Archived News

January 1999

Peer Pressure
28 January 1999 Daily Mail
The claim that the recent House of Lords report on the regulation of genetic modification in agriculture was prompted by a desire ‘to get the Government off a nasty public relations hook’ (Mail) is untrue.

GM Crops? We All Love ’Em!
22 January 1999 Farmers Weekly
The fur may be flying over genetically modified crops in Europe, but in western Canada ex-UK farmer Nick Parsons is delighted with his GM rape. He moved from Gloucestershire to British Columbia in 1991 and now has a 1250-acre arable farm.

Monsanto Welcomes Select Committee Report On Genetically Modified Food
21 January 1999 Monsanto
Monsanto welcomed the House of Lords Select Committee Report on Genetic Modification in Agriculture.

Australia To Be Left Behind On Genetic Research: Scientists
20 January 1999 AAP Information Services
The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) was cited as calling on Prime Minister John Howard to invest as much as other governments into biotechnology research, warning that Australia risked becoming irrelevant in the coming century unless it matched the massive amounts being spent by other countries on research into genetic modification.

'Food Debate Must Stick To The Facts'
14 January 1999 The Evening Standard
Campaigners against so-called "Frankenstein foods" weretoday accused of having closed minds as supporters ofboth sides of the controversial issue prepared for a majorLondon debate.

Sierra Club Executive Endorses High-Yield Agriculture, Biotech Crop
14 January 1999 Hudson Institute
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, has endorsed high-yield agriculture, including bio-engineered crops, because high farm yields will help save wildlife habitat and wild species. Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues has researched and advocated this agricultural production technique to help preserve the world's environment.

Biotechnology 'To Be Key Player In Economy'
13 January 1999 Newcastle Upon Tyne Journal
The fast-developing science of biotechnology will be a key part of the region's economy in the coming century, an expert claimed yesterday. The prediction came from Colin Self, professor of clinical biochemistry at Newscastle University and organiser of the first conference at the city's landmark Millennium project International Centre for Life.

Monsanto Responds to Molly Ivins' Article "Let's Try Making Green Bluebonnets Instead" (Forth Worth Star-Telegram, 05/01/99)
11 January 1999 Monsanto
By parroting the propaganda of a small but vocal number of biotechnology critics, Molly Ivins (Let's Try Making Green Bluebonnets Instead, 1/5/99) actually contributes to stifling greater public understanding of biotechnology that she so ardently calls for in her column. A reasoned and informed dialogue on these issues has been underway for more than 20 years among physicians, nutritionists, biologists, agronomists, regulators and educators to name a few. Ms. Ivins conveniently ignores the facts, the science and the logic at the heart of that debate.

Food -- It's All In The Genes
02 January 1999 Nottingham Evening Post
Genetic engineering. Is it a science too far? Critics fear irreversible consequences to our health and environment. But scientists in the field argue genetically-modified crops are simply the latest development in the battle to provide food for the world's growing population. Environment Correspondent Helen Ward speaks to Professor Don Grierson, one of the pioneers in the genetics revolution.

The Science Of Selling
02 January 1999 The Economist
Car makers have long used sex to peddle their wares. Recently, however, a new twist to this old idea has developed. Or, rather, two twiststhe double helix of DNA. For both BMW and Renault have based their latest European marketing campaigns around this icon of modern biology. Their advertising agents, it seems, have decided that genetics is metaphorically, as well as literally, sexy.

A Super-Banana A Day Will Keep The Doctor Away
01 January 1999 Daily Post (Liverpool)
Painful childhood injections could soon become a thing of the past following the discovery of "vaccinating bananas." Pioneering sicentist in the North West have discovered bananas can be genetically modified and converted into a puree for children to take as an alternative to having an injection.