19/May/22

 

Consumer, environmental, and farmer groups across Canada are denouncing an announcement yesterday from Health Canada that will allow private companies to release many new genetically engineered foods without any government oversight. The groups, represented by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) and the Quebec network Vigilance OGM, are alarmed that the federal government will now allow product developers to assess the safety of many new gene-edited foods (those with no foreign DNA) with no role for Health Canada regulators. Health Canada’s new regulatory guidance will also limit the government’s powers to simply asking companies to voluntarily notify the government of new gene-edited foods coming to market. GMWatch

 

 

When it comes to unconfined environmental releases of novel gene-edited and gene drive organisms, a “democratic deficit” may put ecosystems and public health in jeopardy, warns a recent paper by Professor Jennifer Kuzma of NC State University. Prof Kuzma writes that environmental releases of gene-edited and gene drive organisms will likely occur under conditions of high uncertainty and in complex socioecological systems. So public deliberation is especially important to account for diverse interpretations of safety, risks, and benefits; to draw on experiential and public wisdom in areas of proposed release; to mitigate the dangers of technological optimism; and to increase the public legitimacy of decisions. GMWatch

 

 

Argentina's Ministry of Agriculture approved and defends HB4 GMO wheat, despite the fact that INTA (National Ag Tech Institute) trials have shown that producing wheat in an agroecological way is not only better for the environment but also more profitable than standard chemically intensive production. The trial of wheat grown agroecologically confirmed that it's possible to massively reduce costs (39-49%), increase profitability, and minimize environmental impact, by substituting natural processes for chemical inputs and external energy, while getting the same yields. "It's not a return to the past, but a new technology that surpasses what's been known till now," says Martín Zamora of INTA about the results obtained in the trial, which demolish the agribusiness myth that agroecology can't be productive and sustainable at the same time. Tierra Viva (article in Spanish) via GMWatch on Twitter

 

 

A new report from the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) seeks to understand the financialisation of malaria as a vehicle for rogue capital in a context of a weakened state (through capture, corruption and coups) and the power that limits effective interventions. The report shows how malaria, along with other diseases, is increasingly financialised – financial markets, institutions, actors and motives play a pivotal role in disease response. Country and donor funds are invested into research and development non-profit organisations, for example, that partner with market actors (such as pharmaceutical companies and GMO insect developers) to bring the product to market. Patents are sought and royalties procured from the sale of the product to country governments. These royalties are then accumulated by the research and development company, using vehicles such as endowment funds, for example. GMWatch