26/February/20

 

The standard gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, frequently produces a type of DNA mutation that ordinary genetic analysis misses, claims new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). In describing these findings the researchers called such oversights “serious pitfalls” of gene editing. In all, the new results suggest that gene-editing is more error-prone than thought and, further, that identifying and discarding defective and unwanted outcomes is not as easy as generally supposed. Independent Science News

 

 

Prof Lianne Sheppard served on the US EPA panel that evaluated the agency's assessment of glyphosate for carcinogenic potential. The agency found glyphosate non-carcinogenic. However, Sheppard strongly disagrees with this verdict. She writes, "I was shocked to see that the EPA’s approach to distilling the scientific information obfuscated the evidence. I found multiple and clear inconsistencies between the EPA’s Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment and its approach in its glyphosate review. For instance, in interpreting the animal toxicology studies, the EPA dismissed findings from studies that had evidence of a glyphosate response in one kind of statistical test but not in another. That’s despite the fact that its guidelines state that a statistically significant finding from either test is sufficient to conclude glyphosate is carcinogenic." Forbes

 

 

Bayer Chairman Werner Wenning, one of the architects of a $63 billion takeover deal that has left the German chemical company fighting costly lawsuits, will step down in April, it said on Wednesday. Bayer shares have plunged about a quarter in value since August 2018, when the company lost the first US lawsuit claiming weedkiller Roundup - acquired via the takeover of Monsanto - causes cancer. WSAU

 

 

The newly appointed environment secretary has failed to offer a clear commitment that the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef will be off the table in any trade deal with the US. George Eustice, who was appointed in the recent reshuffle, said the government had “no plans” to change the ban on the two products but did not give a guarantee on the issue, which is expected to prove a crunch point in trade talks with Donald Trump’s administration. [GMW comment: GM foods are not mentioned in this article, but President Trump and Boris Johnson have made it clear that allowing in GM foods from the US is a key demand from US trade negotiators.] The Independent