10/February/21

 

At a press conference in Wuhan, China, Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) inspection team, said it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus leaked from a lab and as a result the lab escape hypothesis would no longer form part of the WHO’s continuing investigation into the origins of the virus. But Dr Embarek listed frozen foods among the other possible sources of the outbreak in Wuhan that the WHO will continue to look into. Asked why they had discarded the lab hypothesis, Embarek said that while lab accidents do happen, they are “extremely rare”. He also said the WHO team had looked at the BSL-4 (supposedly high security) lab in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and had concluded, “it was very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place”. However, both claims are seriously unconvincing. GMWatch

 

 

On January 7 the UK government launched a 10-week public consultation into the deregulation of plants and animals produced using a new genetic engineering technology called gene editing. The timing couldn’t have been worse, coming, as it did, within days of the UK exiting the European Union and in the middle of a global pandemic. Many will feel they have very little bandwidth available to devote thought and time to such a complex subject. But the real problems with the consultation go much deeper. The haste and lack of preparation with which it was launched is obvious in its tone and text and timing. It prejudges, it is inaccessible and it shows disdain for average citizens. So Beyond GM has submitted a complaint to DEFRA, the Cabinet Office, individual ministers and senior civil servants. Beyond GM

 

 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) said that from March 1, imported consignments of some of the major food crops will need to be accompanied with the “non-GM cum GM free certificate”. The regulator clarified that the requirement of this declaration will only be applicable on consignments dispatched from exporting countries on or after March 1. The Hindu Business Line