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NEWSLETTERS
07 Dec 2005
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THE GE INFORMATION BULLETIN
An independent digest of widely-sourced information relevant
to the GE debate
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No. 40 December 2005 (short-form edition)
http://www.geinfo.org.nz/122005/bulletin40.html
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IN THIS ISSUE:
> Swiss Approve Five-year Ban On GM
> GM Pea Causes Allergic Damage In Mice
> Farmers Get Go-ahead To Plant GM Maize In UK
> East Europe's Anti-GM Food Movement Grows
> China Committee Not Recommending GMO Rice
> Farming, Tourism At Risk Without GE Rules
> The 35s CaMV Plant Virus Promoter Is Active In Human Enterocyte-like Cells
> India Maps Basmati DNA To Protect It From West
> Austria To Launch EU-wide GMO Debate After Swiss Referendum
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SWISS APPROVE FIVE-YEAR BAN ON GM
AFP, November 27, 2005 (Switzerland)
A clear majority of Swiss voters defied their government in a referendum by approving a blanket five-year ban on the use of GM organisms in farming.
Fifty-eight percent of voters backed an initiative to strengthen existing restrictions introduced last year. The moratorium also swept through the required dual majority hurdle, gaining majority support in not just half but all of the country's 23 cantons.
Full item on GEinfo website
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GM PEA CAUSES ALLERGIC DAMAGE IN MICE
NewScientist.com, November 21, 2005 (Australia)
A decade-long project to develop GM peas with built-in pest-resistance has been abandoned after tests showed they caused allergic lung damage in mice.
The team found that when the protein is expressed in the pea, its structure is subtly different to the original in the bean. They think this structural change could be to blame for the unexpected immune effects seen in mice.
Full item on GEinfo website
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FARMERS GET GO-AHEAD TO PLANT GM MAIZE IN UK
Financial Times, November 16, 2005 (UK)
Margaret Beckett, Britain's environment secretary, made her long-expected announcement approving the planting of GM maize - the first transgenic crop to be permitted in the UK - but insisted neither the British taxpayer nor non-GM farmers should be expected to pick up the bill for commercial damage to farmers who lose their "non-GM" status.
Full item on GEinfo website
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EAST EUROPE'S ANTI-GM FOOD MOVEMENT GROWS
Foodnavigator.com, November 14, 2005 (EU)
Around 76 per cent of Polish consumers said they didn't want to eat any food containing GM ingredients, according to a PBS opinion poll commissioned by Greenpeace. The news follows an earlier study by Russia's largest public opinion research body, VCIOM, that 95 per cent of Russians aware of GM ingredients said they were either opposed to them or seriously concerned by them.
Full item on GEinfo website
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CHINA COMMITTEE NOT RECOMMENDING GMO RICE
Reuters, November 28, 2005 (China)
A Chinese government committee has failed to reach a consensus on the safety of GM rice, putting off the world's first large-scale production of the transgenic grain.
"There has been no safety agreement for commercial release," said Lu Baorong of Shanghai Fudan University, who is one of 74 members of the committee.
Full item on GEinfo website
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FARMING, TOURISM AT RISK WITHOUT GE RULES
Northern Advocate, November 17, 2005 (New Zealand)
Northland's billion-dollar-a-year farming and tourism industries could be at risk if GMOs are not controlled, a new report says.
Whangarei District Council monitoring team leader Kerry Grundy said the report clearly showed local authorities could impose controls on the release of GMOs, on top of those imposed by the Environmental Risk Management Authority.
Full item on GEinfo website
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THE 35S CAMV PLANT VIRUS PROMOTER IS ACTIVE IN HUMAN ENTEROCYTE-LIKE CELLS
European Food Research and Technology, October 20, 2005 (Online)
The 35S cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) promoter is commonly used to drive transgene expression in the GE crop plants that have been commercialized so far.
It was demonstrated that the 35S CaMV promoter was able to drive the expression of both reporter genes to significant levels.
Research News: Full item on GEinfo website
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INDIA MAPS BASMATI DNA TO PROTECT IT FROM WEST
Independent, November 4, 2005 (India)
Indian scientists are mapping the DNA of one of the country's basic food products: basmati rice. Concerned that Western corporations may try to take out patents on the food, their aim is not to produce genetically modified rice but to protect one of India's most treasured natural products from a foreign takeover.
Full item on GEinfo website
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AUSTRIA TO LAUNCH EU-WIDE GMO DEBATE AFTER SWISS REFERENDUM
EUobserver.com, November 29, 2005 (EU)
Austria is planning to hold a pan-European debate about GM farming, following strong Swiss support for a five-year ban on gene technology in a referendum. Vienna will take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in January and aims to host a conference about GM crops on 4-5 April.
Full item on GEinfo website
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The items in this Bulletin are excerpts from articles which remain the copyright of the original owners. The material is edited for brevity and published here for educational and public interest use only.
Subscribe to the Bulletin, download a PDF or Word version and read full stories at the GEinfo website.
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