After the damp-squib of the earliest attempt to market a GM vegetable, the 'Flav Savr' tomato, all the signs were that the humble potato was going to be the real cheerleader for fresh, recognisable biotech food.
A brief history of GM potatoes
December 2018
After the damp-squib of the earliest attempt to market a GM vegetable, the 'Flav Savr' tomato, all the signs were that the humble potato was going to be the real cheerleader for fresh, recognisable biotech food.
After the damp-squib of the earliest attempt to market a GM vegetable, the 'Flav Savr' tomato, all the signs were that the humble potato was going to be the real cheerleader for fresh, recognisable biotech food.
Glyphosate kills bees by stealth
November 2018
Increasing suspicion is falling on glyphosate herbicides'
effects on microbes in the gut of consumers.
The innards of all animals are teeming with bacteria whose
quantity and diversity exert multiple influences on health. Many of these microbes have enzymes in common
with plants, and, like plants, can be harmed when glyphosate interferes with
them.
Cost-cutting in Brazil
November 2018
In 2016,
organic food sales in Brazil were mushrooming by 20 to 30 percent a year. At the same time, some 70 percent of organic
produce was being exported to Europe.
Farmers there recognise that "Growing organics is the future",
and the people are increasingly "wanting healthier food free from
pesticides".
Were it
not for the alliance between the government and Big Agriculture, which is driving
the economy, and the supermarkets, which are controlling the food supply system,
organics would be a key growth industry.
Instead, it remains a tiny fraction of the whole, swamped by Big Ag's
desire for GM crops and their supporting chemicals. Supermarkets, of course, promote cut-throat
competition amongst their suppliers, and the 'winners' are the unrestrained
fraudsters passing off conventional pesticide-laden food as 'organic'.
Faced
with this scenario, the Brazilian government is busy pushing through two
far-reaching pieces of legislation.
GM papaya in China
November 2018
Papaya is a short-lived perennial crop. Under ideal conditions, the trees begin to
bear fruit within months of planting and continue profitably for three
years. This provides a valuable non-stop
harvest.
The greatest single threat to papaya production globally has
long been considered papaya ringspot virus (PRSV). This rapidly spreading disease devastates
yield and fruit quality. In the absence
of any naturally-resistant strains for conventional breeders to tap into,
genetic transformation is viewed as "the most effective approach to
prevent and control PRSV". The
favoured GM trick is to insert a vital PRSV gene into the papaya which has the
effect of silencing that vital gene in the virus.
Poisoning our great-grandchildren?
November 2018
Disturbed by the higher incidence of birth defects he
observed after moving to a mid-west farming state, one US paediatrician decided
to investigate. His research homed in on
two of the most heavily used herbicides in the state: atrazine and
glyphosate. Atrazine is used on corn and
soya crops, and has a habit of ending up in drinking water*. Glyphosate is used on most GM corn and GM
soya and has a habit of ending up everywhere [1].
So far, studies on humans have shown that if you plot the
levels of atrazine in drinking water and birth defects, they fit each other
"like a hat". At the same
time, glyphosate has been found in the body of "virtually every pregnant
mother" tested in the state, and has been linked to shortened pregnancy
[2].
Looking at rat experiments carried out in the US (atrazine)
and Argentina (glyphosate), things become scary.
Could GM fish oil wreck the environment?
November 2018
Concerns about eating salmon stuffed with GM omega-3 oils may be over-blown [1], but the risks to the environment are very real.
Concerns about eating salmon stuffed with GM omega-3 oils may be over-blown [1], but the risks to the environment are very real.
GM veggie oil for fish
November 2018
The earliest suggestions that certain 'fatty acids' (the building block of oils) might be, like vitamins, vital to health in small quantities were ridiculed by the scientific establishment: oils were viewed as simply a concentrated source of energy for the body and devoid of any role in health promotion.
The earliest suggestions that certain 'fatty acids' (the building block of oils) might be, like vitamins, vital to health in small quantities were ridiculed by the scientific establishment: oils were viewed as simply a concentrated source of energy for the body and devoid of any role in health promotion.
Science has moved a long way since then: fatty acids have
been implicated in the healthy function and development of cells and tissues at
every stage of life. Two fatty acids in
particular, 'EPA' and 'DHA' omega-3s*, are the subject of an "impressive
documentation ... related to health benefits” with special reference to the
heart and cardiovascular system. Despite
this, "the cellular and molecular mechanisms for (EPA and DHA) action are
still insufficiently understood" (Gil).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)