24/September/21

 

A recently published study shows that the common pesticide pyriproxyfen could exacerbate the already severe effects that the Zika virus can have on brain development. The researchers found that pyriproxyfen impairs thyroid hormone signalling in the brain, modifying crucial processes for its proper development. And the findings confirm hypotheses that GMWatch focused attention on five years ago – and was severely attacked for doing so. GMWatch

 

 

Pink bollworm attacks on GMO Bt cotton have reached alarming levels, causing farmers to panic and resort to all kinds of pesticides. “Over 10 pests are found in many of the plants and in the entire field which are causing extensive damage to the crop. We have made sprays but despite that the pest is intact and and eating up the plants,” farmers commented. [GMW: Let’s hope this doesn’t result in the same kind of poisoning as occurred with Bt cotton in Maharashtra.] The Times of India

 

 

Is gene editing "natural" - or are we attempting to change the definition of "natural" to fit into the innovation agenda? Register now for a webinar on 28 October, with expert speakers including Dr Belinda Martineau, who developed the GM Flavr Savr tomato. A Bigger Conversation via EventBrite

 

 

Newly uncovered documents add substance – though not proof – to the idea that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab accident, writes journalist Nicholas Wade. One such document is a grant proposal written by EcoHealth Alliance (headed by Peter Daszak) to DARPA, part of the US Dept of Defense. A feature of the proposal is to “introduce appropriate human-specific cleavage sites” into SARS-like viruses. The distinctive feature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a genetic element known as a furin cleavage site, which greatly enhances the virus’s ability to infect human cells. The EcoHealth grant proposal to DARPA (it was unsuccessful but that doesn't prove the experiments were not done) puts beyond doubt that engineering cleavage sites into SARS-like viruses was a technique to be explored at the Wuhan institute. The documents also show that Wuhan researchers almost certainly did gain of function experiments. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIAID (US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), and his boss Francis Collins, director of NIH (US National Institutes of Heath), were responsible for awarding grants for that work to the Wuhan institute, via the EcoHealth Alliance. Medium