21/September/21

 

Enabled by new genetic engineering techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9, so-called gene drives have been developed in recent years that enable humans to spread new genes throughout the genomes of wild animal populations. Gene drives force the inheritance of newly introduced genes to be inherited by all offspring. In the most extreme cases, gene drive technology could drive an entire species to extinction – for example, grey squirrels are a target in the UK – or replace wild populations with genetically modified organisms. To help the public understand what's at stake, the Germany-based NGO Save Our Seeds (SOS) has published a report, which can be downloaded as a pdf document. The report provides a scientifically founded overview of how gene drive systems work, their possible areas of application, and the scientific discussion about their risks. GMWatch

 

 

A gene-edited tomato engineered to contain high levels of a sedative substance called GABA has been approved for commercialisation in Japan without any safety checks and amid opposition from consumer rights campaigners. But the tomato, developed by Sanatech Seed, doesn't come cheap. According to a Twitter post by a Japanese scientist who bought some for research purposes: "Just ordered a box of 3kg for the lab (approx 70 USD, though)", followed by an emoji of a face screaming in shock. Seventy USD converts to around 51 GBP. But you can buy 3kg of organic tomatoes for only 20 GBP – and there are easier and cheaper ways of boosting your GABA levels. GMWatch

 

 

A dispute between a Canadian farmer and an agribusiness behemoth over intellectual property rights might sound a trifle dull, but the new film, Percy vs Goliath, just goes to show casting can make all the difference. Christopher Walken makes no effort to sound Canadian or even look like the real-life figure he’s playing. Nevertheless, Walken keeps you watching thanks to his inherent charisma, still undimmed in his late 70s. The Guardian