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Biotechnology@ (47)

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"Transgenic Seed Companies Lie and Bribe" Interview with Jesus Leon Santos

Biotech corporations that developed genetically modified seeds are bribing authorities and carrying out costly advertising campaigns "plagued with lies in order to create monsters that attack life," says Jesus Leon Santos, an indigenous man who is one of the 2008 winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. (IPS, 24 April 2008)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42116

(Added: Mon May 05 2008   Hits: 31)

The Soy Case

Soy production has been booming the past 25 years. Most of this protein and oil containing bean goes as animal feed to the meat industry in Europe and China. Protein from fish meal has become scarce, other animal sources have been forbidden because of BSE, but the demand for meat is rising rapidly world-wide. As a result of the focus on monoculture export crops, such as soy, millions of people in one of the world's biggest food exporting regions are now suffering from malnutrition. GM-soy is contaminating the countryside and the risen use of pesticides is polluting water and soil. This resource discusses the soy case in Latin America. (A SEED, 2006)

http://aseed.tuxic.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=108

(Added: Wed May 24 2006   Hits: 329)

A healthy mix: strategies for GM and non-GM crop coexistence

The coexistence of conventional, organic and genetically modified (GM) crop systems is important for a number of reasons. This kind of system helps in exploiting market opportunities, upholding different cultural values, protecting biodiversity and coping with varying environmental conditions. But there is no easy solution, or widely accepted model, for putting coexistence into practice. Genetically modified crops can be separated from non-GM crops spatially or temporally, and labelling is increasingly seen as essential to protecting consumer choice. But coexistence strategies are still lacking in much of the developing world. Policymakers need to develop rules that are proportionate, efficient, cost-effective and specific to particular crop and farming systems. (Eliana Fontes, SciDev Net, April 2007)

http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=policybrief&dossier=6&policy=137&CFID=44521&CFTOKEN=30219953

(Added: Mon May 21 2007   Hits: 144)

AFRICA: New round in the GM crop debate

Once heralded as an environmentally friendly "silver bullet" in the fight against poverty and hunger, genetically-modified (GM) crops today generate huge controversy over their safety and impact. (IRIN, 13 February 2008)

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76728

(Added: Mon Feb 18 2008   Hits: 63)

Agriculture and Food: who benefits from gm crops?

This is an analysis of the global performance of gm crops from 1996-2006 (Friends of the Earth International, January 2007).

http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2007full.pdf

(Added: Tue Jul 31 2007   Hits: 172)

Genetically modified 'protato' to feed India's poor

NewScientist.com reports on January 03, 2003 that genetically modified potatoes will play a key part in an ambitious 15-year plan to combat malnutrition among India's poorest children. Anti-poverty campaigners have greeted the "protato" with cautious support. The three-pronged attack on childhood mortality would aim to provide children with clean water, better food and vaccines. "Zero child mortality in underprivileged children would be the goal," says Govindarajan Padmanaban, a biochemist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993219

(Added: Wed Jan 22 2003   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 367)

Genetically Modified Crops And Sustainable Poverty Alleviation In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Assessment Of Current Evidence [PDF - 1.1MB]

Author: Aaron deGrassi Publisher: Third World Network-Africa Publication Date: June 24 , 2003 Copyright: Third World Network-Africa "This paper recasts the debate over biotechnology by moving past overly general hyperbole and instead empirically evaluating current experiences with genetically modified crops in Africa. The debate is moved from hypothetical risks to actual results. The 'appropriateness' of GM cotton, sweet potatoes and maize is evaluated using six criteria widely accepted in crop breeding: [whether the crop is] demand-led, site-specific, poverty-focused, cost-effective and institutionally and environmentally sustainable. I conclude by examining potential reasons for considerable attention to these three crops despite their generally inappropriate nature for poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa." [from http://allafrica.com/sustainable/]

http://allafrica.com/sustainable/resources/view/00010161.pdf

(Added: Mon Feb 28 2005   Modified: Tue Dec 20 2005   Hits: 324)

Genetically Modified Organisms:Position Paper

A joint position paper, prepared by a group of Asian civil society organisations, calls for 'a stop on the corporate attempt to own our collective heritage - rice, and life in general.' One specific request: that Asian governments support the African Group proposal to ban the patenting of life forms and the genetic engineering of rice and other foods

http://www.topica.com/lists/masipag/read/message.html?mid=1707843981&sort=d&start=28

(Added: Wed Jul 17 2002   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 335)

GM production 'growing in developing countries'

A new report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non-profit organisation promoting agricultural biotechnology for the poor, say that GM crops were grown by 11 million small and resource-poor farmers in 2007 - 90 per cent of the total number of GM-growing farmers worldwide.

http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/37/executivesummary/default.html

(Added: Tue Feb 26 2008   Hits: 62)

Identification Requirements for Shipments of Genetically Engineered Commodities

This is an analysis of the decision adopted under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Lim Li Lin and Lim Li Ching, Oakland Institute, June 2007).

http://oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/TWN_biosafety_briefing.pdf

(Added: Wed Aug 29 2007   Hits: 109)

Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB)

The IPCB is organized to assist indigenous peoples in the protection of their genetic resources, indigenous knowledge, cultural and human rights from the negative effects of biotechnology. The IPCB provides educational and technical support to indigenous peoples in the protection of their biological resources, cultural integrity, knowledge and collective rights.

http://www.ipcb.org

(Added: Wed Mar 02 2005   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 350)

Mexico: Transgenic Maize Knocking at the Door

Mexico's first experimental trials of genetically modified maize will take place next year, a government official has announced. The news has put environmental and campesino (small farmer) organisations, still hoping that this will not happen, on the alert. (IPS, 28/12/07)

