07/April/22

 

Just days before the scheduled start of what would have been the first Roundup cancer trial to take place in the former hometown of Monsanto, the three plaintiffs in the case have agreed to accept a settlement offer from the maker of Roundup herbicide, which the plaintiffs alleged caused them each to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. UnSpun

 

 

The pace of biotech layoffs is coming so fast that Fierce Biotech could not write their feature on the issue fast enough to encapsulate them all. As they hit "publish" on their story, more companies announced they were letting staff go. Every day, they are seeing new companies announce that, regrettably, they will have to cut back on head count. Executive managers have not been immune, either, with a few companies relieving key leaders of their duties as they restructure to face a tumultuous market and make or break regulatory or research moments. They've set up a Layoff Tracker for all the axed jobs. Fierce Biotech

 

 

Dramatic claims about plant-based meat, lab-grown meat, and “cellular agriculture” have already succeeded in drawing billions of dollars to the sector, including from big-name investors like Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Governments are now paying attention as well. But these products and their sustainability credentials rest on shaky ground, according to a new report, “The Politics of Protein”, from the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). Lead author Phil Howard says the idea that these alternative proteins can save the planet is highly speculative. These claims are based on a narrow assessment of which products can deliver the most protein for the least CO2. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Products like the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger source their ingredients from chemical-intensive (and therefore fossil fuel-intensive) monocultures and rely on heavy processing — all of which has major impacts on human health, biodiversity, and climate change. Civil Eats