Archived News

May 2005

The Experimental Cultivation of Transgenic Corn is Being Extended
31 May 2005 Ostsee-Zeitung via Checkbiotech.org
One thousand hectares of experimental fields are registered this year throughout Germany. In the Northeast of Germany, there are about 210 hectares all together.

Will Potatoes Help Prevent Hepatitis E?
31 May 2005 CheckBiotech.org
Researchers in the U.S. and Japan are trying to develop an oral vaccine to prevent hepatitis E – with a little hard work, it may come in the form of a potato.

Sunflower Fields in South Texas Help Meet National Seed Demand
31 May 2005 AP via San Jose Mercury News
Sunflower seeds are being used in healthy alternative foods and have been genetically modified to produce a trans-fatty acid free oil.

Biotech Revolution Will Continue to Produce Big Changes
31 May 2005 Western Farm Press
The 1 billionth acre of genetically modified crop was planted this year, marking a remarkable decade of change since biotechnology was introduced into world agriculture.

Researchers Plant Trial Pest-Proof Maize Variety
28 May 2005 The East African Standard
Kenyan researchers have began a trial planting of maize genetically modified to resist insects.

Workshops Tackle Gender Dimensions of Biotech
28 May 2005 Crop Biotech
Agricultural production, traditional knowledge and health are among some potential applications of biotechnology with gender dimensions.

PM: We Must Accept Risks
27 May 2005 The Independent
Britain was in grave danger of "blowing our chance" to become a world leader in biotechnology, Tony Blair warned as he called for a national debate on everyday risks faced by the public.

Protecting Intellectual Property - May The Force Be With Us
27 May 2005 Truth About Trade & Technology
The prices aren’t cheap, but those of us who choose to use them have decided they are worth it because biotech crops lead to reduced pesticide costs and higher yields.

Challenges for Rice Biotech
27 May 2005 Crop Biotech
The application of biotechnology in rice can help produce the estimated 700 million tons of rice required to feed an additional 650 million rice consumers by 2025.

China and IPGRI Launch Centre on Agro Biodiversity
27 May 2005 Crop Biotech
The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) launched the Centre of Excellence in Agrobiodiversity Research and Development (CEARD)

Bumper Aust Cotton Harvest Said to Validate GM Technology
26 May 2005 Australian Biotechnology News
The harvest of Australia's 2004/05 cotton crop, the first to involve full-scale production of new-generation, pest-resistant Bollgard 2 varieties, is nearing completion.

How Do Our Gardens Grow? Researchers Find a Clue.
26 May 2005 The Chicago Tribune
New information about the growth mechanism in plants could lead to increased crop yields and improved nutrition.

Ignore Scientific GM Advice at Your Peril
25 May 2005 The Buchan Observer
But there is overwhelming evidence from independent research stations and scientists all over the world confirming the potential benefits of GM.

Bugs in Termite Guts May Offer Future Fuel Source
25 May 2005 ABC News
Steven Chu looks down the road and sees an America that is free from foreign oil, powered by home-grown genetically engineered fuel that burns cleanly and is as available as the weeds that grow in your garden.

Developing World Media 'Lacks Critical Analysis of GM'
25 May 2005 SciDev.Net
A survey of the media coverage relating to genetically modified (GM) crops in five developing countries has shown that news stories often lack critical analysis of the issues at stake, and rarely represent the views of farmers.

20 Bt Cotton Strains Available to Farmers for Sowing This Year
25 May 2005 The Hindu Business Line
With GEAC giving its go-ahead for commercial release of two more strains, NCs-145 Bunny Bt and NCS-207 Mallika BT, last week, 20 Bt cotton varieties are available to the farmers for cultivation this year.

U.S. Senate Bill Would Double Ethanol Use in Gasoline to 8 Billion Gallons a Year
25 May 2005 AP via The Free New Mexican
A Senate Committee approved legislation to replace 5% of gasoline by volume with corn based ethanol starting in 2012.

Research Body Develops GM Rubber
25 May 2005 The Hindu Business Line
The Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) has developed genetically modified rubber plants that have better drought resistance and increased environment stress tolerance.

Genetic Modification Seen as Future of Thai Rubber Industry
25 May 2005 MCOT
Genetically modified rubber trees could be the future of the Thai rubber industry, producing high quantities of latex, according to one of Thailand’s principle agricultural firms.

