28/May/21

 

In the run-up to a June 13 referendum in which voters will decide whether to support two measures that crack down on pesticide use in Switzerland, leading supporters of the two proposals have been on the receiving end of not just an avalanche of abuse, but even death threats. As a result, Céline Vara, a lawyer and Green Party politician who helped initiate the proposal for a ban on synthetic pesticides, is now under police protection. Franziska Herren, who initiated a clean drinking water initiative, which, if passed, would stop farmers who use pesticides from claiming state subsidies, has also received death threats. GMWatch

 

 

Two prominent groups of scientists, and two major American universities, are trying to patent methods for editing human embryos, with reproductive use clearly intended. Really. Right now. Heritable genome editing – that is, altering the genes and traits of future children and generations – is prohibited in 70 countries and wildly controversial everywhere. But these people and institutions are laying the groundwork to capitalize on a future they apparently hope to make happen. Biopolitical Times

 

 

In 2020, 19 weed samples were submitted for herbicide resistance screening to Michigan State University (MSU) Plant & Pest Diagnostics. From these 15 samples, 11 were confirmed to have some type of herbicide resistance. Two of these cases had not previously been confirmed in the counties in which they were sampled. ALS-resistance in common lambsquarters was documented for the first time in Tuscola County and resistance to the photosystem II inhibiting herbicides in Powell amaranth was documented in Mason County. One unique case of three-way resistance to glyphosate, ALS- and PPO-inhibiting herbicides in waterhemp was documented from Ottawa County. This is the first case of multiple resistance to three herbicide modes of action in waterhemp submitted to MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics. [GMW: Many of the herbicides in question are used with GM herbicide-tolerant crops, including glyphosate and sulfonylurea. GM herbicide-tolerant crops have also been developed using mutagenesis breeding, which is classed as a GM technique in the EU but exempted from the GMO regulation requirements due to a supposed history of safe use.] Michigan State University