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1061/68/

(Added: Thu Jan 03 2008   Hits: 65)

Our seed, their profit

The proposed gift of Indian intellectual assets shows how the nation's interests are thwarted routinely in the world of genetically engineered crops.

http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/guest/riceigkv.htm

(Added: Thu Jan 02 2003   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 344)

Paraguay Sojero: Soy Expansion and Its Violent Attack on Local and Indigenous Communities in Paraguay: Repression and Resistance [pdf]

In Paraguay, the expansion of (GM) soy production by Brazilian sojeros, supported by biotech and agrochemical corporations, local and national authorities, and the financial sector, is currently the main cause of violence against small farmers and their organisations, and of severe damage to people's health and to food crops due to fumigations with agrochemicals. Grupo de Reflexion Rural from Argentina presents a new report providing detailed accounts of the current violent acts against rural and indigenous communities in Paraguay, which are strongly related to the expansion of (GM) soy production. (Grupo de Reflexion Rural, 2006)

http://www.aseed.net/images/stories/agrocadabra/soy/paraguay-humanrights-report-72dpi.pdf

(Added: Wed May 24 2006   Modified: Thu Jan 18 2007   Hits: 260)

Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibiiity (PSGR)

An association of Scientists and Physicians concerned about the possible effects genetically modifidied crops could have on the environment and, through the introduction of new foods into the food-chain, the impact on human health. Members believe that genetically engineered organisms into the food chain and the environment is highly premature, as safety testing has not been adequately carried out.

http://www.psgr.org.nz/index.php

(Added: Mon Jul 07 2008   Hits: 11)

Poor-Washing, the Gates Foundation & the "Green Revolution" in Africa

Genetically altered crops will rescue Africa from endemic shortfalls in food production, claim corporate foundations that have announced a $150 million "gift" to spark a "Green Revolution" in agriculture on the continent. Of course, U.S.-based agribusiness holds the patents to these wondercrops, and can exercise their proprietary "rights" at will. Are corporate foundations really out to feed the hungry, or are they hypocritical Trojan Horses on a mission to hijack the world's food supply - to create the most complete and ultimate state of dependency. (Bruce Dixon, Black Agenda Report, 31 May 2007).

http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=236&Itemid=40

(Added: Fri Jul 20 2007   Hits: 176)

The Dark Side of the Soy Boom

By David Vargas, IPS, November 2007. Soy cultivation in Paraguay began to expand in the mid-1960s and boomed in the late 1990s with the introduction of genetically modified seeds by companies such as Monsanto. Intensive soy production has caused a fall in traditional activities like timber extraction, cattle ranching and even production of cotton, which used to be the country's main agricultural export. Small farmers, who make up a large proportion of the country's six million people, have been displaced by large-scale soy producers. According to a study by the non-governmental social research organisation Base-IS, 70 percent of Paraguay's farmland is presently in the hands of foreign landowners, who are mainly Brazilian. A documentary, "Soberania violada" (Violation of Sovereignty), produced by a Paraguayan team, portrays the drama of campesino (small farmer) communities that experience the spread of soy plantations as a threat to their survival.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39972

(Added: Mon Nov 12 2007   Modified: Mon Nov 19 2007   Hits: 88)

THE GENETIC ENGINEERING DEBATE

This document aims to support the campaign against the risks of genetic engineering (GE). It will try to summarize all claims made by the proponents of GE, and the responses by the critics of GE.

http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/GEessays/gedebate.html

(Added: Fri Jul 19 2002   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 705)

The GM Debate: Special Report

- The Guardian Weekly. Includes the latest reports, information on: the GM food debate; test sites in the UK; Monsanto; the Cartagena Protocol; and suggestions for what you can do about GM food.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate

(Added: Tue May 14 2002   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 373)

The People's Moratorium

The People's Moratorium is the continuing campaign to keep New Zealand's food and environment GE Free. Because the Government has failed to respond to public demand for a continuing moratorium on GE release, it now falls to the people to keep New Zealand GE Free.

http://www.gefreepeople.net/

(Added: Mon Nov 03 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 20 2006   Hits: 520)

Why Argentina can't feed itself - how GM soya is destroying livelihoods

Charts the history of how how GM soya is destroying livelihoods and the environment in Argentina. It provides a good example of the peril of looking at only one output (or input) of a complex inter-related system, in this case agriculture.

http://organicconsumers.org/gefood/argentinasoya111802.cfm

(Added: Wed Nov 20 2002   Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005   Hits: 321)

Zambia Feeds Refugees on Transgenic U.S. Corn

By Singy Hanyona LUSAKA, Zambia, September 10, 2002 (ENS) - The Zambian government and World Food Programme (WFP), have agreed to feed over 130,000 refugees from war-torn neighboring countries with genetically modified food aid from the United States. The decision comes a month after the Zambian government categorically refused to accept the transgenic maize [corn] for its own starving people who are suffering the worst drought in a decade.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2002/2002-09-10-01.asp

(Added: Thu Sep 12 2002   Modified: Wed Jun 07 2006   Hits: 340)

Zambia's GM Food for Refugees Policy in Disarray

By Dickson Jere. LUSAKA, Zambia, September 11, 2002 (ENS) - Confusion reigned Wednesday over Zambia's policy against distributing genetically modified (GM) grain from the United States to parts of the population affected by a severe hunger crisis, after claims by a United Nations humanitarian agency that it received the go-ahead to deliver GM maize to refugees. The Zambian government reacted fiercely to reports that the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) had been instructed to distribute 6,000 tons of transgenic maize to some 130,000 refugees, mostly from Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo, living in camps in the north and west of the country.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2002/2002-09-11-02.asp

(Added: Mon Sep 16 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 08 2006   Hits: 323)