Research Reveals Broader Protective Powers for Amino Acid Proline
24 May 2005 University of Nebraska
Revving up an amino acid that plants already contain might protect them from a host of environmental stresses, such as heat, salt, drought or herbicides.

EFSA Further Clarifies Status of Risk Assessement Concerning MON 863 and Hybrid MON 863 X MON 810
24 May 2005 European Food Safety Authority
EFSA's Scientific Panel on genetically modified organisms (GMO) has evaluated MON 863 maize and considered that this maize is as safe as its conventional counterpart

Energy Security
24 May 2005 The Star (Malaysia)
The main driving force for developing biofuels is energy security, ecology and agriculture support for rural areas.

Biotechnology Proves to Be Way Forward
23 May 2005 New Straits Times
For Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his three-day official visit to the Netherlands which ended on Saturday has more than proven to him that biotechnology is the way forward for Malaysia.

Biotechnology Could Sustain Economy
23 May 2005 China Daily
Biotechnology-related industry is being hailed as a new engine to sustain China's economic miracle in the years to come, a high-profile research team has told the government.

GEAC Approves Two More Biotech Cotton Hybrids for Cultivation
23 May 2005 Financial Express
The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in its emergency meeting convened on last Friday approved two Bt cotton hybrids.

Monsanto: European Regulators Reviewed Results of Studies on MON 863 YieldGard Rootworm Corn
23 May 2005 Monsanto Co.
Feeding Studies Were Made Widely Available to European Regulators Prior to Favorable 2004 Opinion

Monsanto Response on MON 863 Maize 90-Day Rat Feeding Study
22 May 2005 Monsanto UK
Monsanto's information about its MON 863 maize, which was sent to the Independent on Sunday many weeks ago, is available here.

Rye Grass Research Reaps Allergy-Free Benefits
21 May 2005 ABC (AU)
Researchers have silenced the gene that produces the allergens in rye grass that cause hay fever.

Abdullah: Learn from the Dutch
21 May 2005 The Star (Malaysia)
Malaysia can learn from the Dutch experience in agriculture and biotechnology to produce top quality and high value food products.

EU Food Agency Says GMO Maize Type Safe to Grow
20 May 2005 Reuters UK
According to Reuters, Syngenta's Bt-11 maize was assessed today by the European Food Safety Authority which found it to be safe and without adverse effects on health or the environment.

Viet Nam-US Cooperation in Biotechnology
20 May 2005 Vietnam News Agency
A number of professors from three US universities are giving lectures and exchanging views the application of gene technology to create high-quality soybean varieties.

Plants Yield Key to 'Silencing' HIV Genes
19 May 2005 National Institutes of Health
For the first time, scientists have shown that humans use an immune defense process common in plants and invertebrates to battle a virus.

GMO Coffee in Laboratories But No Sell-By Date Yet
19 May 2005 Reuters via Planet Ark
Researchers from Brazil, France and the US are working together to create coffee that is genetically modified to be caffeine free and resistant to drought, frost and disease.

Researchers Find Gene That May Be at Root of Potato Blight
19 May 2005 The Ohio State Univeristy - Research News
Researchers have found a gene they suspect plays an important role in triggering the blight that wiped out Ireland's potato crops a century-and-a-half ago.

Lack of GM Laws 'Criminal', Says Ugandan Ex-Minister
19 May 2005 SciDev.Net
A former Ugandan minister for agriculture who is now a senior official at the International Food Policy Research Institute used a colourful speech last month to state that failure to accept GM crops in Africa is both unjust and based on irrational fears.

Alarm Pheromone Causes Aphids to Sprout Wings
18 May 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Chemical communication within insect species is often much more sophisticated than expected.

Excerpts from the Speech by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the CBI Annual Dinner
18 May 2005 HM Treasury
To make the most of British scientific and technological genius I propose we agree a shared agenda for long term investment in science and technology and new incentives for its application to industry.

Green Fuel for Council Vehicles
18 May 2005 BBC
As part of a program to reduce air pollution, Easington District Council´s vehicles will use an environmentally-friendly bio-plus diesel fuel.

