22/June/21

 

As the debate around genetically modified crops heats up, tried-and-tested solutions to tackling the climate crisis are in danger of being left out in the cold. Any deregulation of new GMOs threatens to undermine diverse and self-determined approaches to seed and food production that enhance biodiversity and soil health, and strengthen the resilience of entire agro-ecosystems, argues Stefanie Hundsdorfer. ARC 2020

 

 

GMO wheat has a history of escaping from field trials around the world. Now a UK GMO wheat trial involves releasing plants in which the gene editing process is still ongoing! If you think that's not OK, please use the GM Freeze guide to have your say. GM Freeze

 

 

Glyphosate-based herbicides, which are widely used in agriculture, forestry and other applications, can cause deleterious effects on the reproductive health of a common perennial plant found in forests in British Columbia, Canada. Researchers reported in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) deformed various reproductive parts on prickly rose (Rosa acicularis) a year after the chemicals were first applied in both field sites and experimental plots. GMWatch

 

 

Biotech company AquaBounty has announced that it is harvesting several tons of GM salmon, which will soon be sold at restaurants and other “away-from-home” dining retailers around the US. So far just one distributor — Samuels and Son Seafood — has reportedly said that it will be selling the novel salmon. But AquaBounty has announced plans to sell its salmon via “food service channels” across the Midwest and East Coast. By selling to restaurants and cafeterias, rather than retailers, AquaBounty can avoid the federal GMO labelling law. And this sets a troubling precedent. Consumers who do not want to eat GMO fish will have to avoid salmon altogether when dining out. Food Safety News

 

 

Compromised scientist Peter Daszak has been removed from the Lancet’s COVID-19 commission following a number of leading exposés of his conflicts of interest. Daszak had collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology – believed by many, including former Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, to be the source of COVID-19 – for nearly two decades. The National Pulse