Save our Seeds

Protesters are planning to descend on the gates of Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire as part of a campaign against genetically modified wheat. The group, called “Take The Flour Back“, has launched a website campaign to protest against the aphid-resistant wheat trial at Rothamsted. They say they are planning a “mass action against genetically modified wheat” at the research institute’s headquarters. An announcement on their website says: “Bakers, farmers, growers, allotment holders, scientists, beekeepers, and people who eat food are turning out to voice their opposition to GM crops coming back to the UK.

Field trial of the genetically modified eggplant in Cotabato province has finally taken off last week. Dr. Lourdes D. Taylo, an entomologist from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding, confirmed that Bacillus thuringiensis eggplant, or Bt Talong, has been planted at a trial site at the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, Cotabato province. “The field trial would run for about three months,” she told BusinessWorld, thumbing down “possible contamination of conventional eggplants since the Bt Talong test site has been isolated.

María Elena Rozas, leader of Alianza por una Mejor Calidad de Vida/RAP-Chile (Alliance for better Quality of Life/Pesticide Action Network-Chile) praised Transparency Council’s final ruling on publishing the exact location of GMO crops, confirming a former decision issued on 2010. It was published on March 21 and supports Rozas action on the citizens’ right to know, denied by Agriculture and Livestock Service Agency. Transparency Council’s former decision was appealed in 2010 in Court by the TNC Monsanto and most of the companies growing GMO seeds for export from Chile.

Today, the international coalition of “No Patents on Seeds” is publishing a report on patents connected to the conventional breeding of plants and animals granted by, or applied for at the European Patent Office in 2011. The report gives examples of patents on sunflowers, melons, cucumbers, rice and wheat. Patents were granted despite a decision of the highest court of the EPO in 2010, reaffirming the prohibition of patents on conventional breeding as written in European patent laws. As the new report shows, industry and examiners at the EPO are systematically using legal loopholes to grant patents on seeds, plants and even harvest and food products derived thereof.

Testbiotech, supported by Corporate Observatory Europe, is today filing a new complaint with the EU Ombudsman questioning the independence of the chair of the panel of experts tasked with assessing the risk of new genetically engineered plants entering the European Union. Harry Kuiper has chaired the GMO Panel at the European Food Safety Authority since 2003 but has also maintained strong ties with International Life Sciences Institute including taking part in a task force led by a Monsanto employee. ILSI is funded by the food and agrochemical industry and Kuipers work on the task force was alongside staff from Bayer, Dow AgroSciences, Dupont and Syngenta, all of which produce genetically engineered plants.

European Union ministers are unlikely to agree draft rules to let countries decide themselves whether to grow or ban genetically modified crops, despite efforts by Denmark’s EU presidency to reach a compromise. [...] ”Things are still looking extremely difficult,” Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken, who will lead the discussions, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. ”We have a small blocking minority at the moment, but we still hope that we will dissolve it, and it’s going to come down to one or two countries in the end.” While France, Germany and Belgium are unlikely to reverse their opposition, Britain and Spain had initially appeared willing to support the Danish compromise, EU sources involved in the talks said.

Environmentalists demonstrated outside Poland’s parliament building on Tuesday before the first reading of an amended law on GM seeds on Wednesday. Last August, President Bronislaw Komorowski vetoed a bill that had been criticised for letting genetically modified crops in through the back door. The August bill had been prepared after a 2006 law banning GM crops in Poland was referred to the EU Court of Justice for failing to comply with EU policy.

FLOUR made from genetically modified wheat and barley may be trialled on humans. The human testing will be done under a program approved by the Office of Gene Technology Regulator. But first, the GM product would be trialled on animals to see if it improves bowel health. [...] The grain varieties have been genetically modified for ”altered grain composition, nutrient utilisation efficient, disease resistance or stress tolerance”.

Insecticidal Bt toxins such as those produced in genetically engineered plants can be detrimental to human cells. This is a result of recent research led by researchers at the University of Caen (France). Their experiments showed that toxins produced in, for example, the genetically engineered maize MON810, can significantly impact the viability of human cells. The effects were observed with relatively high concentrations of the toxins, nevertheless there is cause for concern. For the first time, experiments have now shown that they can have an toxic effect to human cells.

Monsanto Co. and other seed makers reported a threefold increase last year in U.S. farmers caught violating requirements for planting genetically modified corn. The data relates to farmers planting seeds that are genetically modified to produce a toxin derived from Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a natural insecticide. The Environmental Protection Agency requires the growers to plant an adjacent area - a so-called refuge - of non-Bt corn so that bugs don’t become immune. About 41 percent of 3,053 farmers inspected in 2011 failed to fully comply with the refuge requirement