If Wishes Were Horses, This Would Be the Kentucky Derby
17 May 2005 Tech Central Station
The UN's involvement in the excessive, unscientific regulation of biotechnology -- also known as gene-splicing, or genetic modification (GM) -- slows agricultural and pharmaceutical research and development and promotes environmental damage.

Sugars Are More Than Just Sweet
17 May 2005 CheckBiotech.org
By better understanding glycans, the biotechnological production of many pharmaceutical proteins and food supplements can be ameliorated.

Ten Years of Biotech Cropping Has Passed So Fast
17 May 2005 American Farm Bureau
The fact is that today, after reaching the milestone of 10 full years of proven biotech crop production, a majority of farmers in the United States would likely have to rethink, if not relearn, how to economically grow row crops without this valuable farming tool.

Plant Pest Resistance Boosted
17 May 2005 The Scientist
An international team of researchers has developed a new technique for increasing pest resistance in transgenic crop plants, they report this week in PNAS.

India: Farmers Still Prefer Bt Cotton Seeds
17 May 2005 The Deccan Herald via AgBioWorld
There is a huge demand for the Bt cotton seeds in the district and in some instances, the farmers are agitating and taking on to the streets demanding for the increased supply of Bt seeds.

IU Biologist Wins Award to Unlock Secrets of Plants
16 May 2005 The Indianapolis Star
Prize to let scientist continue work on gene swapping, travel to South Pacific island.

Scientists Identify Genes Responsible for 'Black Rot' Disease in Vegetables
16 May 2005 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Large-scale comparative and functional genomics study characterizes bacterial pathogen responsible for major vegetable crop losses worldwide.

Biotech Important for Ag Advancement
16 May 2005 The Grand Forks Herald
This year marked the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, and it should be noted how important biotechnology has been (and can be) for advancements in both agriculture and the environment.

Report: Biotech Corn in Africa Can Relieve Hunger
15 May 2005 The Des Moines Register
For years, the proponents of biotechnology have been telling us that genetically engineered crops could relieve hunger around the world.

Genetically Modified Plant Grows 'Fishy' Fatty Acids
14 May 2005 New Scientist
A Plant has been genetically engineered to make a "fishy" fatty acid.

The Brouhaha About Bt-Cotton in India!
14 May 2005 AgBioWorld
Come every March/April for the past three years, it has been open season for all sorts of vigilantes of Bt-cotton to report on its failure, mostly in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and also in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

DOE JGI Announces 2006 Community Sequencing Program Portfolio
13 May 2005 DOE Joint Genome Institute
Embedded in the language of DNA, the common link among all living things, are lessons for interpreting the complex systems that regulate the health of planet Earth.

Cotton Production Up Five Times in Four Years
13 May 2005 Business Standard
The reason behind the surge of productivity in cotton farming is believed to be the use of genetically modified seeds.

Gene 'Archeology' Gets Easier Using Carnegie Mellon University Software
12 May 2005 Carnegie Mellon University
Now, powerful new software makes gene "archeology" considerably easier, reports a team of investigators at Carnegie Mellon University.

Sorghum Trait for Weed Control
12 May 2005 Crop Biotech Net
Because of its potent allellopathic traits, sorghum is being eyed by scientists for a natural method of weed control.

NABC Meeting to be Held in June
12 May 2005 Crop Biotech Net
The University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee will be hosting the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council’s 17th Annual Meeting.

Genetically Modified Plants to Grow Vaccines Against Killer Diseases
11 May 2005 Physician Law Weekly via Truth About Trade & Technology
Genetically modified (GM) plants are to be used to grow vaccines for use in the worldwide fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies thanks to a grant of 12 million euros from the EU's Sixth Framework Program (FP6).

Bond, Peterson Receive IFT Congressional Science Award
11 May 2005 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
The Institute of Food Technologists’ 2005 Congressional Support for Science Award will be presented to U.S. Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, of Missouri, and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, of Minnesota.

Wheat Harvest to Enhance Food Security
11 May 2005 China Daily
As the nation grows increasingly alarmed by the international catchwords "food security," it has never ceased its efforts in grinding out super-yield crops to feed its growing population.

Bt Cotton Enthuses Punjab Farmers
11 May 2005 The Hindu Business Line via Checkbiotech.org
Enthused by better results from BT cotton, one-third of the cotton growers in Punjab are going for the genetically modified variety in the ongoing season, according to a top Government official.

