03/September/21

 

The UK Government has given Rothamsted Research consent to plant highly experimental GM wheat in an open field near St Albans. GM Freeze, which led the opposition to the trial, joined by GMWatch and other organisations, commented in an email to supporters, "Apparently developed for those who are unable to use a toaster properly, the 'low acrylamide' wheat has altered DNA that reduces the production of a chemical that may cause cancer if consumed in large quantities, but is associated with burnt toast rather than sensibly prepared wheat products. Even then, Cancer Research UK [CRUK] says that 'eating burnt food does not cause cancer'." GM wheat trials have a history of contaminating non-GM wheat. GMWatch

 

 

Researchers have discovered a new way to track GM animals using the artificial transgenes they leave behind in the environment. The discovery provides a powerful new tool to locate and manage genetically modified animals that have escaped or been released into the wild. The researchers show for the first time that artificial transgenes from a variety of GM animals like fruit flies, mice, and tetra fish can be detected and sequenced from the DNA left behind in soil, water, and in the form of faeces, urine, or saliva. These findings could be used, for example, to detect the transgenes of GM mosquitoes from pools of standing water in areas where they were recently released. Gene-edited animals could also be tracked. GMWatch

 

 

Genetic modification (GM) of crop plants is frequently described by proponents as a continuation of the ancient process of domestication. But while domestication, crop breeding, and GM all modify the genomes and phenotypes of plants, GM fundamentally differs from domestication in terms of the biological and sociopolitical processes by which change occurs, and the impacts on agrobiodiversity and seed sovereignty, say US researchers in a new peer-reviewed article. They write, "Presenting GM as a continuation of domestication puts forward a false equivalency that fundamentally misrepresents how domestication, crop breeding, and GM occur. In doing so, this narrative diminishes public understanding of these important processes and obscures the effects of industrial agriculture on in situ biodiversity and the practice of farming. This misrepresentation is used in public-facing science communication by representatives of the biotechnology industry to silence meaningful debate on GM by convincing the public that it is the continuation of an age-old process that underlies all agricultural societies." Agriculture and Human Values