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July 1999

Better Inside
28/7/99, Evening Standard
Many people will sympathise with the magistrates who remanded in custody the director of Greenpeace, Lord Melchett, rather than allow him to leave on holiday for Tanzania after he led a group systematically destroying GM test crops in Norfolk.

Monsanto's Response To Contempt Of Court Hearing 28 July 1999
28/7/99, Monsanto Press Release
Tony Combes, Director of Corporate Affairs for Monsanto, issued the following statement in response to the Court hearing of 28 July, after four members of GenetixSnowball were served with contempt of Court Injunction notices in relation to events which took place on June 16th at the Royal Agricultural Show held at Wendy (Hertfordshire).

Don't Make Farmers Pay For GM Chaos
28/7/99, The Express
Andrew Marr, political columnist of The Express, thinks that although there are good arguments for going slow on commercial GM planting in Britain, the technology is potentially good. And in his view, testing the plants first is a fair way to proceed, while the recent anti-GM crusade is not.

Give GM Technology A Chance
26/7/99, The John Innes Centre
This letter by Prof Mike Gale and 85 other scientists of The John Innes Centre in Norwich exhorts the British public and media to stop the current campaign of vilification of genetic modification as a technology and encourages a commitment to looking at what it objectively offers.

Like It Or Not, GM Food Is Already Here
23/7/99, Farmer's Guardian
The whole GM debate has rapidly sunk into a morass of myth, lies and exaggeration from both sides. Two facts, however, are already established. Firstly, genetic manipulation is here to stay and our industry must take a scientific look at it's role to play in our future production. The other established fact is that some 40 per cent of our imported soya is derived from GM plants so it is already in our diets, like it or not.

Impacts of Adopting Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. -- Preliminary Results
20/7/99, Economic Research Service, USDA
Genetic engineering is a technique used to alter or move genes of living cells. U.S. acreage using genetically engineered crops has increased from about 8 million acres in 1996 to more than 50 million acres in 1998, in major states where data have been collected. Has adoption of this technology benefited farmers and the environment?

Crop-Wrecking Protesters Won't Stop The GM Trials
19/7/99, Evening Standard
The Government said today that genetically modified crop trials will continue and that the protest will not interfere with the Government's determination to see GM trials through to the end, despite the destruction at the weekend of GM oilseed rape.

Defender Of GM Faith Takes On The "Luddites"
18/7/99, The Scotsman
Campaigners protesting at the use of genetically modified crops destroyed a field of environmentally friendly trees last week. The trees, planted in a field at Jealott's Hill in Berkshire, were part of a research experiment by AstraZeneca to produce wood with a lower lignin content so less bleach has to be used to turn it into paper.

Monsanto Statement Regarding Contempt Of Court Injunction Notices
16/7/99, Monsanto Press Release
Monsanto PLC issued the following statement from London, Friday 16 July 1999 in response to press enquiries, after contempt of Court Injunction notices were served in relation to events which took place on 16th June at the Royal Agricultural Show of England's "Cereals 99" trade show for arable farmers held at Wendy (Hertfordshire).

GM Short Cut To Help Starving Third World
16/7/99, The Express
British scientists have claimed that a breakthrough in plant genetics could help tackle Third-World hunger. In fact, the new shorter plants resulting from genetic manipulation are better able to withstand storms and could be crucial in increasing local food production.

First-Ever Study Shows Biotechnology Delivering Benefits To Agriculture
14/7/99, Biotechnology Industry Organization
Biotechnology is delivering on promises to make farming more efficient. Those are the findings of the first-ever analysis aimed at assessing whether crops genetically modified to resist pests actually yield benefits.

Genetically Modified Crops Already Diminishing Undernutrition
12/7/99, Sussex University
Professor Michael Lipton reports that his argument that genetically modified foods will reduce undernutrition has been criticized as premature. But he wants to underline the fact that GM staple foods are doing so already. The Nuffield report on GM crops documents varieties that have improved yield and stability.

GM Crops: Higher Yields And Important Pesticide Reduction Confirmed By Researchers
9/7/99, EuropaBio
A recent study from the US Department of Agriculture reported that genetically modified (GM) crops allow the farmer to considerably increase productivity. The study also supported the view that GM crops are beneficial to the environment, as the use of herbicides and insecticides can significantly be reduced.

Commission Moves Against Luxembourg And France
7/7/99, Commission of the European Union
The European Commission has decided to notify two Reasoned Opinions to France for non-respect of one of the principal European Union (EU) Directives dealing with genetically modified organisms, and a Reasoned Opinion to Luxembourg for failure to comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice.

GM Foods Can Benefit The Developing Countries
2/7/99, Rockefeller Foundation
GM crops are unpopular in Europe. But for the developing countries there are significant potential benefits. In the world today there are over 800 million people who are chronically undernourished and 180 million children who are severely underweight for their age.

When A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings...
1/7/99, Current Biology
Media coverage of the Monarch butterfly's story illustrates the relentless escalation of hysteria that has characterized reporting of GM foods in the UK over the past year.

Why Africa Needs Agricultural Biotech
1/7/99, ISAAA
The ISAAA director reports that there is urgent need for the development and use of agricultural biotechnology in Africa to help to counter famine, environmental degradation and poverty. Therefore Africa must relinquish the fear and mistrust engendered by the European public and enthusiastically join the biotechnology revolution.

Monsanto May Or May Not Be Greedy, But Its Managers Won't Destroy Its Own Business By Poisoning Its Customers
1/7/99, New College, Oxford
GM crops have replaced paedophilia as the focus for public panic. The incapacity of most discussants to stick to one issue at a time has been impressive, but gloom-inducing. Friends of the Earth's, the Consumers' Association's and Greenpeace's style has moved from "it might damage your health" via "it might kill ladybirds" through "Monsanto is a nasty monopoly" to "we need to know what we're eating" and then back again.

GMOs, The Debate Goes On
July 1999, Grower
As the battle for public opinion hots up, Peter McGrath monitors the current state of the GMO controversy. Among the scientific community there are powerful advocates of continued GM research. Meanwhile, Greenpeace fights against the industry.