In October a US-based consortium of researchers from industry and the US government’s intelligence community announced that they had developed new technologies that can detect when an organism has been genetically engineered. The researchers are focusing primarily on “biothreat” detection of genetically engineered viruses and bacteria that could cause new pandemics, though the new technologies could flag up the use of genetic engineering in a wide range of organisms, including new gene-edited GM plants and animals in the food and feed supply. In GMWatch’s assessment, the researchers have done important work that will contribute to enabling the detection and identification of all GMOs, including unknown and new gene-edited ones. However, much political will, focused investment, and collaborative work on the part of detection laboratories, regulators and GMO developers will be required before these and similar technologies can be used by public GMO enforcement laboratories for the detection and identification of unknown and unauthorised new GMOs in the food and feed supply. GMWatch

 

 

An important test case that for some might cast a shadow of doubt over the capability and integrity of the FELIX programme (see above) is its analysis of the genetic sequence of the COVID virus, SARS-CoV-2, performed in January 2020. The FELIX researchers reported that they didn’t find any sign of genetic engineering, based on their failure to find “foreign” DNA sequences. But for some who have read informed commentaries that find unusual features in the virus pointing to genetic engineering, the FELIX researchers’ conclusion is hardly comprehensible. GMWatch is calling on them to publish their analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in a peer-reviewed journal. GMWatch

 

 

There is no urgent necessity for the release of GM mustard when the Supreme Court’s Technical Expert Committee and two unanimous reports of multi-party parliamentary standing committees have recommended that GM herbicide-tolerant crops should be banned in India and the precautionary principle followed, writes Dilnavaz Variava, vice president of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and member of the Indian government's National Conservation Strategy Committee, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), and the National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination (NCEPC). [GMW: Variava makes a solidly evidence-based case.] Indian Express

 

 

Indian farmers’ body BKS gathered over 100,000 farmers in its Kisan Garjana (Farmers' Roar) rally in New Delhi, protesting on various issues, including GM mustard, which recently received approval from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee for release. On that topic, BKS general secretary Mohini Mishra said, “We had meetings and consultations with all, including former environment ministers, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, Deepak Pental [the named developer of the GM mustard]. We have made our intentions clear, and yet our efforts are thwarted by a lobby. Now, we need to expose the lobby influencing policy decisions... We feel there is a foreign hand, possibly American, and a conglomerate of foreign seed, fertilisers and agri-inputs companies. They have placed someone inside the government. They are feeding wrong information to the government and getting bad policies implemented, we feel.” The Wire

 

 

Caution should be used when considering gene editing technology as a potential solution for the current avian influenza (AI) crisis, a UK organic body has warned. The call follows research into breeding flu-resistant chickens, published by the Roslin Institute, Imperial College London, and Pirbright Institute. Organic Farmers & Growers (OF&G) said the promotion of gene editing as a solution to AI was a "worrying development". OF&G, which certifies over 30% of the UK organic sector, said it instead supported alternative measures to resolve the issue of bird flu, such as vaccination. “The pro-GE lobby is dangling a toxic carrot to the poultry sector - the promise of precision bred organisms is simply not a reality at present,” said Roger Kerr, chief executive. OF&G said the research findings were in stark contrast to a recent Swedish study which found that use of the CRISPR/Cas9, a technique used in gene editing, caused unpredictable genomic changes. FarmingUK

 

 

Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at US pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a new study. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research commissioned by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing ethanol and other biofuels to be relatively green. “Corn ethanol is not a climate-friendly fuel,” said Dr Tyler Lark, assistant scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment and lead author of the study. [GMW: Much of the US corn crop is GM Roundup Ready, tolerant to glyphosate herbicides.] Reuters

 

 

Commenting on the study mentioned above, StopthesprayBC tweeted, "How many millions of pounds of glyphosate are used on [GM] roundup ready landscapes of cow corn only to be turned into biofuel at a larger carbon cost than normal gasoline? Biodiversity destroyed for no reason and at great public cost." StopthesprayBC

 

 

France's highest court, the Council of State, issued a decision on December 22 ordering the government to set greater safety distances between places of residence and the spraying of the most problematic pesticides. On July 26, 2021, the State Councillors had already issued a decision partially annulling the decree of December 27, 2019 relating to the protection of persons during the use of pesticides, on the grounds that it provided "insufficient safety distances for products classified as suspected of being carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction". Six months later, the government had not taken note of this decision. So several associations, including Générations Futures and France Nature Environnement, took their case back to court. The court, at the end of proceedings lasting seventeen months, was forced to repeat itself. Its ruling highlighted the "seriousness of the consequences of the partial failure to perform in terms of public health" and "the particular urgency that results from it", setting two months for the government to react, with a penalty of 500 euros per day late. The ministries of agriculture and ecological transition did not respond to Le Monde's requests for comment. Le Monde (French language article, paywalled)

 

 

The Kenyan government has sought to lift a ban on the importation and distribution of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), saying the freeze by the High Court last month had paralysed the work of the National Biosafety Authority (NBA). Due to global concerns about the safety of GMOs, High Court judge Mugure Thande had granted the order, which the government now claims was done without concrete evidence. The Court temporarily barred the government and anybody else’s direct or indirect importation of GMO goods, foods, and materials. The case was filed by the Kenyan Peasants League, which represents peasant farmers and others. afrinewske.com

 

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