22/December/21

 

We are sad to report that the eminent scientist Dr Arpad Pusztai passed away on 17 December. As the lead author of the landmark 1999 study that found that GM insecticidal potatoes had toxic effects on rats, Arpad woke up the world to the fact that some GM crops can be unexpectedly toxic, even when they are deliberately designed not to be. Read our tribute to Arpad, a response he wrote to one of his critics, and an excerpt from a book written about the persecution he suffered from some sectors of the scientific and political establishment. GMWatch

 

 

A recent Korean publication shows that the uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered (GE) oilseed rape is already happening in 14 countries on five continents, reports Testbiotech. These are countries which either allow the cultivation of GE oilseed rape (such as the USA and Canada), or have tested it in experimental releases (such as Germany), or allow the import of kernels (such as Japan). Moreover, says Testbiotech, it has to be assumed that there is a high number of undetected cases, as many regions do not have systematic monitoring. GMWatch

 

 

Pete Shanks of the Center for Genetics and Society has reviewed a new book, Life As We Made It, by Beth Shapiro. He writes, "Shapiro joins an increasingly noisy though not particularly organized group of 'uber-optimists' who variously promote genetically modified agriculture, gene drives, de-extinction, colonization of other planets, and of course “improving” the human species — not by culling the weak like eugenicists of old but by genetically modifying the wealthy, in a modern techno-eugenics." GMWatch