Dow says it wins patent for biocrops
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 13, 2005 (USA)

Dow Chemical Co. said Tuesday it won rights to a "broad and enabling" technology for creating GM crops, such as those sold by Monsanto Co.
Concluding a dispute between the two companies that has run for more than a decade, the US Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent to Dow AgroSciences.
The patent applies to a method of transferring genes from a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, to plants. Dow said the patent allows it to seek royalties from competitors which use Bt technology to make corn and cotton plants resistant to certain destructive pests. Monsanto has yet to review the ruling, spokeswoman Lori Fisher said. However Monsanto believes it holds sufficient patents on related technology to continue marketing and developing its products.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/01.html

Scientists 'hyping' gene research benefits
The Independent, September 5, 2005 (UK)

The leading fertility scientist Lord Winston has hit out at senior scientists for making exaggerated claims about the supposed benefits of scientific research, warning they could trigger a public backlash. Lord Winston called on his colleagues to use more moderate language when describing scientific breakthroughs.
"In recent years we have seen exaggerated claims made by leading scientists that are sometimes patently fatuous. James Watson's assertion about the value of tampering with the human germ-line are a pretty good example," he said.
Professor Watson, who won a Nobel prize for discovering the DNA double helix with Francis Crick, has extolled the possibility of altering the genes of germ-line sperm or egg cells to eradicate inherited diseases. [And] Michael Dexter, former chief executive of the Wellcome Trust, said in 2001 that sequencing of the human genome was an invention more important than the wheel. "Five years later, genetic medicine based on this work has had little impact on health care and it's unlikely to have much impact for some years."
Lord Winston also criticised the trend towards commercialisation of science, which he said increases secrecy. "Once the pursuit of science becomes heavily geared to profit, which the public feels it is not sharing, scientists may be compromised. They may be perceived as... not working merely for the public good."
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/02.html

More GM papaya contamination found
AFX News Limited, September 6, 2005 (Thailand)

GM seeds contaminated a third of 31 papaya orchards studied in July, Thailand's Human Rights Commission said, calling for tough public safeguards against the technology. Commissioner Vasant Panich said 11 of 31 samples tested were contaminated with GM seeds. Farmers in the four provinces surveyed said they had received the papaya seeds from the same research station.
The first contamination was found last year after Greenpeace accused the government of illegally selling GM papaya seeds from a research station there.
Vasant urged the government to destroy the contaminated fields, to compensate farmers for their losses and tighten laws banning GMO field trials.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/03.html

GM video sparks accusations of censorship
Manitoba Co-Operator, September 21, 2005 (Canada)

Two University of Manitoba researchers, Ian Mauro, a Ph.D student, and Stéphane McLachlan, an environment professor, say the university has used stalling tactics to block a video about GM crops ever since its completion in 2003.
The university is heavily involved in biotechnology and receives research grants from biotech companies. One of them, Monsanto, is in the process of relocating its Canadian headquarters to a new research complex at the U of M.
Much of the 70-minute video consists of comments from farmers about their concerns about, and hopes for, GM crops. Mauro and McLachlan stressed that the video strives for balance.
The university claimed a 50 per cent share in the intellectual content of the video, citing a U of M bylaw about audio-visual teaching materials. Mauro and McLachlan said the university expressed concern about the video's content and indicated it could no longer support the project, killing the distribution agreement.
The university proposed transferring its interest in the video to Mauro and McLachlan, but still demanded indemnification and control over the footage. The researchers' lawyer later advised them not to agree to that.
Mauro and McLachlan then approached the Canadian Association of University Teachers requesting support for their position and in getting the video out.
James Turk, CAUT executive director, accused the university of attempting to suppress the work by dragging its feet on the release.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/04.html

GM crop contamination may spark review
Ninemsn News, September 15, 2005 (Australia)

The federal and state governments are being urged to consider national liability laws after canola crops in four states were contaminated with GM material.
It was revealed that millions of canola seedlings in NSW have been destroyed after one variety in a crop trial was found to be genetically modified. The case follows trace levels of Bayer CropScience's herbicide resistant canola turning up in GM-free crops in Victoria and South Australia. And WA Agriculture Minister Kim Chance announced on Wednesday, that trace levels of GM canola had been found in two canola varieties being grown in GM-free trials.
Mr Chance said current legislation needed reviewing to clarify liability for future and much bigger levels of contamination. "The Commonwealth ...[are] saying you can rely on common law... It's currently hopeless, and the only way you can resolve those difficult (crop contamination) questions is not by resort to common law, it's by resort to statutory law."
"Until we have assurances that we have an adequate legal framework, no state jurisdiction is ever going to lift their moratorium," he said. "They know bloody well that if you can't find an answer in common law it's going to come to the state to find the solution. We don't want that problem, thank you."
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/05.html

Flies show pollen power
The Press, October 7, 2005 (New Zealand)

The skills of native flies in pollinating South Island crops may shed more light in evaluating the potential of cross contamination from genetically modified plants. A study by Crop & Food Research is monitoring the behaviour of native flies in arable plants and has found they could be major pollinators.
"If New Zealand was ever to allow commercial transgenic crops we must first examine any possibility of gene flow from these crops to other crops, weeds and native flora," said Crop & Food Research entomologist Dr Brad Howlett.
Little was known about the role of native pollinators in transferring pollen in crops before this study. Until now it was assumed bees do most of the crop pollination and arable farmers have traditionally placed honey bee hives next to crops for this purpose.
Native flies have, however, been found in some crops carrying up to 19,000 pollen grains - as many as honey bees. On crops of pak choi, a bibionid fly was found in numbers 10 times more than honey bees and carrying the same amount of pollen.
The range of pollinators in crops, however, varies widely even on sites that are close together. In Central Otago it was found that two onion fields about 17km apart attracted completely different ranges of insects.
"To evaluate the likelihood of the movement of transgenic genes via pollen from GM plants, we must first understand the mechanisms that cause pollen movement," said Howlett.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/06.html

GM crop impact 'lasts two years'
BBC News, September 28, 2005 (UK)

A follow-up to the UK's major trial of GM crops finds that impacts on wildlife can persist for two years.
The original trial found that spring GM rape and sugar beet were harsher than their conventional equivalents in the short term, while GM maize was better. The new study shows the same pattern at two years for rape and maize.
The British government has welcomed the findings, which it says "provide important information" on GM crops.
"The new study confirms our impression of what would happen when we released the initial results," said Les Firbank, Farm Scale Evaluations project co-ordinator.
Research News: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/07.html

Minimizing variation of transgene expression
CropBiotech Net, September 22, 2005

Although gifted with the promise of rendering a plant immune to disease or insect attack, transgenes can sometimes be unstable and unpredictable. The sources of such variations include inconsistency in the copy numbers of the introduced gene or genes; the site of insertion of the transgene; and RNA silencing in the host plant. As a result, researchers are spending more time and money to both achieve stable transgene expression, [and] to produce the expected level of expression.
Katleen M.J. Butaye and colleagues review these techniques in the latest issue of Molecular Breeding.
Research News: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/102005/08.html