13/July/20

 

Monsanto owner Bayer is backing away from a plan to contain future Roundup cancer claims after a federal judge made it clear he would not approve the scheme, which would delay new trials and limit jury decision-making. The plan concocted by Bayer and a small group of lawyers was filed last month in US District Court for the Northern District of California as part of a effort by Bayer to put an end to sweeping litigation that has so far led to three losses in three jury trials, staggering punitive damage awards and shareholder discontent. US Right to Know

 

 

Fourteen years ago, the Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations launched the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Armed with high-yield commercial seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, AGRA set the goal to double productivity and incomes by 2020 for 30 million small-scale farming households while reducing food insecurity by half in 20 countries. But according to a new report, AGRA is “failing on its own terms”. There has been no productivity surge. Many climate-resilient, nutritious crops have been displaced by the expansion in supported crops such as maize. The number of undernourished in AGRA’s 13 focus countries has increased 30% during the organization’s well-funded Green Revolution campaign. IATP

 

 

An amendment was introduced in the House of Lords on 23 June by Conservative peer Lord Cameron of Dillington and others to change the definition of a genetically modified organism (GMO) in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in order to exempt certain types of new genetic modification techniques, such as gene editing, from GMO regulations. If the amendment passes, these new GMOs, including gene-edited crops and foods, would escape safety checks and GMO labelling. GMWatch editor Claire Robinson explains the various deceptions behind and within the amendment that mean it must be rejected. Yorkshire Bylines

 

 

Following the announcement of a USD650 million settlement by Bayer, destined for areas of the US contaminated by the company's subsidiary Monsanto with toxic chemicals known as PCBs, GMWatch subscriber Rev Paul Cawthorne has been looking into whether any funds from the settlement will be coming to the UK to clean up Monsanto's PCB contamination in Wales. GMWatch

 

 

US researchers have filed an application for a patent covering genetically engineered bacteria, including the bees that have the microbes in their gut. According to the patent application, the bacteria can produce molecules which interfere with gene regulation across species boundaries. That way the honey bees are "indirectly" genetically engineered. These molecules are, for example, intended to target bee behaviour and thus enhance pollination effectiveness. Other purposes are to kill parasites, such as Varroa mites or rapid degradation of pesticides to which the bees are exposed. Testbiotech warns that such projects pose high risks to the environment. Testbiotech