GMO lobby assertions that gene-edited plants and animals don’t contain any foreign genetic material in their genomes and are therefore as “natural” and safe as conventionally bred plants and animals are false and misleading, for two reasons. First, gene-edited organisms pose risks that are not confined to the presence of foreign DNA. Second, they can and do contain foreign genetic material in their genomes, either by intention or inadvertently due to the imprecision and limitations of the gene editing process. Not only can foreign DNA be introduced in a number of ways but developers of gene-edited plants and animals routinely miss or ignore the inadvertent integration of foreign DNA into their products due to using inadequate screening methods. GMWatch

 

 

Prof Dhiraj Singh, former director of the ICAR Directorate of Rapeseed Mustard Research, has spoken out against the newly planted GM mustard, saying it must be "uprooted and burnt". He said, "Once the GM mustard seed has been sown and starts flowering, it will contaminate other indigenous varieties as also our soil and water. This is an irreversible process. India is the centre of agricultural diversity and by introducing GM crops, we are endangering the global human heritage." He also said that given that the GM mustard is herbicide-tolerant, "Pesticide drift is bound to contaminate non-GMO and organic mustard fields." rediff.com

 

 

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 42 farmers’ organisations, backed by senior scientists and experts, have said that the Government of India (GoI) should stop misleading the Supreme Court “with untrue and incorrect” statements on GM mustard. One of the claims they object to relates to the claim that the GM mustard is India's own ("swadeshi"). They write, "The claim that GM Mustard is Swadeshi and has been developed in India is completely untrue. We would like to bring to your kind notice that in 2002, Proagro Seed Company (Bayer’s subsidiary), applied for commercial approval for a similar construct that Prof. Pental and his team are now promoting as HT [herbicide-tolerant] Mustard DMH 11. Bayer’s application at that point of time was turned down because the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that their field trials did not give evidence of superior yield. The bar-barstar-barnase gene is a patented technology of Bayer Crop Science. This has been deliberately concealed from the people of India." Counterview

 

 

The Kenyan government wants to introduce GMOs into the country, following a visit by Bill Gates. But Kenyans, including the Kenyan Peasants League and biodiversity nonprofit BIBA Kenya, are fighting back. ETC Group on Tiktok

 

 

Until 13 December you can still sign the petition against patents on seeds here: https://tinyurl.com/56p8z7xz If patents on plants and animals are upheld, the big international seed companies can control, hamper or even block access to biological diversity. No Patents On Seeds!

 

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