Easy on the Eye
10 May 2005 CheckBiotech.org
Now, transgenic potatoes equipped with a bacterial gene of the biosynthetic pathway of carotenoids not only come in a very stylish orange hue, but offer a wide range of health benefits as well

Plant-Generated Pharmaceuticals Bring a Harvest of Hope
10 May 2005 Council for Biotechnology Information Canada
Producing pharmaceuticals from plants is a novel process that may give patients faster access to innovative, life-saving therapeutics.

GM Crops and Biodiversity: What's the Fuss All About?
10 May 2005 BioSpectrum
Anti-GM crop activists are of the strong belief that GM crops pose a threat to biodiversity but this is far from truth and is yet to be proven scientifically.

Dispelling the Myths: The Real Facts About Agricultural Biotechnology and Biotech Food
09 May 2005 American Soybean Association
The advent of ag biotechnology has been memorable for many reasons.

Dispelling the Myths: The Real Facts About Agricultural Biotechnology
09 May 2005 American Soybean Association
Since agricultural biotechnology (ag biotech) crops were first commercialized in the U.S. a decade ago, the acreage planted to ag biotech seeds has grown every year.

Defensive Eating
09 May 2005 Scientific American
It is going to be hard to justify blocking genetically modified plants if we can document we are reducing infant mortality.

One Billionth Acre of Biotech Crops Has Been Planted
09 May 2005 Truth About Trade & Technology
The one billionth cumulative acre of biotech crops will be planted somewhere in the world today.

Inaccuracy - Not Bias - Is the Scourge of the Media
09 May 2005 SciDev.Net
The media is often criticised for focusing excessively on 'bad' news about GM crops (indeed about events in general). Such criticism ignores the fact that the main problem is not media bias, but inaccurate reporting.

S. Americans, Arabs will Extend Biotech Coop
08 May 2005 Iran Daily
Arab and South American countries are to put their heads together to improve crop cultivation in drought-ridden regions, a key point on the agenda at the May 10-11 Arab-South American presidential summit here, AFP reported.

Scientists Must Make Themselves Heard
07 May 2005 Australian Financial Review
The rapid take-up of this technology is due to its economic, environmental and health benefits, driven in part by the dramatically lowered requirement for chemical pesticides.

Change Surfer Radio - Feed the World
07 May 2005 The a-Infos Radio Project
Host Dr. James J. Hughes chats with Channapatna Prakash, a biotechnologist at Tuskegee University and founder of AgBioWorld, a science-based information service on agricultural biotechnology issues.

Six Cotton Hybrids Approved for Punjab
07 May 2005 The Hindu
The Union Government as well as the Punjab Government have conceded a long-pending demand of some cotton growers in the State by granting approval to six varieties of Bt. cotton hybrids for commercial cultivation.

ICRISAT Releases Virus-Resistant Pigonpea
06 May 2005 Crop Biotech Net
Pigeonpea is a major crop in India, and is an important protein supplement in the vegetarian diet.

'Potato Park' to Protect Native Knowledge on Potato
06 May 2005 Crop Biotech Net
The document intends to preserve Peruvian farmers’ local knowledge on cultivating more than 2,000 varieties of native potatoes.

Biotechnology: Several Developing Countries Now Have Well-Developed Programmes
06 May 2005 FAO
Research being conducted on GM crops and traits more relevant for food security

California Supervisors Support Biotechnology
06 May 2005 Western Farm Press
The board of supervisors in Kern County, Calif., the fourth largest agricultural county in the nation, has followed the lead of Fresno and Kings counties, passing a resolution supporting agricultural biotechnology.

Australia: A Healthy Regard for Tomorrow
06 May 2005 The Australian
During the next 20 years, biotechnology must become a fundamental contributor to Australia's productivity, both directly through increases in export income and indirectly through the maintenance of the population's health.

Sugarcane Biotechnology Improves Output
05 May 2005 Business World Philippines
The most reliable and cost-effective approach to planting sugarcane is the use of high-quality, disease-resistant varieties resulting in a yield increase of as much as 13%.

Transgenic Basmati Rice
05 May 2005 Information Systems for Biotechnology
Genetic engineering of crop plants has emerged as a powerful tool for creating and preserving genetic diversity, which can then be exploited through conventional methods of plant breeding.

