US GAO recommends more biotech oversight In a new report to Congress, the US Government Accountability Office says that more oversight and coordination is needed among federal agencies to prevent unapproved releases of genetically modified crops into the environment and food and feed supply. Crop developers are subject to periodic inspections, but the GAO says the Agriculture Department lacks the resources to inspect every site and the EPA has not made inspections a priority. Most of the known unauthorized releases were self-reported by the crop developers, the report said.  More†

Europe: moratorium for two more years After a six-month consultation process, Environmental ministers of the European Union have launched a plan aimed at overcoming the inability of the Council of Ministers to take authorisation decisions on new GM products for cultivation in the EU. The final step in the plan, slated for June 2010, is a draft report by the European Commission on the conclusions of a Commission-member state reflection group on the socio-economic implications of GMOs. More†

Poland escapes feed ban, punishes crop growers instead Perhaps taking a clue from the devastation of the poultry and livestock industries in Western Europe wrought by bans on GM animal feed, Polish decision makers, industry, scientists, producers, and regional political leaders worked together to postpone a ban on animal feed derived from biotech crops until the end of 2012. However, Poland's Ministry of Environment is pushing forward on their anti-GMO position with a new draft of a cultivation law, which legislators hope to put into effect by the beginning of 2009. More†

South Australia extends ban The South Australian Government says its moratorium on genetically modified crops will remain, even though the Bureau of Rural Sciences has found that genetically modified canola crops would make the industry more sustainable. More†

Business

Progress in drought tolerance and yield Evogene, Ltd. and Biogemma SAS have announced results of field trials for maize hybrids containing a number of genes predicted by Evogene to increase yield and drought tolerance. The field trials, conducted in several sites in the US and in Israel, demonstrate that hybrids containing certain of these genes displayed "significant yield increases under both normal and drought conditions", as compared to control maize hybrids under the same conditions. More†

Evogene, Bayer CropScience form closer ties Rehovot, Israel - based Evogene Ltd. has strengthened its on-going collaboration with Bayer CropScience to increase yield in rice. In June 2007, the two companies announced a collaboration to increase rice productivity and yield. Pursuant to the collaboration agreement between the companies, Bayer CropScience has recently exercised its option to exclusive licensing rights in rice to additional candidate genes discovered by Evogene. More†

US farmers growing GM white maize Millers, food companies and export markets have changed their minds. More†

Monsanto Acquires CanaVialis and Alellyx Monsanto Co. has completed its proposed acquisition of Aly Participacoes Ltda., which operates the sugarcane breeding and technology companies, CanaVialis S.A. and Alellyx S.A., both of which are based in Brazil. Monsanto's $290 million (R$616 million) acquisition of Aly Participacoes Ltda. from Votorantim Novos Negocios Ltda. and its sister company, Votorantim Industrial S.A., was consummated with existing excess cash. More†

Aussie grain handlers confident they can segregate Australia's ABC News reports that grain handling companies are confident about segregating GM canola from the conventional crop. This would be great news for everyone in the food chain if the GM canola were a "value-added" specialty crop -- but it's not. There's no need to segregate the canola, nor any value in doing so. By assuaging the critics of biotechnology with a segregation scheme, the industry has only set itself up for a political "contamination" fracas. More†

Legal

Belgium's Council of State unblocks field trials The Council of State, Belgium's highest juridical court, has suspended a decision by federal ministers to block field trials of poplars engineered for the production of biofuels. This does not mean field trials will immediately go ahead. In the opinion of Flanders Institute for Biotechnology [Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, VIB], which developed the poplars, the ministers will be forced to come up with a new decision, taking into account the Council of State's verdicts. More†

Brazil approves Dupont/Dow GM maize Brazil's biosafety regulator CTNBio has approved commercial cultivation of GM maize jointly developed by DuPont and Dow. It must still be approved by Brazil's Agriculture Ministry before it can be planted. More†

Italy approves GM fruit, vegetable trials After a hiatus of ten years, Italy has approved the resumption of biotech field trials -- sort of. Protocols for nine crops were approved but leave implementing regulations up to the regions - many of which have declared themselves to be GMO free.  More†

Austria rebuffed again The Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms Panel of the European Food Safety Authority has released an opinion which concludes, once again, that Austria has presented no new scientific evidence that would justify a ban on maize MON810 and T25. This includes a rejection of the latest Zentek/Vienna mice study. More†

France fined for noncompliance The European Court of Justice has fined France EUR10 million (US$12.9 million) for failing to harmonize its laws on GM crops and foods with those of the European Union. EU governments had a deadline of October 2002 to revise transpose the EU's Deliberate Release Directive into their national legislation. More†

Sci/Tech

Cellular atlas of rice Researchers at Yale University have published a cellular atlas of genetic activity in rice, documenting with unprecedented detail how and when genes are turned off and on. The data, collected during a five-year project, chronicles the molecular differences and similarities among 40 cell types essential to the life cycle of one of the world's most important crops. More†

