Posted May 15, 2018
In the studies, published in Nature Medicine, scientists found that cells whose genomes are successfully edited by CRISPR-Cas9 have the potential to seed tumors inside a patient. That could make some CRISPR’d cells ticking time bombs, according to researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and, separately, Novartis. Read more.
Get Informed on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Tell Whole Foods: The Time for Labels on GMOs is NOW!
Posted June 15, 2018
Five years ago, under mounting pressure from consumers, Whole Foods Market (WFM) announced that by the end of 2018, the then-largest retailer of organic foods would require all of its suppliers to clearly label GMO ingredients and foods. Last week, the company reneged on that commitment, or at least the timeline part of it. Read more.
New Meta-Analysis Reveals Phenotypic Differences Between GMO and non-GMO Cultivated Plants
Posted May 15, 2018
The myth of “substantial equivalence” between GM crops and their closest non-GM relatives (called “isolines”) has taken yet another scientific hit, this time from a new peer-reviewed paper discussed in an article on the website Hygeia Analytics. Read more.
Canola Oil Increases Memory Loss
Posted June 7, 2018
Canola oil has been heralded as a modern healthy alternative to olive oil, and ‘saturated fats’ like coconut and palm oil, backed by a big promotional push from North American growers. The Canola Council of Canada pulls no punches, calling it “the healthiest of all commonly used cooking oils.”[1] The marketing campaign appears to be working: canola oil consumption in the United States has nearly tripled since 2000, up to almost 3 million metric tons in 2017. Read more.
GMO Golden Rice Offers No Nutritional Benefits Says FDA
Posted June 7, 2018
The biotech industry and its supporters have promoted GMO Golden Rice for decades as an urgently needed solution to vitamin A deficiency. But, in a surprising twist, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded its consultation process on Golden Rice by informing its current developers, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), that Golden Rice does not meet the nutritional requirements to make a health claim. Read more.
Bayer to Ditch Monsanto Name after Mega-Merger
Posted June 7, 2018
German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer will discard the name Monsanto when it takes over the controversial US seeds and pesticides producer this week, it said Monday. But Bayer executives insisted Monsanto practices rejected by many environmentalists, including genetic modification of seeds and deployment of “crop protection” technologies like pesticides, were vital to help feed a growing world population. Read more.
Vaccinating Plants: A Risky Technology?
Posted May 31, 2018
In an attempt to reduce use of pesticides on crops, scientists are exploring the concept of “vaccinating” food plants to prevent them from being infected with viruses and other pathogens. Experiments are utilizing an external application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a naturally occurring product that is found in most organisms, to make plants resistant to certain microbes. Read more.
Landmark Lawsuit Claims Monsanto Hid Cancer Danger of Weedkiller for Decades
Posted May 31, 2018
Last week Judge Curtis Karnow issued an order clearing the way for jurors to consider not just scientific evidence related to what caused Johnson’s cancer, but allegations that Monsanto suppressed evidence of the risks of its weed killing products. Karnow ruled that the trial will proceed and a jury would be allowed to consider possible punitive damages. Read more.
Monsanto in Epic Fail with Attempted Attack on Global Glyphosate Study
Posted May 31, 2018
The peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts from the pilot phase of the Global Glyphosate Study were revealed last Wednesday in a Press Conference at the European Parliament. The results of the short-term pilot study showed that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) were able to alter certain important biological parameters in rats, mainly relating to sexual development, genotoxicity and the alteration of the intestinal microbiome, at the ‘safe’ level of 1.75 mg/kg/day set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Read more.
Embracing Nature? Biotech Industry Spin Seeks to Exempt New GMOs from Regulation
Posted May 18, 2018
In May 2017, the global biotech and seed industry lobby groups landed in Budapest for their annual congress. They launched a joint campaign with one key goal: to get governments worldwide to adopt a zero-regulation approach to new genetic modification (GM) techniques, often termed gene-editing techniques. The seed industry magazine SeedWorld stated that the timing of this international campaign is critical “as policymakers and governments around the world discuss plant breeding innovations, and if and how they should be regulated”. Read more.
