The number of Roundup lawsuit adverts on TV in the USA is increasing at an exponential rate, encouraging claims against Bayer. Spending on adverts in the US soliciting people with Roundup claims jumped by 33% from May to June, to $850,000. X Ante, a firm that tracks litigation advert spending, counted that about 7,300 television adverts for Roundup claims aired in June, double the number in May. Legal and financial uncertainty over the Roundup litigation has been a major drag on the group’s share price, which has fallen 46% over the past five years, underperforming the wider German stock market. With a stock market value of just €51 bn, the company is currently worth less than Bayer on its own before it acquired Monsanto. Bayer has faced 154,000 claims from Roundup users who attribute their cancer to the weedkiller. By the end of last year, 109,000 of those cases were settled or dismissed. But at least six cases are scheduled to go to trial in Philadelphia in October. FT (paywalled)

 

 

The current EU biosafety regulation framework requires a mandatory environmental risk assessment of GM products prior to the authorisation of individual GMOs for environmental release or marketing in the EU. Considering the different characteristics of specific examples of gene-edited plants and relevant risk issues, a recently published paper states that it is neither appropriate nor scientifically justified to draw general conclusions for whole groups of gene-editing applications. The paper contends that gene editing and conventional breeding are two fundamentally different approaches. With a view to the significant differences concerning the relative frequencies of mutational events at specific genomic locations, the authors argue that a general “likeness” between genome-editing approaches and conventional breeding techniques cannot be assumed until such claims are supported by environmental risk assessment results. Third World Network via GMWatch

 

 

A remarkable and disturbing photographic record of the impact of the cultivation of GMO soy in rural areas of Argentina – titled "The human cost of agrotoxins" – has been captured by the award-winning photographer Pablo E. Piovano. pablopiovano.com

 

 

Preliminary findings from a new project by A Bigger Conversation have found that UK agroecological farmers and growers are wary of genetic technologies in agriculture. Their concerns range from unforeseen consequences of genetic manipulation to adverse effects on diversity in the food and farming system. These views were expressed as part of a wider project – Agroecological Intelligence – which is putting farmer voices at the centre of an investigation into which technologies are and, crucially, are not appropriate for an agroecological farming system. Discussions with approximately 50 farmers and growers from across the UK as part of the project included a range of technologies, from hydroponics to precision agriculture. Beyond GM via GMWatch

 

 

The ancient grain einkorn is grown as a niche crop in Europe. But as heatwaves shrivel the region’s grain production, it may hold the key for helping crop breeders in Europe to develop bread wheat varieties with improved hardiness, enhanced disease resistance and higher yields. Einkorn has maintained a larger gene pool than modern bread wheat, which has reduced genetic diversity. Now scientists in Saudi Arabia have mapped the genome of einkorn in an attempt to identify useful genes that could be brought back into wheat to make it more resilient. [GMW: According to this media report, the scientists plan to their knowledge of the genome to introduce favourable genes into wheat via marker assisted selection with conventional breeding, a non-GM approach. Let's hope they stick to this plan and that they – and others – are not seduced into genetic engineering approaches. Of course, we still have to be alert to attempts to patent certain conventionally bred crops, which we oppose. Incidentally, your Daily Digest editor regularly makes bread using organically grown einkorn flour – it’s delicious!] Food Navigator

 

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