17/September/20

 

Daniel Voytas is a professor at the University of Minnesota. He is also chief science officer of the crop biotech company Calyxt and a co-inventor of the gene editing technique TALENS. For over two years, while they developed a new method of crop genetic engineering, the Voytas lab was also flagrantly violating US biosafety rules. Independent Science News

 

 

In New Brunswick, Canada, forests are being sprayed with glyphosate from helicopters. Residents are furious and are preparing to drive the helicopters out of their communities. "Year after year, there's less fish, there's less birds, there's less bugs, there's less bees," said Peter Ganong. "It's just not the forest it used to be. I just see it gradually disappearing. It's screwing up the ecosystem." CBC

 

 

A year ago Thailand was set to ban the widely used weedkilling chemical glyphosate, a move applauded by public health advocates because of evidence the chemical causes cancer, along with other harms to people and the environment. But under heavy pressure from US officials, Thailand’s government reversed the planned ban on glyphosate last November and delayed imposing bans on two other agricultural pesticides despite the fact that the country’s National Hazardous Substances Committee said a ban was necessary to protect consumers. US Right to Know