In This
Issue:
EU COMMISSION PUBLISHES BIOTECH REPORT
The European Union (EU) Commission has published its second progress report
on the EU's life sciences and biotechnology strategy. It tracked developments
since the Commission put in place a comprehensive strategy in January 2002
on how to obtain the social and economic benefits from biotechnology. The strategy
was subsequently adopted by the Prime Ministers and Heads of State as part
of the Lisbon plan to become the most competitive knowledge based economy in
the world by 2010.
Feike Sijbesma, Chairman
of EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries, expressed his disappointment
on the report saying it “is repeating yet
again that Member States have to implement rules they agreed a long time ago.”
Europabio reported that seven Member States have not implemented the biotech
patent's directive (98/44), eight Member States have not implemented the directive
on GMOs (2001/18), the target of 15% of biotech SMEs in the EU research framework
program has not been met, and there is still no progress on the Community Patent.
Johan Vanhemelrijck, EuropaBio
Secretary General, added that Europe needs real progress in the field of
the Community Patent, the moratorium, the patents
directive, and the fostering of young enterprises. “This will help national
biotech communities across Europe to prosper throughout the new Europe and
not only limit its development to confined regions,” he said.
For more information, contact Adeline Farrelly of EuropaBio at a.farrelly@europabio.org or visit http://www.europabio.org.
AGRI COUNCIL FAILS TO APPROVE GM CORN FOR FOOD
Europe's Agriculture Council of Ministers did not approve a genetically modified
sweet corn (Bt-11) for food use in the European Union which is already approved
in 12 other countries. This sweet corn is genetically modified to protect itself
from corn borer insect damage.
Johan Vanhemelrijck, Secretary
General of EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries, said that
while they were disappointed that the Council
failed to approve the sweet corn, it was looking at the European Union Commission
to have a more positive stance toward it. He noted that “the file was
submitted in 1998 and the EU Scientific Committee on Food has declared Bt-11
as safe as its conventional counterparts.”
The application will now be passed back to the EU Commission.
Additional information may be obtained from Adeline Farrelly of EuropaBio
at a.farrelly@europabio.org. The full article is available online at http://www.europabio.org.
In related developments,
The French government's food safety authority AFSSA (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments)
has concluded that "unforeseen effects cannot be discounted" and
stated that further safety tests needed to be conducted before concluding that
Bt11 sweet corn is safe for human consumption. The authority suggested that
a study of toxicity/tolerance study in chicken be conducted.
Visit the Agence
française de sécurité sanitaire
des aliments website at http://www.afssa.fr.
ASIA-PACIFIC CONSORTIUM ON AGRI-BIOTECH
The Asia-Pacific Consortium
on Agricultural Biotechnology (APCoAB) has been formed to involve key stakeholders
in the region to “pool their synergies,
harness comparative advantages and ensure judicious use of limited resources
to promote application of biotechnology for sustainable agricultural development
in the region.”
According to Dr. Mutsuo Iwamoto, president of the Japan International Research
Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and current chair of the Asia Pacific
Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the consortium
came about from an expert consultation recommendation during a meeting organized
by APAARI and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Iwamoto said that the consortium will facilitate and promote greater public
awareness and understanding of issues like intellectual property rights, sus
generic systems, biosafety, risk assessment, harmonization of regulatory procedures,
and benefit sharing to address various concerns related to the adoption of
agri-biotech.
The consortium will be hosted by the International Crops Research Institute
for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.
For more information, contact Mutsuo Iwamoto at Iwamoto@jiscas.affrc.go.jp or R.S. Paroda, APAARI Executive Secretary at cac-tashkent@icarda.org.uz.
FIRST BIOSAFETY WORKSHOP HELD IN MACEDONIA
Last April 22
to 23, a workshop on “Risk Assessment and Risk Management
for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)” was held in Skopje, Macedonia.
Aiming to reach a broader scientific community, this first ever biosafety workshop
was organized to help the Republic of Macedonia in developing the National
Biosafety Framework (NBF) under the UNEP-GEF biosafety project.
Jasmina Ginovska, National Project Coordinator, Ministry of Environment and
Special Planning, discussed the regulatory aspects, provisions and obligations
under the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety. The Bulgarian experience in building the regulatory regime for decision
making in line with the key components of the UNEP-GEF project for the implementation
of the biosafety framework were also presented.
Further, biosafety experts from Bulgaria, K. Georgieva and Dr. Nevena Alexandrova,
familiarized the participants on the general issues concerning GMO risk analysis
(risk assessment, risk management and risk communication). Public awareness
and participation, through the Bulgarian Biotechnology Information Center (BgBIC),
a network member of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology (ISAAA-KC) was also
introduced.
The workshop was attended by representatives from the different bio-science
areas - agronomists, geneticists, physicians (human and animal medicine), as
well as representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, non-government organizations
(NGOs), consumer protection organizations, and the media.
For more information, contact Dr. Nevena Alexandrova of the Bulgaria Biotechnology
Information Center (BgBIC) at bgbic@abi.bg.
SCIENCE NEWS COVERAGE IN SOUTH AFRICA
“The coverage
of science and technology in the South African press is insufficient. Less
than 2% of editorial space in some of the country's top
publications is awarded to these topics,” says Carine van Rooyen from
the Department of Journalism, University of Stellenbosch (US), in South Africa.
