| | 10/February/20
| | Gene-edited animals must be regulated to protect public health – US FDA The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a strong statement endorsing the need for strict oversight of gene editing in animals in order to protect public health. The FDA’s stance is of note because the biotech industry and its supporters have been strongly lobbying governments to forego regulatory oversight of gene-edited animals and plants, claiming that gene-editing makes such precise changes to the genome that oversight is unnecessary. In support of this argument, it has also been claimed that the edits are indistinguishable from alterations occurring in nature. But the FDA's own research, newly published in a peer-reviewed journal, shows that both arguments are false. GMWatch Plants produced by gene editing or random mutagenesis are subject to EU's GMO regulations On 7 February 2020, the French Council of State (the highest court in France for cases involving public administration) brought to a conclusion a court case that has dragged on for over five years, which has seen nine different organisations (associations) join together to oppose the French government over its regulation of certain techniques of genetic modification termed "mutagenesis". The Council of State affirms that the mutagenesis techniques known as "directed" (or "targeted") mutagenesis (also called "gene editing") and "random in vivo" mutagenesis should be regulated as GMOs. Inf'OGM; GMWatch Hawaii: Public outraged over herbicide bill veto, override fail (video and article) A group of Big Island residents spoke out during a Hawaii County Council meeting in Hilo, about a month after the failure of a bill that would have ended the County’s use of herbicides in maintaining parks and roads. The council passed Bill 101 back in November of 2019 by a 6 to 3 vote, but after Mayor Harry Kim disagreed with the proposed law, the council failed to override his veto. Big Island Video News Why farmers might not plant GMO golden rice Golden rice is probably the world’s most hotly debated GMO. It was intended to be a beta carotene-enriched crop to reduce Vitamin A deficiency, a health problem in very poor areas. But it has never been offered to farmers for planting. Why not? Because Golden Rice has an activist problem, according to its proponents. They insist that the rice would have prevented millions of child deaths by now had it not been blocked by anti-science activists. But the view of experts Glenn Davis Stone and Dominic Glover, based on numerous scientific studies, is that the rice is still beset by problems that have little to do with activists. The Conversation; comment by GMWatch No clear path for GMO golden rice to reach consumers Behind the story in The Conversation (above) about GMO golden rice (GR) is a new peer-reviewed study by Glenn Davis Stone and Dominic Glover, which finds that most families at risk for vitamin A deficiency can’t grow golden rice themselves, and most commercial farmers won’t grow it either. The authors conclude, "Farmers are unlikely to plant GR in its current varieties, unless induced to do so." Technology in Society; Washington University in St Louis; comment by GMWatch Bt cotton: Cultivating farmer distress in India Later this month, India’s Supreme Court will hold a lengthy hearing on the commercialisation of GM mustard, which would be the country’s first GM food crop. The court has asked the chair of the Technical Expert Committee to be present and says that the decision on GM mustard cannot be kept pending. The TEC has come out against using GMOs in Indian agriculture. To date, cotton is the only officially sanctioned GM crop in India. Those pushing for GM food crops (including the government) are forwarding the narrative that GM pest resistant Bt cotton has been a tremendous success which should now be emulated with the introduction of GM mustard. Ever since its commercialisation in 2002, however, the issue of Bt cotton in India has been a hotly contested issue. Countercurrents DONATE TO GMWATCH __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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