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| Chinese farmer sprays pesticide on crops Photo IFPRI-Images on Flickr |
Glyphosate is toxic to mouth cells
April 2012
Glyphosate is the largest selling
herbicide world-wide. It's been in use for decades to clear weeds
from private and public paths, roads and play-areas, from waterways,
and from agricultural fields both pre-planting and pre-harvest. More
recently, glyphosate's use has risen exponentially with the advent of
GM commodity crops able to survive it, plus the ensuing
glyphosate-resistant weeds which need ever increasing doses of the
herbicide to kill them.
Tadpole tails and Roundup herbicide
April 2012
A study has been published which shows,
for the first time, that Roundup herbicide stimulates adaptive
physical responses during the development of a vertebrate animal.
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| Tadpoles were used in a Roundup study Photo by Olaf Tausch (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Roundup is a very widely-used
weed-killer. It is sprayed, in particular, on crops genetically
transformed to survive it, and can end up in many non-target areas
which are the homes of wildlife.
Adaptive physical responses produce
important permanent changes during an animal's development which
tailor the individual to the particular environment it's going to
live in. Conversely, an inappropriate adaptive change can
disadvantage the animal.
The study used tadpoles as a model
vertebrate.
Glyphosate disrupts chromosomes
April 2012
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| Frog on lily pad. Photo by Macomorphosis on Flickr |
Environmental pollutants have exacted a
very heavy toll on amphibians (frogs, toads etc.) around the globe.
A particular offender has been
identified as glyphosate, a weed-killer now widely and repeatedly
sprayed on crops genetically transformed to withstand it.
Frogs are particularly vulnerable to
chemicals because of their life-cycle and physiology. Tadpoles and
spawn are unprotected and live immersed in pooled water along with
whatever contaminants have collected there. Adult frogs have skin
which serves as a 'lung', and doesn't have the tough, impermeable
qualities of, for example, mammalian skin.
A recent study by Argentinean
scientists on the effects of glyphosate on two species of frog
yielded some ominous results.
Non-GM super rice in China
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| Chinese rice farmer Photo by kevsunblush on Flickr |
“ ... non-GM, breeding methods are fast and inexpensive, hugely successful, and uniquely able to introduce stable complex changes in plants. GM crops have not progressed beyond two basic traits (herbicide-tolerance and Bt-insecticide generation), both of which are extensions of the existing, unsustainable, chemical-dependent model of agriculture. GM crop development remains, not only limited in scope, but expensive, inefficient, and monopoly-, and patent-dependent.”
Our Comment on EUROPABIO AMBASSADORS AN OLD AND FAILED TACTIC - April 2012
If you suspect the above statement is
anti-GM extremism, look at what's happening in China, a country held
up by the pro-GM lobby as a shining example of the benefits Britain
is missing out on by not growing GM crops.
Operation exterminate mosquitoes
April 2012
'Dengue fever' is an illness caused by a virus which is transmitted from person to person by biting female mosquitoes belonging to the species Aedes aegypti.
Infection can lead to a full continuum of disease: the symptoms are 'flu-like, but are rarely fatal and up to half of cases are asymptomatic; Dengue Shock Syndrome and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever are potentially life-threatening; the latter is seen most often in children and causes death in 5% of cases.
The focus of control of dengue is to eliminate the mosquitoes which carry the virus and so break the cycle.
To this end a UK biotech company, 'Oxitec' (see below), has created self-destructing GM mozzies.
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| Female Aedes aegypti mosquito By James Gathany [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Infection can lead to a full continuum of disease: the symptoms are 'flu-like, but are rarely fatal and up to half of cases are asymptomatic; Dengue Shock Syndrome and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever are potentially life-threatening; the latter is seen most often in children and causes death in 5% of cases.
The focus of control of dengue is to eliminate the mosquitoes which carry the virus and so break the cycle.