Sponsored
by the South Africa Foundation for Education Science and Technology (FEST),
van Rooyen and colleagues studied 15 daily and weekly national newspapers,
namely: Die Burger, Beeld, Cape Argus, The Star, Sowetan, City Press, Mail & Guardian,
Sunday Independent, Sunday Times, Rapport, and Business Day. Non-science magazines
and community newspapers like the Financial Mail, Finance Week, Eikestadnuus,
and Sasolburg Bulletin were also included in the study. Data gathering
for the research was done from March 18 to June 17, 2002. The study only
included articles and news reports that were either directly linked
to a science issue or those that dealt with a subject that are being discussed
by scientists. Articles were classified using 19 categories.
The highlights
of the study are as follows:
- Science
and technology was allotted a 1,8% of editorial space. Thirty-eight
percent (38%) of published reports originated from news agencies. Most of the
articles (74%) appeared as news reports or snippets, while in-depth articles
were few.
- Majority (70%)
of the published science reports were written with an angle that emphasized
the positive aspects of science and technology. The benefits
of science were also highlighted in 42% of the articles.
- Biomedicine was
the category covered most (18%), with astronomy in second place (14%). Other
popular categories included HIV/Aids (12%) and technology
(12%). Other topics were pseudo science, mathematics, and physics.
- Physics, food
science, nutrition, palaeobiology, and the human behavioral sciences were
the topics mostly covered by foreign reporters.
- Photos and sketches
more often accompanied certain categories like astronomy, technology, and
botany. The use of infographics (8%) to accompany science articles
was observed to be limited.
See the news release
at http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/april/pressscience.htm.
The FEST website is at http://www.saasta.ac.za.
CROP DROUGHT TOLERANCE IMPROVED
Crop drought tolerance in plants is increased by lowering the amount of an
enzyme that is responsible for recycling vitamin C. This was according to Daniel
R. Gallie, a professor of biochemistry, and Zhong Chen, researcher, at the
University of California, Riverside, in the United States. Gallie added that
by decreasing the amount of the enzyme dehydroascorbate reductase or DHAR,
this would reduce the ability of plants to recycle vitamin C, making them more
drought tolerant through improved water conservation.
Vitamin C serves as an important antioxidant in plants - similar to its function
in humans. It also destroys reactive oxygen species that can otherwise damage
or even kill cells. Once used, vitamin C must be regenerated before it is entirely
lost. The enzyme DHAR plays a critical role in this recycling process.
"This reduction
in vitamin C recycling causes plants to be highly responsive to dry growth
conditions by reducing the rate of water that escapes from their
leaves. Thus, they are better able to grow with less water and survive a drought.
Our discovery should be applicable to most if not all crop species as the role
of vitamin C is highly conserved among plants," said Gallie.
Read the full
article at http://www.africabiotech.com/news2/article.php?uid=72.
US ACADEMIES GETS US$20M GRANT
The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation awarded the United States (US) National Academies a US$20
million grant to help African academies of science, and other
scientific, engineering, and medical communities in the continent.
The grant is envisioned to help organizations in Africa to play a more effective
role in the political arena, and enhance their capability to influence governments
and the public in making informed and science-based decisions. This initiative
is coordinated by the US National Academies and will be carried out over the
next 10 years. Before the year ends, the U.S. National Academies will select three science
academies in Africa as partners for the initiative. These academies will be
the focus of these capacity-building efforts.
For more details,
visit http://www.gatesfoundation.org/GlobalHealth/
Announcements/Announce-040419.htm.
COUNTRY BIOTECH PROFILES AVAILABLE ONLINE
The Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) launched "Developing Country
Biotechnology Profiles", a searchable database on biotechnology-related
policies, regulations and activities of individual developing countries. Information
for each country may be obtained on the following 11 subjects: biotechnology
research policy; research capacity (key institutions; summary of major research
programmes); biotechnology regulatory framework (biosafety; food safety; patents;
plant variety protection; plant genetic resources; animal genetic resources);
biotechnology applications and, finally, publications and links.
The database is accessed
by clicking the "Country Profiles" button
on the left hand menu of the FAO-BioDeC webpage (http://www.fao.org/biotech/inventory_admin/dep/default.asp).
Contact FAO-BioDeC@fao.org for more information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW K-SHEETS
Two new Knowledge (K) Sheets
have been released by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of
the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications (ISAAA-KC). These are summaries of individual reports released
by Richard Phipps and Richard Bennett of the University of Reading in the United
Kingdom, and the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE).
Downloadable at http://www.isaaa.org/kc, the titles of these new K-Sheets are “Potential
Impact of GM Sugar Beet on the Environment and Human Health,” (Phipps
and Bennett), and “High Potential Use of GM Crops in Developing Countries,” (ABARE).
ONLINE RESOURCE ON GM
Cornell University
Cooperative Extension's Genetically Engineered Organisms Public Issues Education
Project (GEO-PIE) aims to develop materials for effective
public issues education (PIE) capacity related to genetically engineered organisms
among agricultural and nutrition educators. Check their website for resources
on genetic engineering, GM products, risks and benefits, US regulations, media
and opinion, and links. For more information contact T. Clint Nessbitt of Cornell
University at tcn4@cornell.edu or visit their website at http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/educators/who.html. |
