23/March/20

 

At a time when most people are preoccupied by the corona virus crisis, the Trump administration has proposed to approve genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges throughout the southeastern United States. The step will increase use of glyphosate and other pesticides known to harm wildlife. GMWatch

 

 

They were the genetically modified cows that would change the dairy industry forever, but then it all went wrong and the experiment ended up in an Australian paddock. Journalists Michael Slezak and Penny Timms report on the gene-edited cattle that were claimed by their developer, Recombinetics, to be examples of "precision breeding" but which unexpectedly turned out to contain antibiotic resistance genes. Prof Jack Heinemann, when interviewed for the article, emphasised the importance of regulation for gene-edited organisms. ABC; GMWatch comment here

 

 

ABC has broadcast a program serving as a background briefing on Recombinetics' gene-edited hornless dairy cattle. The ABC program contains some interesting revelations. For example, the reason why Recombinetics targeted Australia appears to be due to their lax regulation of genetic engineering technology, including gene editing. ABC; comment by GMWatch

 

 

Supporters of Bt cotton have claimed that GM technology has increased cotton yields, reduced pesticide use and has been of enormous benefit to farmers due to increased crop profitability. If we consider Prof Glenn Stone’s 2012 paper "Constructing Facts: Bt Cotton Narratives in India", however, it becomes clear that such claims are too often woven from flawed data and studies and merely serve to bolster vested interests. Counterpunch

 

 

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated over $3 billion to agricultural development projects around the world, much of it devoted to developing and promoting patentable seed technologies including GMOs, along with the pesticides that often go with them. To help ease resistance to those products in African countries and elsewhere, the Foundation has spent $12 million on a public relations campaign at Cornell University that uses the name and reputation of the Ivy League institution to promote the pesticide industry’s agenda. Now, a new investigation by The Nation provides an in-depth look at Gates Foundation’s conflicts of interests, grants to private companies, and other “moral hazards” surrounding the $50 billion charitable enterprise. The Nation