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NEWSLETTERS
09 Aug 2006
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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. 47 August 2006 (short-form edition)
http://www.geinfo.org.nz/082006/bulletin47.html
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IN THIS ISSUE:
> GM Cotton Fails To Improve Biodiversity
> Scientists: Bt Cotton Drives Insect Boom
> Sh32b Sorghum Project Halted
> Lid Stays On Modified Rice In China
> Food Regulator Criticised Over New GM Corn
> Food-crop Biofuels Given Thumbs Down
> Biotech Playing Role In Clothing Industry
> EU Guilty Of Withholding GM Food Data
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GM COTTON FAILS TO IMPROVE BIODIVERSITY
Scientific American, May 2, 2006 (USA)
A study of randomly chosen cotton fields reveals that although GM cotton did reduce pesticide use, it did not reduce use of herbicides nor did it improve biodiversity when compared to unmodified strains.
"You cannot simply assume that you will get across-the-board benefits," Carriere notes. "One thing I was a bit surprised to find is that if you control some pests with [transgenic] cotton, others become more of a problem."
Full item on GEinfo website
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SCIENTISTS: BT COTTON DRIVES INSECT BOOM
IndiaeNews, July 27, 2006 (India/China)
Bt cotton, said to provide extra security against bollworms, has actually led to a larger menace from other insects on Chinese farms, according to a study that advises farmers in India to guard against GM seeds.
'Now farmers are spending almost as much on pesticides to control these secondary pests as those farmers growing regular cotton,' the report said.
After two to three years of use, studies had shown a dramatic rise in yield and 70 percent reduction in the use of insecticides. The current picture, however, is dismal. The researchers found the Bt cotton farmers have a net average income that is eight percent lower than farmers growing conventional cotton.
Full item on GEinfo website
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SH32B SORGHUM PROJECT HALTED
The Nation (Nairobi), July 16, 2006 (Kenya)
A project by Prof Florence Wambugu was expected to come up with a new variety of sorgum to help alleviate hunger in the sub-Saharan Africa.
But her dreams of another scientific breakthrough now have to wait after the South African government refused Prof Wambugu and the Africa Harvest Bio-Technology International permission to set up a research laboratory and greenhouses in the country.
Full item on GEinfo website
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LID STAYS ON MODIFIED RICE IN CHINA
The Standard Newspaper, July 19, 2006 (China)
China, the world's top rice producer and consumer, is unlikely to give its nod for commercial production of GM rice at least until next year with a government panel demanding more data to prove its safety.
Full item on GEinfo website
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FOOD REGULATOR CRITICISED OVER NEW GM CORN
ABC Science Online, August 4, 2006 (New Zealand)
Australia and New Zealand's food regulator FSANZ is failing to apply its own safety standards, or those of international guidelines, in assessing a new-generation GM corn for human consumption, critics say.
The Centre for Integrated Research on Biosafety at the University of Canterbury has twice formally notified FSANZ of its concerns about the GM corn LY038, which has been engineered to contain a bacterial gene that allows the accumulation of high levels of lysine.
Full item on GEinfo website
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FOOD-CROP BIOFUELS GIVEN THUMBS DOWN
Nature, July 11, 2006 (USA)
Producing biofuels such as ethanol from food crops isn't worth the effort is the conclusion of a new and painstaking study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers should instead concentrate either on producing ethanol from indigestible plant material such as cellulose, or on synthetic hydrocarbon fuels.
The comprehensive study finds that if all the corn (maize) produced in the United States last year were removed from food supplies and turned into ethanol, just 12% of US gasoline demand would be offset.
Full item on GEinfo website
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BIOTECH PLAYING ROLE IN CLOTHING INDUSTRY
Associated Press, July 17, 2006 (USA)
Biotechnology is quietly playing a growing role in an apparel industry. But the trend is raising concerns among some environmental purists who oppose GE crops of any kind. The dresses are made from a new fiber called Ingeo, made largely from GE corn.
"Ingeo still supports GE crops and we really view it as a slippery slope," said Jill Dumain of Patagonia Inc., which pays a premium to use only organic cotton in its clothes.
Full item on GEinfo website
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EU GUILTY OF WITHHOLDING GM FOOD DATA
Dow Jones News Service, July 19, 2006 (EU)
The European Commission has been found guilty of withholding information on GM food. The Ombudsman charged the commission with "maladministration" after it refused to disclose documents to environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth. The documents revealed scientific concerns about the long-term health safety of genetically-modified foods.
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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