Jie Yu of Loma Linda University said that results "suggest that
food plants can function as vaccines for simultaneous protection
against infectious virus and bacterial diseases." In the future,
protection against the two deadly stomach diseases may hopefully
be provided by a single serving of this potato.
US
Mission Off to Europe for Biotech Talks
The National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the U.S. Grains Council (USGC)
will field a joint mission to Europe to assess the status of the
biotechnology debate there. They will convey the US corn industry's
views about agricultural biotechnology and to develop a biotechnology
plan of action for the US feed grains industry.
The delegation
will visit Brussels, Rotterdam, Geneva and Paris to meet with corn
co-product importers, European Commission officials, World Trade
Organization ambassadors, European news media, consumer groups and
leaders of the French corn growers association (Association Generale
des Producteurs de Mais), among others.
The EU
placed a moratorium on the process for approving new biotechnology
events two years ago. This shut off imports of US corn to Europe.
Discussions will give US corn industry leaders a better understanding
of how European policymakers and consumers approach biotechnology.
Correspondingly, the delegation will also be able to convey its views
regarding the safety and benefits of agricultural biotechnology. ¨
Campaign
to Boost African Research and Education
Several
of Africa's most noted academics and scientists have just met in
Accra to launch a campaign to revive the continent's research and
higher education systems.
The meeting
marked the beginning of a coalition between African scientists and
academics (including many who now reside overseas), the United Nations
and the Independent Commission on Africa and the Challenges of the
Third Millennium (The Commission), to champion the revitalization
of African universities and research institutions.
"Africa,
with its immense wealth in natural resources, has large reserves
of untapped economic potential," says Uzo Mokwunye, Director
of the Ghana-based UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa
and the meeting's convener. "Developing the human capital necessary
to fuel Africa's agricultural and industrial expansion must be the
first order of business - and African universities and other centers
of learning must play the lead role."
At the
conference, leading experts will discuss ways to enable and challenge
Africans to:
- advance
food security through basic research (validating and disseminating
the grassroots knowledge of indigenous farmers and forest-dwellers);
- add value to Africa's primary products through applied science and technology;
- link scientific knowledge on natural resources to policy, problem- solving,
and long-term planning processes.
New
Bt Corn Gets Conditional Clearance
A new Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) protein in corn got a conditional registration
from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Among its interesting
properties is its low toxicity to non-target pests. The protein
has activity against European corn borer, Southwestern corn borer,
fall armyworm and black cutworm.
This latest
research output was developed in partnership by Mycogen and Pioneer,
a Dupont Company.
The conditional
registration allows for planting of the crop and marketing it for
use in the US. However, due to late planting and the company's conservative
approach to the biotech market, limited acreage may be planted this
year.
The EPA
will be finishing its comprehensive reassessment of all Bt use in
crops in September. It will thus "use data from this time-limited
registration as one component of its comprehensive reassessment of
all Bt plant-incorporated protectants." |
