22/January/21

 

Dr Peter Daszak described how easy it was to manipulate bat-based coronaviruses in an interview filmed just weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. “You can manipulate them in the lab pretty easily,” Daszak said. “Spike protein drives a lot of what happens with the coronavirus. Zoonotic risk. So you can get the sequence, you can build the protein — and we work with Ralph Baric at UNC [University of North Carolina] to do this — and insert the backbone of another virus and do some work in the lab.” Daszak has close ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and reportedly pushed back against a National Institute of Health request that he arrange an outside inspection of the lab. Daszak orchestrated a statement at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that condemned “conspiracy theories” that the virus did not have a natural origin. Daszak now serves on a World Health Organization panel currently investigating the origins of the pandemic on the ground in China. Daily Caller

 

 

As expected increases in funding from the Biden-Harris administration start flowing to the biosciences, it will be important to remain watchful for a reboot of bioweapons research and development in US labs. There are reasons for concern, among them Biden’s long record of supporting US militarism, including his unapologetic support for the 2003 Iraq War. Center for Genetics and Society

 

 

Testbiotech has published a new report providing evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is intentionally keeping significant risks related to GM plants "in the dark". While EFSA is aware that the data compiled by industry are insufficient to demonstrate the safety of the plants, it has nevertheless failed to take action to solve the problems. On the contrary, the authority has for years defended assumptions even if they are contradicted by facts. In addition, EFSA is intentionally trying to distract awareness away from the "dark" sides of its risk assessment. GMWatch

 

 

The Third World Network/GeneWatch UK Biosafety Briefing, "Why genome edited organisms are not excluded from the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety", is now available in Spanish, French and Portuguese translations, as well as the original English. The briefing shows that currently used genome editing technologies and applications, including all techniques involving CRISPR-based systems, clearly fall within the Cartagena Protocol on Bisoafety’s definition of a living modified organism (LMO), whether they involve inserting, deleting or editing sequences of genomes. LMO is the Protocol's word for GMO. Third World Network Biosafety Information Service

 

 

The Trump administration, in a move sought by the hog industry, pushed through an interdepartmental memorandum before leaving office that allows the USDA to regulate food-bearing GM livestock. FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn publicly objected and said his agency “has no intention of abdicating our public health mandate” over animal biotechnology. The Biden administration will make the final decision. A public comment period runs through February 26 on a USDA proposal to set the boundaries of yet-to-be-written regulations governing GM animals developed for human consumption. [GMW: See our report on this move here.] Successful Farming