Archive for December, 2006

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Defends Genetically Modified Foods

There is this interview that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Mike Johanns, gave to China’s People’s Daily newspaper.
In the interview, Johanns highlighted two issues that I consider to be of paramount relevance to developing countries. First, he strongly defended genetically modified foods. This is what he said in a response to [...]

Scientists get go-ahead for genetically engineered peanuts

The Associated Press
ALBANY, Georgia
A leading industry group has given scientists the go-ahead to build genetically engineered peanuts that could be safer, more nutritious and easier to grow than their conventional version.
The work could lead to peanuts that yield more oil for biofuel production, need less rainfall and grow more efficiently, with built-in herbicide and [...]

Scientists Must Take Charge of Genetically Modified Food Debate

A while ago, I rallied scientists all over the world to stand up and defend the science behind genetically modified foods. I did this out of concern that anti-technology activists are drowning scientists’ voices regarding the safety of genetically modified foods. I counseled them to take charge of the debate about genetically modified foods or [...]

‘GM food is answer to poverty and hunger’

By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor
The Sunday Herald
PEOPLE ARE being urged by Scotland’s new chief scientific adviser to embrace genetically modified (GM) food as an answer to poverty, hunger and toxic pollution.
Professor Anne Glover, herself a genetic engineer, is urging consumers to ignore labels like “Frankenstein foods” because they are misleading and damaging. The potential [...]

Economic Impact of Dominant Genetically Modified Crops Worldwide: A Review

The European Union (EU) has released a report on the state of genetically modified crops in the world. The major highlights of the report are:

The dominant “first generation” GM crops currently under cultivation.
The economic effects of GM crops
Potential adoption of GM crops varieties.
Co-existence of genetically modified crops with their conventional varieties

The report in its entirety [...]

GM Files: getting the truth out there

By Glenn Tong
TheAge.com.au
December 20, 2006
EMILE Zola famously wrote of the Dreyfus case in his open letter J’accuse that “Truth is on the march and there is no stopping it”.
The world is increasingly acknowledging the truth that climate change is fact and not fiction. But are we prepared to explore every technological option available to [...]

Scientists Genetically Modify Tobacco Mosaic Virus to Fight Crop Pests and Mosquitoes

The field of crop genetic engineering continues to mesmerize me, and I am sure everybody else, who has followed closely the proliferation of genetically modified crops. The ingenuity of scientists working in this field, and the impact their work is having on our lives is evidently confounding.
Since the commercialization of the first genetically modified (GM) [...]

Genetic modification turns plant virus into delivery vehicle for green-friendly insecticide, say UF researchers

In another landmark attestation to the benefits of genetic engineering, the University of Florida researchers have genetically modified a tobacco mosaic virus to fight various crop pests and malaria. More details about these findings can be found at http://news.ufl.edu/2006/12/12/virus/

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Africa in the middle of U.S.-European biotech trade war

In this blog, I have regulary highlighted the dilemma in which African countries find themselves in in integrating genetically modified crops into their agricultural systems. Most African countries are reluctant to plant genetically modified crops for fear of losing European markets for their agricultural goods. In this article, Eric Hand of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [...]

GM Crops: another “green revolution” or a danger?

By Nancy Reyes
MugabeMakaipa Blogspot
December 8, 2006
One of the tragedies I saw in Africa were children who became blind from lack of vitamin A.
The Helen Keller l foundation estimates “between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind from a lack of vitamin A in their diet, which also affects their growth, cognitive development and immune system. 70% [...]