Study shines new light on genome
The Guardian, June 14, 2007 (International)

Scientists have been forced to rethink how the human genome turns a single cell into a complex living being following the most intensive study of our genetic code ever undertaken. The research, published in Nature, reveals that genes make up only a tiny fraction of the role played by the 3bn letters that constitute the human genome.
Large swaths of the genome, previously dismissed as "junk DNA" because it was thought to serve no practical purpose, have been found to be highly active inside the cells in our bodies. Other sequences of genetic code are thought to be "on standby", awaiting a time further down the evolutionary path when they will be beneficial to human beings.
"If you think of the letters that make up the human genome as the alphabet, then you can think of genes as the verbs. We're identifying all of the other grammatical elements and the syntax of the language we need to read the genetic code completely," said Manolis Dermitzakis, a scientist on the $42m, five-year ENCODE project. The findings highlighted how scientists had become so blinded by the importance of genes that the role of other parts of the genome had largely gone unappreciated, he said.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/02.html

[NZ] holds off approval of GE corn
NZPA, August 2, 2007 (New Zealand)

The Government says it will not immediately buy into a decision [by] trans-Tasman food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to declare a new form of corn genetically engineered for stockfeed to be safe for human consumption.
The corn - engineered to add weight to pigs and poultry - was approved for humans by FSANZ because Monsanto expects it to turn up in corn-based foods.
New Zealand scientists said there was concern [it's] high levels of the amino acid lysine may trigger diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes, and questioned the FSANZ decision to compare it with another GE corn, rather than a conventional corn with a good safety record.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/03.html

GM potatoes expelled from Andes
Nature, doi:10.1038/news070716-5, July 18, 2007 (Peru)

This Thursday, the government of Cusco, a region in the Peruvian Andes, is scheduled to ban all GM varieties of potato, according to the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
The area was the birthplace of many varieties of spud, and is still home to thousands of kinds of potato.
The move was supported by a Peruvian non-profit organization called Association ANDES, along with the IIED. The motivation is both to ensure that genes from GM potatoes do not infiltrate the native potatoes, and to support efforts to market the area as a source of diverse, authentic, organic potato varieties.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/04.html

Moscow to mark GM-free foods
Reuters, June 25, 2007 (Russia)

Moscow will introduce a citywide label to identify GM-free foods next week, a move environmentalists hail as ground-breaking but that foreign producers say is complex and costly.
A handful of individual food producers around the world already use labels certifying their food is free of GM elements - but this is the first large-scale political effort to introduce such a system, Greenpeace said, expecting it to be watched by others as a test-case.
"These labels are important for consumers so they know which companies keep a tight control on ingredients in their products," said Greenpeace's GM researcher in Russia, Natalya Olefirenko.
After an official - voluntary - inspection, producers will have the right to carry Moscow's GM-free label for a year.
Supermarkets eager to curry favor with the Moscow city government have hinted they will only stock products carrying the GM-free label - and signals from the authorities suggest the label will effectively be obligatory, producer lobby groups said.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/05.html

Genetically-modified tropical fish seized
NZ Herald, July 19, 2007 (New Zealand)

Biosecurity New Zealand has seized and destroyed 300 genetically modified tropical fish. Concerned members of the public alerted authorities after seeing the zebra danio fish for sale on the internet.
Biosecurity incursion manager David Yard said the operation involved seizing and destroying the fish after testing confirmed they had been genetically modified with a red fluorescent protein to make them a bright red/pink colour. "They are tropical, so are unlikely to be able to survive outside a temperature-controlled tank," he said. "The presence of these fish in New Zealand has not, however, been authorised and they are illegal new organisms in breach of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act."
The Ministry of Agriculture Quarantine Service had unwittingly allowed into the fish into New Zealand under the false impression they had been dyed.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/06.html

Annan: [no] GMOs in war on hunger
Business Daily, July 17, 2007 (Africa)

In what is bound to stir controversy in agriculture and scientific circles, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has ruled out the use of GMOs in the battle against food insecurity and poverty in Africa. "We in the alliance will not incorporate GMOs in our programmes. We shall work with farmers using traditional seeds known to them... Millions of Africans are being fed through aid and this is not sustainable. We have the means to make Africa self sustainable," he said.
Mr Annan chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra). Agra was established last year with an initial $150 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations. It seeks to help millions of small-scale farmers get out of poverty through sustainable growth in farm productivity and incomes.
Mr Annan said insufficient infrastructure such as roads, poor storage facilities and weak market structures were to blame for Africa's continued dependence on food aid.
[He] said food production in Africa could be doubled in the next decade with improved seeds and increased access to inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/07.html

Monsanto loses claims for RoundupReady genes
Commercial Appeal, July 25, 2007 (USA)

For the second time in five months, the US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected patents key to Monsanto's dominance in bioengineered seed, casting suspicion on its science and weakening the argument that helped the company prevail in dozens of lawsuits against farmers.
The Public Patent Foundation said the US patent office sided with it in its case against Monsanto, saying at least four patents should not have been granted because the technology was either not new or so obvious it wouldn't require patenting.
The Public Patent Foundation mounted its campaign against the company last fall after watching farmers across the country lose suits. In early March, it celebrated its first victory when the US patent office rejected the first patent. Other rejections followed May 31, June 4 and July 17.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/08.html

Corn yields surprises
The News-Gazette, July 13, 2007 (USA)

The stacked corn traits farmers pay big bucks for aren't keeping rootworms from munching on their favorite food.
University of Illinois entomologists Mike Gray and Kevin Steffey said they've discovered some surprising differences in their 25-acre test plots. [One] is that rootworms did significant early damage to transgenic varieties. Steffey said the technology introduced in 1996 that works so well for corn borers, killing about 99 percent of the beetles, doesn't work as well on rootworms, technology introduced in 2003.
"You don't get the expression in the roots that you get in the leaves," he said, adding that many companies don't emphasize that when selling their stacked hybrids to farmers.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/082007/09.html