22/June/20

 

Scientists using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to edit human embryos found that around half of the edited embryos contained major unintended edits in the form of deletions or additions of DNA directly adjacent to the edited gene. Fyodor Urnov, a gene-editing expert and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, commented, “There’s no sugarcoating this. This is a restraining order for all genome editors to stay the living daylights away from embryo editing.” The new findings follow close upon a paper that found a wide range of undesirable and unintended on-target and off-target mutations in CRISPR-edited rice plants. GMWatch comment on article in Medium OneZero

 

 

In the US Midwest and South, where dicamba herbicide has been sprayed on GM dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton, dicamba damage is showing up on trees in in backyards, school yards, cemeteries, forested lands, prairies, land enrolled in taxpayer funded conservation programs, orchards, vineyards, and even over large areas of small rural towns. In some areas, the damage is so severe that tree mortality is higher than from the Emerald Ash Borer, an insect that has killed tens of millions of trees across 25 states. Laurie Stepanek, forest health specialist with the Nebraska Forest Service, said, “Our No. 1 problem on our trees is herbicide damage. We’ve got it everywhere, unfortunately." InvestigateMidwest

 

 

While the attention of the American public has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government made a serious public health decision — one that could affect health and the environment for generations to come. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency approved the release of GM mosquitoes. A company called Oxitec has been granted permission to release over 1 billion GM mosquitoes across 6,600 acres in Florida and Texas. But if risks are being assessed, it is largely happening behind closed doors between technology developers and EPA employees, write Natalie Kofler and Jennifer Kuzma. Boston Globe