14/January/20

 

A new study reveals yet another major unintended effect from the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool – with potentially serious implications for the food safety of gene-edited plants. The study found that CRISPR-Cas9 edits intended to knockout the function of a gene fail to do so. Instead, proteins are still produced from the damaged genes, many of which are still functional. The result could be the production of gene-edited plants that are toxic or allergenic. GMWatch

 

 

Two new papers have been published showing that the GM herbicide-tolerant soybean crops assessed by regulators are not representative of what actually gets grown and put out into the marketplace. This is because the crops that are grown by industry in field trials and fed to laboratory animals in feeding studies have been sprayed with less herbicide and in fewer applications compared with real-farm growing conditions. This matters because the data from these field trials and animal feeding studies are used by regulators to assess the crop in question for health and environmental safety. In other words, because the crops grown in the field trials are sprayed with much less herbicide than is current in real farming conditions, the health and environmental risks posed by these crops are likely to be seriously underestimated. GMWatch

 

 

The bee-harming insecticide thiacloprid, which the European Commission has just banned, was sold to gardeners by Bayer with packs of "FREE SEEDS for Bees"! @moodindi and @GMWatch on Twitter

 

 

Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) has submitted a filing in court arguing that the Edwin Hardeman case, which resulted in a jury awarding Hardeman $80 million after deciding that his cancer was likely caused by Roundup herbicide and that the company failed to warn of the risk, should never have been brought to trial in the first place. Monsanto/Bayer argues that the US EPA has repeatedly stated that glyphosate is not carcinogenic. Therefore had Monsanto/Bayer included a label about glyphosate potentially causing cancer, it would have been in violation of the EPA's position, and the company cannot be held responsible for following the law. If the challenge is successful, it will create a precedent that will be difficult to overcome. Modern Farmer

 

 

A federal judge has denied Monsanto’s motion to throw out a southeast Missouri peach farm’s claims that the company sold seeds without a safe corresponding herbicide, forcing other farmers to illegally spray weedkilling dicamba herbicide that drifted onto the peach farm. Dicamba is used on GM dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. Missouri Lawyers Weekly