misc genetic engineering news
Daniel D. Worley (dan.worley@icepr.com)
Mon, 09 Feb 1998 20:59:32 -0400
>Errors-To: <rwolfson@concentric.net>
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>Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 00:49:05 -0500
>To: info@natural-law.ca
>From: Richard Wolfson <rwolfson@concentric.net>
>Subject: misc genetic engineering news
>X-UIDL: e3973fb08326a4ef6ccb47ce6f5e5add
>
> Scottish Daily Record
>February 3, 1998
>MONSTER OUTLOOK ON NEW NOSH!;
>Health expert Professor Philip James warned yesterday of the dangers of
>"Frankenstein Foods" BY Ken Oxley
>
>A health expert warned yesterday of the dangers of "Frankenstein Foods".
>Professor Philip James said he believed genetically - altered grub had not
>been properly tested. And he feared scientists could be stocking up
>serious health problems for the future.
>
>Professor James, of the new Food Standards Agency, said the new nosh could
>lead to an antibiotic-resistant superbug with devastating consequences.
>
>He said genetically -modified soya was found in up to 60 per cent of
>processed foods. It's already on supermarket shelves in bread, biscuits,
>pizzas and even baby foods and scientists insist it is safe.
>
>But Professor James, of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, warned:
>"The perception that everything is totally straightforward and safe is
>utterly naive. "I don't think we fully understand the dimensions of what
>we're getting into."
>
> Genetically -modified food involves combining genes from different plants
>and animals to create a new super species.
>
> The controversial practice will be examined in tonight's BBC 1 Frontline
>Scotland report, Forbidden Fruit, at 10 pm.
>
>..............................
>
> U.S. Newswire Feb 03, 1998
>Union of Concerned Scientists Calls for EPA Plan to Slow Insect Resistance
>to Natural Pesticide
>BYLINE: Suzy McDowell of the Union of Concerned Scientists, 202-332-0900
>DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 BODY: With the 1998 planting season around
>the corner and a critical meeting of an Environmental Protection Agency
>advisory group on genetically engineered crops just a week away, the Union
>of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today released new plans to forestall the
>loss of Bt, a valuable natural insecticide. In "Now or Never: Serious New
>Plans to Save a Natural Pest Control," UCS and six prominent scientists
>call upon EPA to immediately adopt the plans outlined in the report to slow
>the development of insect resistance, which would render the Bt toxin
>ineffective.
>
>"If we are to save Bt, EPA must adopt resistance management plans that live
>up to the standards set by this report," said Dr. Margaret Mellon, director
>of UCS' Agriculture and Biotechnology Program. "Failure to do so now could
>mean we lose our chance to prevent resistance, perhaps forever."
>
>There are currently three crops on the commercial market -- corn, cotton
>and potatoes -- that have been genetically engineered to produce
>insecticidal toxins from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
>This natural pest control is both environmentally safe and effective and
>has long been used in spray form by organic farmers, gardeners and
>vegetable growers. The authors of the report are concerned that the current
>EPA management plans for gene- altered Bt crops will not substantially
>delay the evolution of resistance.
>
>"Even though adequate resistance management plans have not been adopted,
>EPA has rashly approved the planting of millions of acres of Bt crops,"
>said Mellon. "EPA's actions have put Bt on a high trapeze before the nets
>have been installed."
>
>"If resistance occurs, organic farmers and others will lose one of their
>most valuable natural pest controls," said Dr. Jane Rissler, senior staff
>scientist for UCS. "Deprived of the Bt crops, farmers would turn once again
>to multiple applications of synthetic chemical pesticides."
>
>UCS is urging EPA to make all plans mandatory. Under the recommended
>strategies, farmers would not be permitted to plant all their acreage in Bt
>crops, but would have to devote large areas (20 to 50 percent of total
>acreage) to non-Bt crops. The non-Bt crops would have to be planted close
>to the Bt crops in specified arrangements.
>
>UCS will submit the new report and its recommendations to EPA and the
>Scientific Advisory Panel subpanel, which will meet to address the issue of
>Bt resistance Feb. 9-10.
>
>"EPA has a responsibility to protect Bt," said Rissler. "To lose it within
>a few years -- a distinct possibility if current management plans are not
>improved -- would be a tragic waste."
>..................
>
>TRIAL IN FRANCE TO FOCUS GENETICALLY ALTERED MAIZE
> PARIS, Feb 2 Reuters
>In a case expected to put the spotlight on genetic engineering of
>foodstuffs, three farmers accused of tampering with bio-engineered maize
>seeds go on trial tomorrow in the southwestern French town of Agen.
>
> The activists from the Confederation Paysanne farmers union are accused of
>breaking into the site of Swiss drugs group Novartis in the nearby town of
>Nerac, slashing bags containing genetically altered seeds and mixing the
>seeds with others to make them useless for cultivation.
>
> Coinciding with the trial's beginning, a coalition of consumers, farmers
>and environment groups has launched a campaign to reverse a French
>government decision allowing the cultivation of the genetically altered
>maize developed by Novartis.
>
> The coalition has called for a moratorium on all bio- engineered crops so
>that more research can be conducted and the public given
>
> "For the Confederation Paysanne the authorisation (to produce)
>genetically modified maize will be on trial on February 3," the union said
>in a statement.
>
> Opponents of the modified maize hope the trial will draw public attention
>to the risks from bio-engineered crops as scientists and consumer groups
>are due to testify in court and explain why they oppose the use of genetic
>engineering techniques in food crops.
>
> Various demonstrations were planned in front of the law courts throughout
>the day, a union spokeswoman said. Some 3,000 to 4,000 people were expected
>in Agen for the trial, she said.
>
> During the weekend opponents of bio-engineering staged protests at two
>Novartis sites in northern and central France.
>
> The government's decision last November to clear the production of
>genetically altered maize was however good news for mainstream maize
>producers association AGPM.
>
> The group said the approval meant that French farmers would be able to
>compete with their rivals in the United States where gene-crops are
>authorised.
>
>_________________________________________________________
>Richard Wolfson, PhD
>Consumer Right to Know Campaign,
>for Mandatory Labelling and Long-term
>Testing of all Genetically Engineered Foods,
>500 Wilbrod Street
>Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2
>email: rwolfson@concentric.net
>
>Our website, http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html
>contains more information on genetic engineering as well as
>previous genetic engineering news items
>__________________________________________________________
>__________________________________________________________
>
>
>
>
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