To this end a UK biotech company, 'Oxitec' (see below), has created self-destructing GM mozzies.
EuropaBio ambassadors an old and failed tactic
April 2012
In October, 2011, the Guardian newspaper reported the latest stunt being pulled to promote GM in Europe.
Documents leaked from a PR company employed by biotech industry representative, 'EuropaBio' (see below) detailed how high-profile “ambassadors” such as Bob Geldof were to be recruited to lobby European leaders on GM policy.
EuropaBio
EuropaBio, is the European Association for Bioindustries based in Brussels. It is the 'voice of the European biotech industry' made up of some 600 companies. Members include all of the major European multinationals who have significant biotechnology interests, such as Bayer, Novartis, Monsanto Europe, Nestlé, Rhone-Poulenc, Unilever, and GlaxoSmithKline.
The primary focus of EuropaBio's lobbying is the European Union, where it seeks to shape legislation in a way that suits its members' interests. It provides a steady flow of information about biotechnology to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers.
Interestingly, the tactic has been tried before.
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| Bob Geldof an 'interested' party. By IMF Photograph/Stephen Jaffe [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Documents leaked from a PR company employed by biotech industry representative, 'EuropaBio' (see below) detailed how high-profile “ambassadors” such as Bob Geldof were to be recruited to lobby European leaders on GM policy.
EuropaBio
EuropaBio, is the European Association for Bioindustries based in Brussels. It is the 'voice of the European biotech industry' made up of some 600 companies. Members include all of the major European multinationals who have significant biotechnology interests, such as Bayer, Novartis, Monsanto Europe, Nestlé, Rhone-Poulenc, Unilever, and GlaxoSmithKline.
The primary focus of EuropaBio's lobbying is the European Union, where it seeks to shape legislation in a way that suits its members' interests. It provides a steady flow of information about biotechnology to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers.
Interestingly, the tactic has been tried before.
Put pressure on Morrisons
April 2012
Morrisons supermarket has dropped its GM-free feed requirement for poultry produce.
The reasons it gives seem to be three-fold.
One, is that the move will take some pressure off farmers, by which Morrisons seems to mean the pressure of the higher cost of non-GM feed. As GM Freeze has pointed out, the supermarket's acceptance of cheaper feed is likely to lead to a drop in the price it will pay farmers rather than, as Morrisons hint, any benefit. Sceptics might suggest that the pressure on farmers is due to the supermarket's refusal to give them a fair price for their poultry products.
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| Entrance to Morrisons. Photo by mattingham on Flickr |
The reasons it gives seem to be three-fold.
One, is that the move will take some pressure off farmers, by which Morrisons seems to mean the pressure of the higher cost of non-GM feed. As GM Freeze has pointed out, the supermarket's acceptance of cheaper feed is likely to lead to a drop in the price it will pay farmers rather than, as Morrisons hint, any benefit. Sceptics might suggest that the pressure on farmers is due to the supermarket's refusal to give them a fair price for their poultry products.
Put pressure on Walmart / Asda
April 2012
Americans are about to be fed a hush-hush GM sweet corn. It will be sold to them fresh, frozen or canned, but otherwise it will be unprocessed and indistinguishable from any other sweet corn.
Monsanto's incentives to farmers to grow its new GM sweet corn seed are the stacked genes put in to combat insect pests plus a gene put in for herbicide-resistance. After that, the product's GM nature will vanish from view and the Company will be relying on supermarkets to sell the GM vegetable to consumers. (See below)
But, what if the supermarkets refuse to stock it?
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| Asda / Walmart store in UK. Photo by joshuawillis on Flickr |
Monsanto's incentives to farmers to grow its new GM sweet corn seed are the stacked genes put in to combat insect pests plus a gene put in for herbicide-resistance. After that, the product's GM nature will vanish from view and the Company will be relying on supermarkets to sell the GM vegetable to consumers. (See below)
But, what if the supermarkets refuse to stock it?