Genetically Modified Archives

ENVIRONMENT: EU Urged to Reject GM Rice

Leading environmental groups are urging the EU to reject a new strain of genetically modified rice.

ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: Transgenic Cousin in the Birthplace of Corn

With its modified genes, transgenic corn has entered Mexico without permission and without an invitation, mixing with its non-modified relatives, which are thousands of years old and carry a mythological mantle.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: Transgenic Soy Found ‘Guilty’ by People’s Court

By Mario Osava

Transgenic soy was ''found guilty'' Thursday in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre by an 'International People's Tribunal', organised by more than 40 social movements and non-governmental organisations.

DEVELOPMENT: Biotech for the Poor, Too – Forum

By IPS Correspondents

Scientists and government representatives have called for democratising biotechnology and ensuring that its benefits also reach poor countries, but they agreed during a meeting in Chile that, as always, there is a great divide between good intentions and reality.

AGRICULTURE: Will Global Rules for GMOs Be Too Late?

By Stephen Leahy

As activists celebrated the emergence of a strong Biosafety Protocol to control genetically-engineered organisms (GEO) last month, U.S. scientists reported that contamination of GEOs is spreading and might be impossible to stop.

LATIN AMERICA: UNEP Regional Office Urges Caution on Transgenics

By IPS Correspondents

The United Nations Environment Programme warned Wednesday in Mexico that transgenic crops could pose a threat to biodiversity and human health, and recommended that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean act with caution in using genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

ENVIRONMENT: Eyeing Markets, India Pulls Punches on Biosafety – Activists

By Ranjit Devraj

India has agreed to soften international protections against plant contamination, in a bid to enhance commercial prospects for genetically modified (GM) crops that nevertheless could jeopardise consumer safety and food security, leading activists here said.

AGRICULTURE: Racing to Construct the Perfect Rice Plant

By IPS Correspondents

Rice, a crop that feeds half the world's people and supplies income for a billion more, will have to keep pace with surging demand using far fewer resources, a goal for which many scientists believe biotechnology will be indispensable.

ENVIRONMENT-BALKANS: GM Crops Sneak Up

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

Some farmers knew it, some did not, but GM soy and maize seeds entered Serbia last year.

ENVIRONMENT: GM Firms ‘Must Pay for Damage’

By IPS Correspondents

Companies producing GM crops must be held liable for any damage they cause, a leading environment group says.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: Genetically Modified Law Advances

By Mario Osava

Parties on either side of the transgenics issue said they were satisfied with the legislative bill on biosafety that the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved early Thursday, after months of negotiations. But some disappointment lingers as the bill heads to the Senate.

ARGENTINA: Soya Drives New Rural Prosperity – But for How Long?

By Marcela Valente

Looking like spaceships that suddenly landed in the middle of the Argentine Pampas, combine harvesters are the symbol of the new rural prosperity, moving relentlessly, deliberately through immense soya fields.

POLITICS: Greenbacks Set to Colour Biodiversity Meet

By Marty Logan

Control of the trade in genetically modified products and who should profit from the exploitation of natural resources are just two of the controversial items on the agenda of this month's global meeting on biodiversity.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Nano Divide’ No Small Matter

By Stephen Leahy

Research in nanotechnology is thriving in developing countries but high-profile criticism of the new process from the likes of Prince Charles and Greenpeace will hurt investment, and threatens to create a "nano divide" between rich and poor countries, says a new report.

AGRICULTURE: Canadian Farmer to Face Monsanto in Court

By Stephen Leahy

The future of world agriculture and countries' ability to protect their biodiversity is on the line in a final legal battle next week between Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser and agri-business giant Monsanto.

ENVIRONMENT-EU: NGOs Welcome ‘Common Sense’ over GM Food

By IPS Correspondents

Leading civil society groups have welcomed a decision by member states of the European Union to maintain its de facto ban on new genetically modified foods.

AGRICULTURE: Biotech Boom Linked to Development Dollars – Critics

By IPS Correspondents

Even as an international debate rages over the safety and wisdom of planting genetically modified (GM) crops, they continue to spread like wildfire, particularly in developing countries.

SCIENCE-BRAZIL: Cow Clones ‘a la Natural’

By Mario Osava

Many people are disappointed when they meet Vitoria and Lenda, the first cows cloned in Latin America. "They're just like any others," tends to be the reaction when one first sees the two at the experimental farm of Sucupira, 30 km from Brasilia.

U.S.: Questions of Food Safety Dog Cloned Beef

By IPS Correspondents

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faces increasing criticism for announcing that cloned animals are probably safe to eat, a claim that many scientists and consumer groups say is premature and scientifically unsupported.

AGRICULTURE-PARAGUAY: Legalisation of GM Crops Imminent

By IPS Correspondents

Paraguay's Agriculture Ministry indicated that it is about to authorise the production and sale of transgenic crops, which are already widely cultivated despite a legal ban.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Scientists Called to Look Beyond the Lab

By James Hall

A panel of prominent women scientists has argued that African researchers need to get out of their laboratories and enter the world of policy-making if they want to be of real benefit to their fellow Africans. The women say that researchers must also learn to market their ideas.