A new study has identified the presence of up to seven transgenic genes in single seeds of traditional, or “creole” corn from more than 1,000 samples collected in 10% of the towns in Brazil’s Caatinga. The results indicate cross-contamination in the fields. It is estimated that pollen from transgenic corn can travel up to 3 km, contaminating nearby traditional corn crops. The loss of agricultural biodiversity due to contamination by transgenic plants leaves Brazil vulnerable to climate change and food insecurity. Family farmer Paulo Alexandre da Silva, who lives in the municipality of Remígio, Paraíba, sends his corn for analysis every year. He is proud that, to this day, it remains free of GM contamination. The path to keeping his corn pure has not been easy, he says. Paulo Silva created the Community Seed Bank to safeguard the species of creole corn that remain pure. The idea is that local farmers will plant only seeds from the bank, guaranteeing that only local and creole species will be farmed there. His settlement is home to 50 families but only 32 participate in the seed bank. The immediate need to plant and a lack of resources oftentimes forces families to plant seeds distributed by government agencies or to buy their seeds from warehouses that don’t provide seed origin. Silva guarantees that these are the main gateways by which transgenics enter the community. [GMW: The new study, published in Portuguese, is here.] Mongabay

 

 

The results of the Brazilian study on GMO contamination of traditional corn (see above) confirm the findings of CO-EXTRA, the largest EU-funded research project on GM and non-GM supply chain traceability and coexistence. Viable pollen from corn was found to spread over distances of at least 3 km. Dissemination via honeybees (e.g. up to 13 km for rapeseed) was not considered in CO-EXTRA. As a result of CO-EXTRA's findings, the researchers advised that coexistence of GM and non-GM crops might only be possible by using using very long isolation distances or by dedicating separate production areas to GM or non-GM crops. That would necessitate hard political decisions to be made instead of relying on "flexible coexistence" (negotiations of practices between neighbouring farmers). However, even if such hard-line methods were employed, CO-EXTRA found that "The models or scenarios in most studies cannot guarantee that conventional or organic farming can be sustained in the vicinity of GM crops. Such a project seems difficult as regards society as it may lead to repeated tensions, conflicts and dissension, including between neighbouring farmers who have not made the same choice of crop" (Glon, E. (2013), see reference below). For further information, see the following chapters of the book, Genetically modified and non-genetically modified food supply chains: Co-existence and traceability, edited by Dr Yves Bertheau and published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2013:
* Brunet, Y., Dupont, S., Delage, S., Garrigou, D., Guyon, D., Dayau, S., Tulet, P., Pinty, J.-P., Lac, C., Escobar, J., Audran, A., and Foueillassar, X. (2013). Long-distance pollen flow in large fragmented landscapes. In "Genetically modified and non-genetically modified food supply chains: co-existence and traceability" (Y. Bertheau, ed.), pp. 79-88. Wiley-Blackwell.
* Glon, E. (2013). A geographical approach to the European policy for the co-existence of GMO and non-GMO crops. In "Genetically modified and non-genetically modified food supply chains: co-existence and traceability" (Y. Bertheau, ed.), pp. 563-590. Wiley-Blackwell. GMWatch comment on book published by Wiley

 

 

Syngenta is demanding the private files of a neurology expert who wrote a journal article about the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease. The chemical giant is publicly accusing Dr E. Ray Dorsey of co-authoring his article not as a scientific commentary but as part of a conspiracy to engineer evidence for litigation targeting Syngenta – litigation that Dr Dorsey says he has no connections with. Now Syngenta is going to court to try to force him to turn over his emails, notes, article drafts and other records. [GMW: This is not the first time Syngenta has been accused of trying to intimidate researchers.] UnSpun

 

 

A cross-section of residents from Uganda's oil-rich Albertine region have petitioned African heads of state to ban GMOs cross the continent to save Africa's crops and animals from extinction. Monitor

 

 

Norway's Consumer Council, the supermarket chain Coop Norge, the Norwegian Rural Women’s Association and the Norwegian Nature Conservation Association are all demanding that animals given GMO feed must be labelled so that consumers can make informed choices. Nationen (Norwegian language article, paywalled)

 

 

Researchers from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and their partners from Peru and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Agriculture have bred a new potato variety that resists frost. The researchers spent several years evaluating potato species from the US Potato Genebank (USPG) for frost tolerance, ultimately selecting Solanum acaule and Solanum commersonii, both wild potatoes native to South America, because they showed the greatest ability to tolerate frost. The team combined these two species and evaluated the hybrids, selecting some parents that both withstood snap frosts and developed tolerance to much colder frosts. After years of testing and selecting among thousands of offspring, they picked one that was worthy of being a new cultivar and named it “Wiñay”. USDA

 

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