01/October/21

 

The Westminster government has released its response to the public consultation on its plans to deregulate gene editing – but only AFTER all the morning news broadcasts hyping the potential of the technology. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the government's response reveals that out of 6,440 submissions to the consultation, most individuals (87%) and businesses (64%) felt that gene-edited organisms pose a greater risk than naturally bred organisms? And that most individuals (88%) and businesses (64%) supported continuing to regulate the products of gene editing as GMOs? That the government ignores this weight of public opinion and intends to proceed with its deregulation agenda is a slap in the face for democracy and proof that it puts money before life. GMWatch

 

 

The UK government has announced plans to deregulate certain forms of genetic engineering, starting in research field trials and moving on to foods. This could spell disaster for sustainable farming in the UK. The latest plans relate to genetic engineering used to produce organisms that “could have been developed by traditional breeding”. What this means in practice and therefore where lines are drawn has not yet been defined in any government announcements. But the aim to make it easier for people to alter the genes of plants, and potentially animals too, is clear. Soil Association

 

 

Brazilian domestic flour millers are threatening to stop buying wheat from Argentina if Brazil commercially approves GMO wheat imports from the neighboring country, Rubens Barbosa, head of the Brazilian Wheat Industry Association (Abitrigo), said. Local millers are against processing GMO wheat coming from Argentina or anywhere, according to Abitrigo, and that sentiment is shared by groups representing bakers and other companies that use wheat to make products like bread and biscuits. Reuters

 

 

The work of a task force commissioned by the Lancet into the origins of covid-19 has folded after concerns about the conflicts of interest of one its members (Peter Daszak) and his ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology through a non-profit organisation, the EcoHealth Alliance. [GMW: Peter Daszak previously had to step down as lead investigator of this commission but now the entire task force has quite rightly been disbanded.] BMJ