Sugarcorn for ethanol Sugarcorn is a hybrid, a cross between sugarcane and maize. It doesn't flower to produce grain, it produces sugar in its stalks, and can grow to be 15 feet high. During the 2009 growing season, Targeted Growth Inc. will grow it in test plots across the US, east to west from Indiana to Nebraska, and spanning north to south from Minnesota to Florida. Meanwhile, researchers are continuing to work on increasing sugar yield in the plant, increasing hardiness for growth in the Midwest, and modifying the plant to prevent it from being pollinated by nearby stands of traditional maize. More†

Soybean Genome Sequenced The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released a complete draft assembly of the soybean (Glycine max) genetic code, making it widely available to the research community to advance new breeding strategies for one of the world's most valuable plant commodities. More†

Review of Zentek paper When properly analyzed, these data do not appear to support an effect on fertility or reproduction from consumption of GM corn. More† James C. Lamb

Development

GM maize field trials in Cuba GM maize developed by Cuban scientists is currently in the farm trial phase in five different provinces of that island nation. The Cuban project emerged in 2000 with the goal of developing corn resistant to the principal plague for this type of gramineae on the island (moths) and a certain type of herbicide. A team from the plant division at CIGB and specialists from the Liliana Dimitrova Horticulture Research Institute have worked on the project since it began. More†

Tech for Kenya A new project is underway to transfer technology to Kenya that might not draw the wrath of Greenpeace. More†

Nitrogen use efficient and salt-tolerant rice for Africa Arcadia Biosciences and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation have entered into an agreement to develop nitrogen use efficient and salt-tolerant strains of African rice. The agreement builds on an existing compensensation-free license. More†

India developing GM papaya India's Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) is developing a GM papaya that would resist papaya ring spot virus (PRSV), which is responsible for destroying papaya cultivation in thousands of acres in the country. Dr. C. Ramasamy, TNAU Vice Chancellor, said the department of Biotechnology had allocated funds for the project and it would take another three years for coming out with GM papaya. More†

Solution for Africa: buy it (redux) On Oct. 4, 2008, GMObelus reported that "some of the world's richest nations are coming to Africa to farm, hoping to turn the global epicentre of malnutrition into a breadbasket for themselves." This may be turning into an international land rush. New Scientist reports countries including China, Kuwait and Sweden are snapping up vast tracts of agricultural land in poorer nations, especially in Africa, to grow biofuels and food for themselves. More†

NGO Watch

Drink organic, plant a tree Modern Spirits, a maker of organic vodka and gin, has added a "TRU" lineup to their offerings. This specially-labeled group of distilled beverages comes in recyclable/biodegradable packaging, and the company will plant a tree in a tropical zone for every bottle purchased.  More†

Activists allege Chile maize is 'contaminated' Chile 's regulatory position on GM crops is interesting. The country only allows GM crops if they are grown for seed, but the seeds must be exported. On the other hand, importing GM products and ingredients for food and feed is allowed. Activists took 30 samples of conventional Chilean maize growing somewhere near GM maize. An un-named laboratory found that 3 of the 30 samples tested positive for 0.03 percent, and another tested positive for 0.13 percent. The activists are horrified. More†

EU-backed activists force closure of research farm in Brazil With the financial backing of European governments, two activist groups have forced the confiscation of a research farm in Brazil. The groups, Landless Workers Movement, (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra/MST) and Via Campesina, are responsible for violent conflicts at Syngenta's facility in Paraná state, in the South of Brazil. As a result, two are dead, and Syngenta must look elsewhere to conduct research. More†

Potpourri

Selectively organic Organic growers threaten to renounce their organic status whenever there's even the slightest whiff of pollen from GM crops. What happens when it turns out that as many as thirty percent of organic growers in California have been using unapproved synthetic fertilizer for nearly a decade? Nothing. Or, perhaps, a cover-up. More†

Low radiocarbon food A company called Radiocarb Genetics is announcing success in its program to develop foods with "significantly lower levels of harmful radioactive carbon-14 than normally found in food." The supposed benefit is that "Infants and children nourished with safer, low radiocarbon LifeBlocks(TM) foods will suffer tens of billions fewer genetic damage events over their lifetime. More†

Bioengineers outsmarted by strain of intelligent wheat A GM variety of wheat escapes from a Monsanto high-security lab by passing itself off as common winter wheat. The assistance of a GM potato is suspected. More†

IAEA pushes for mutant plant breeding Saying the technique of blasting seeds with ionizing radiation "mimics nature", the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is calling for renewed interest and investment  in this 80-year-old process.  More†

EC to allow sale of mis-shapen fruits, vegetables Rules governing the size and shape of fruit and vegetables will be consigned to history after European Union Member States today voted on Commission proposals to repeal specific marketing standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetables. Is this part of a deal made with the International Atomic Energy Agency to promote "radiation breeding"? More†

GM California Raisin on killing spree A genetically engineered California Raisin goes on a killing spree in a small southern town in Alabama. More†