Scientists at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute — the animal research centre where Dolly the sheep was created — have used CRISPR gene editing to develop chickens that resist infection by bird flu, a disease that has decimated some wild bird populations and commercial poultry flocks across the world. But there are serious risks and limitations in the research, which were even indicated by the scientists involved but were largely ignored or downplayed by mainstream media outlets. In GMWatch's view, the findings suggest that a single-gene approach to conferring robust viral resistance will never work, a multi-gene approach carries a high risk of creating serious health and welfare issues in the birds, and scientists are still very far from their goal of developing bird flu-resistant flocks through GM. GMWatch

 

 

The European Commission's proposal to exempt most "new" genetically modified (GM) plants from regulation lacks scientific basis, scientists from the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) point out. ENSSER says, "The proposal will expose citizens and the environment to potentially unsafe food, feed and plants without informing the citizens. It amounts to a shameful attack on the Precautionary Principle (PP). New GM plants must remain regulated by the existing EU legislation, which has proven to serve its purpose well." The proposal of the European Commission to exempt most new GM plants from the EU GMO legislation is strikingly ill-founded, according to experts from ENSSER. The Commission claims that its proposal is based on science, but the core of the proposal is criteria concerning the number and type of genetic modifications allowed and the length of DNA sequences involved. There is no scientific basis to suggest that new GM plants meeting these criteria are biologically equivalent to conventional plants and should therefore be exempted from regulation, as the Commission proposes. These criteria are unscientific, arbitrary and no more than a political classification. GMWatch

 

 

In an excellent five-part series, food anthropologist Dr Lauren Crossland-Marr takes listeners into the labs where researchers are tinkering with food genes, to help break down the problems they’re hoping to solve – and what’s at stake. Interviewees include GMWatch's Claire Robinson, molecular geneticist Prof Michael Antoniou, and developer of the Flavr Savr GM tomato-turned GMO critic, Dr Belinda Martineau. Apple Podcasts

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you!