Archive for October, 2007

Dow AgroSciences is at work on a heralded super seed as global demand soars for biotech crops

Source: The Indianapolis Star
Author: John Russell
Date: October 29, 2007
Inside bright greenhouses at Dow AgroSciences’ sprawling Northwestside complex, corn plants grow tall and lush, with no signs of rootworms, corn borers or other pests that munch away at crops and farmers’ profits.
The corn is grown from biotech seeds that share genes from different types [...]

Is there nothing good in GMOs?

Some anti-biotech activists, led by the environmental lobby group Greenpeace are urging France to execute a total ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Yes, a TOTAL BAN, which prompts me to ask, “You mean nothing good comes out of GMOs? This is a question I normally pose to GMOs critics. I regard as mischievous [...]

Genetic Engineering Must To Raise Rice Output, Say Expert

Source: GMO Africa
Author: Yazdi Yahya
Date: October 28, 2007
Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam may consider genetic engineering if it seeks to produce better quality rice and increase production, but it first needs to develop the necessary infrastructure and expertise.
Professor Acram Taji from the Faculty of Science at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane [...]

Plants work as assembly lines to fight cancer

Source: CheckBiotech
Author: Fabienne Heimgartner
Date: October 24, 2007
Almost everyone has heard of, or experienced, the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Now a laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia has described a plant- derived protein, which could soon be used as an anti- cancer vaccine, thus reducing the number of people who would need chemotherapy.
Colon [...]

All about GM rice

Source: CheckBiotech
Author: Rachel Oliver
Date: October 24, 2007
Feed the world’s starving. Cure vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Put an end to crop failure. Combat global warming. Such are the promises of genetically modified (GM) rice. But if it all sounds too good to be true, environmentalists say, that’s because it is. For proponents of GM rice, [...]

How to Fight Childhood Blindness

Source: The American
Date: October 24, 2007
By embracing genetically modified ‘golden rice,’ says Greenpeace co-founder PATRICK MOORE, the world can help millions of people in developing countries.
It’s been seven years since a Swiss research team demonstrated that genetically enhanced “golden rice” could help prevent vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which is responsible for roughly half [...]

Genetically modified plants vacuum up toxins

Source: Reuters
Author: By Julie Steenhuysen
Scientists have figured out a way to trick plants into doing the dirty work of environmental cleanup, U.S. and British researchers reported on Monday.
Researchers at the University of Washington have genetically altered poplar trees to pull toxins out of contaminated ground water, offering a cost-effective way of cleaning up environmental [...]

Court rejects bid to stop GMO debate

Source: Daily Nation
Author: Jillo Kadida
Date: October 11, 2007
Parliament can go ahead and debate a Bill that seeks to introduce genetically modified foods in Kenya, after all.
This comes after the High Court on Thursday directed that a case challenging the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) be heard on merit instead of granting orders [...]

Pest-resistant Eggplant for South Asia Developed

Source: Newswise
Date: October 9, 2007
Cornell researchers and Sathguru Management Consultants have successfully led an international consortium through the first phase of developing a pest-resistant eggplant. By about 2009 this eggplant is expected to be the first genetically engineered food crop in South Asia. Farmers have grown genetically altered cotton in India since 2002.
The engineered eggplant [...]

Indian scientists discover new biotech rice

I have just bumped onto this article about a new genetically modified rice whose water consumption is 20% less than that of conventional varieties. The rice has been developed by scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India.
The two researchers Aarati and Nataraja Karaba – I gather they’re a couple – inserted [...]