Funds to Expand Maize Research Lead to Improvements
05 May 2005 Cornell University
A Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) researcher at Cornell University has received a grant to help assemble a unique database of DNA mutations in maize (corn).

Bill to Double Ethanol in Gasoline Passes Legislature
05 May 2005 AP via The Star Tribune
A bill to increase the ethanol content of gasoline to 20% is now awaiting the governor's approval.

Agriculture Ministry Likely to Take Over Bio-Diesel Mission
05 May 2005 Financial Express
The shift is being contemplated to give a boost to the project which can reduce India’s dependence on imported oil to as much as 20% in case of diesel.

Ethanol Grows as Gas Alternative
04 May 2005 Wired
The "it" is a processing plant that turns corn into ethanol, a fuel that is increasingly replacing gasoline today and may help to power the fuel-cell vehicles of tomorrow.

Scientists Find MicroRNAs Regulate Plant Development
04 May 2005 American Society of Plant Biologists
Major Aspects of Root and Shoot Development Controlled by the Plant Hormone Auxin are Linked to Regulation of Gene Expression by MicroRNAs.

GM Soybeans Stop Hair Loss
04 May 2005 Food Navigator
According to this story, researchers at Kyoto University claim that genetically modified soybeans can prevent hair loss and promote new growth.

From Toxin to Cancer Prevention
04 May 2005 CheckBiotech.org
A plant that cleans toxic substances from soils and turns the matter into nutraceutical—does it sound to good to be true?

India Renews Permission for GMO Cotton Plantings
04 May 2005 Reuters
India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has extended the commercial sale of genetically modified (GM) cotton for an additional two years.

Tobacco Plants Used to Produce Monoclonal Antibodies
04 May 2005 RxPG News
These results indicate that plant biotechnology can be a useful alternative to produce monoclonal antibodies. The antibody produced in tobacco is as good as the antibody produced in animal cells.

Biomass-to-Ethanol Technology Could Help Replace Half of U.S. Auto Fuel
04 May 2005 University of Florida
Half the automotive fuel in the United States could be replaced with ethanol from renewable agricultural crops and forest wastes.

Malaysia to Launch US$26 Million Biotech Fund
04 May 2005 SciDev.Net
The government of Malaysia is setting up a 100 million ringgit (US$26 million) fund to support biotechnology research and development.

African Scientists Call for Trained Science Journalists
04 May 2005 SciDev.Net
Africa is lacking in journalists able to understand and report science without distorting facts and misinforming the public, according to leading scientists from the continent, who have called for training to help close the gap.

Ivory-Tower Rhetoric Is Calorie Free
04 May 2005 The Steward
Real-world problems need real-world solutions, not calorie-free ivory-tower rhetoric.

Europeans Gradually Accepting More Biotechnology
03 May 2005 AgriNews
Though European consumers still aren’t ready to embrace genetically modified agricultural products, there is real movement toward acceptance.

A Gateway for Green Genetics in Africa
03 May 2005 Die Welt via CheckBiotech.org
South Africa belongs, along with the USA, Argentina, Canada, Brazil and China, to the six leading countries of the world regarding the commercial use of agricultural biotechnology.

Monsanto Obtains Agreement on Soybean Seeds Royalties
03 May 2005 El Cronista via CheckBiotech.org
Monsanto has reached a transitory agreement to receive the claimed royalties on the use of transgenic soybean seeds in South America.

Not So Golden Silence on GM Rice
03 May 2005 American Council on Science and Health
Those of us who are supportive of efforts to use science and technology to help the poor improve their lot in life (and the world's population to improve the conditions of life) need to find new ways to reach the media to get our side of the story reported.

Sowing Seeds of Agro Reform - Malaysia
02 May 2005 The Star (Malaysia)
In a special interview, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin outlines his strategies to take the nation's agriculture sector to a higher level.

Long-Standing Ohio Team Serves as Front Line for Corn, Soybean Viruses
02 May 2005 Agricultural Research Service - USDA
Besides identifying viral diseases and their insect carriers, the team helps breeders develop corn and soybean plants resistant to viruses.

Growing a Better Understanding of Biotech Crops
01 May 2005 The Des Moines Business Record
Somewhere in the world, likely early this week, a farmer will plant the billionth cumulative acre of genetically altered crops, also known as biotech crops.