15/March/22

 

Fall armyworms genetically modified to wipe out wild populations have been released in corn fields in Brazil in the first farm trial of a GM technology aimed at controlling the pests. Oxitec, the UK-based company that developed the GM armyworms, claims the trial was a success and is now being expanded. Oxitec took a strain of fall armyworm that is still susceptible to pesticides and modified it so that female offspring can survive only in the presence of a chemical. In other words, the males carry a gene that kills all female offspring in the wild. When modified male fall armyworms are released, they mate with wild females. Only male offspring survive, and they can mate and spread the female-killing gene to another generation. Unlike with gene drive technology, in which a lethal gene is passed on throughout a targeted insect species ad infinitum, Oxitec claims the protein the GM gene encodes for only affects the female and that therefore the lethal effect will last only a few generations. [GMW: Read a 2019 GeneWatch UK briefing on Oxitec's failed GM mosquito releases worldwide; other briefings on the risks of GM and gene drive insects are here.] New Scientist

 

 

Green Party peer Natalie Bennett moved a "fatal instrument" in the House of Lords last night, to oppose government plans for the release of gene-edited organisms into English fields. Unfortunately the government pressed ahead with its plans regardless and they will become law in 21 days. Read:
* Beyond GM's Twitter summary of how the debate in the House of Lords played out
* GM Freeze's summary of events thus far in the deregulation push and where we go from here
* GMWatch's analysis of conflicts of interest at the UK government's GMO advisory body ACRE, which Natalie Bennett referred to in the Lords debate. Yorkshire Bylines; Beyond GM; GM Freeze; GMWatch

 

 

Cathie Martin's GM purple tomato, engineered to have higher levels of anthocyanin antioxidants, could soon go on sale in the US. A small company called Norfolk Plant Sciences applied for approval last year and is confident of getting the go-ahead. The company hopes to sell seeds to gardeners and supply fresh tomatoes and other tomato products to shops. Cathie Martin is based at the John Innes Centre in the UK. [GMW: This tomato has not been subjected to in-depth safety studies.] New Scientist