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February 2000

Scientist Defends Safety Of GM Foods
29/02/2000, The Journal
Scientists last night moved to reassure the public that genetically modified foods are safe after claims that the American government had carried out a massive cover-up and ignored scientific advice.

Blair's GM Food Comment Not A U-Turn Says Minister
27/02/2000, Knowledge Centre
According to a Reuters story , the British government has maintained its position on genetically modified (GM) food despite an article by Prime Minister Tony Blair seen as signalling a shift in policy, a cabinet minister said on Sunday.

New Initiative To Make The Case For Crop Biotechnology
25/02/2000, CropGen
On the eve of the OECD conference in Edinburgh on the scientific and health aspects of genetically modified (GM) foods, a new initiative is launched today to help achieve a more balanced debate about GM crops in the UK.

Don't Misrepresent Biotechnology
22/02/2000, USA Today
Critics of biotechnology are inundating 18 major corporations with proposals to stop the development, marketing or selling of bioengineered foods. But this unduly cautious reasoning ignores the elaborate safety system that already exists in the USA. And it ignores the health and environmental risks of existing agricultural methods that biotechnology can help solve.

SCRI Annual Report For 1998/99 (Press Notice)
22/02/2000, Scottish Crop Research Institute
As in the past, the Report includes a number of review articles, split between the major areas of research. In addition, the Director of SCRI, Professor John Hillman, provides what many consider to be the most comprehensive review of global and UK perspectives of factors influencing agricultural, biological and environmental sciences.

Nobel Prize Winners Endorse Agricultural Biotechnology
21/02/2000, BusinessWorld
Renowned US scientists James Watson and Norman Borlaug join more than 1,000 other scientists from around the world in endorsing the "Declaration of Scientists in Support of Agricultural Biotechnology."

Genetic Modification Isn't An Unnatural Process, Borlaug Says
02/02/2000, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Norman Borlaug has a point to insert into the debate over genetically modified foods: Ordinary leavened bread is made from wheat that carries the genes of three plant species. And the genetic engineering didn't happen in the past decade or even the past millennium. Nature spliced the genes before the rise of the Roman Empire.

Organic Farming: Science And Belief (A Summary)
01/02/2000, Scottish Crop Research Institute
We would like to be able to argue for a different route in some aspects, between 'organic' and 'conventional, high input' farming. An exemplary issue is the production of varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases, that would lead to the reduction or even elimination of particular chemical inputs.