23/September/21

 

The European Court of Justice and the New Zealand High Court have ruled that gene editing techniques should remain under the regulations specific to GMOs. But a few other countries, including Australia, have exempted some uses of these techniques from their regulations, based on similarities to what occurs in nature. The main argument is that the biochemical processes of editing are like the processes that cause natural mutations. The “equivalent to nature” narrative blurs the boundary between natural processes and technology. Unfortunately, the risks from technology don’t disappear by calling it natural, writes Prof Jack Heinemann and colleagues. The risk of harm from gene technology accumulates over time and scale of production. In new research, Heinemann and co-researchers propose a framework that regulates technologies depending on their scale of use. The Conversation

 

 

Angered by the growing problem of pink bollworm infestation on GM Bt cotton in the Malwa region, thousands of farmers protested outside the office of the District Agriculture Officer. They also brought the destroyed cotton crop with them. Farmers claimed that 80 to 90 per cent of the cotton crop had been destroyed by the pink bollworm, but the Agriculture Department was still in deep slumber. A farmer leader alleged that the Department was underestimating the damage done by the pink bollworm to hide its failure. The Tribune

 

 

Earlier this year, multiple news outlets ran alarming headlines about Bill Gates’ status as the single largest private owner of farmland in the US. What has remained underreported is Gates’ outsize influence on agriculture globally — especially in Africa through his foundation’s support for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). African civil society organizations have spoken out against AGRA’s industrial agricultural model for over a decade, and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) recently asked wealthy donors to “stop telling Africans what kind of agriculture Africans need". So how does the Gates Foundation’s agricultural development still seem positive to so many in the US? Community Alliance for Global Justice and AGRA Watch explain what's really going on. South Seattle Emerald