JANUARY
2000
Soiled
reputation:
As delegations readied for the Montreal biosafety meeting, U.S.
and Venezuelan researchers confirmed that the Bt toxin in transgenic
maize could (contrary to industry expectations) escape into the
soil killing larvae up to 25 days after the breakout.
FEBRUARY
2000
Hard
to resist:
Canadian scientists acknowledged that Monsanto's Roundup,
Cyanamid's Pursuit, and Aventis's Liberty herbicides lost their
effectiveness against weeds only 2 to 3 years after an Alberta farmer
planted the companies' GM canola seeds.
MARCH
2000
Vowel
language:
A long-suppressed U.S. government memo dating to 1993 revealed
an experiment in which 4 of 20 female rodents fed the FlavrSavr
(a GM tomato
now owned by Monsanto) suffered gross stomach lesions.
"Play
possum" plot:
New Zealand scientists proposed to develop GM carrots engineered
to sterilize possums when eaten. Possums are threatening the country's
crops.
Scientists
pooh-poohed concern that the carrots might have the same effect
on people, and insisted the carrots could be kept separate from
the human food chain if necessary.
APRIL
2000
Weevil
wars:
It
was found that GM cotton that "volunteered" in GM soybean
fields may be bringing the dreaded cotton boll weevil back into
the USA as a major pest.
MAY
2000
"Safe"
wherever they are:
GM
seeds were routinely — though accidentally — shipped to
Europe by U.S. and Canadian seed companies who couldn't seem
to keep their conventional seeds separate from their GM lines.
In
the following days, the sloppy inventory management problem spread
throughout Western Europe as country after country found their fields
contaminated with illegal and unwanted GM crops.
(New Zealanders were assured that such stock management problems
could never occur with carrots.)
"Safe"
whoever they are:
Monsanto
advised U.S. officials that it had detected an unidentified strand
of DNA making "mystery guest" appearances in its GM soybeans.
Monsanto
assured officials that the unknown DNA was perfectly safe (and was
not
a virus playing "possum").
German
Bee Bellies:
A researcher in Saxony found that a gene had transferred from genetically
engineered rapeseed to bacteria and fungi discovered in the gut
of honeybees.
Industry
had previously claimed such a transfer was highly unlikely or impossible.
JUNE
2000
Spider
man:
A
"jumping gene" being used in genetic engineering has crossed
the species barrier at least seven times, including one jump between
flies and humans.
If organisms modified using this footloose gene are released, there
is risk of further unexpected jumps. (New Zealanders were assured
the gene would not be used in developing transgenic carrots).
"Safe"
whatever they are:
The New Zealand government admitted that there were at least
100 illicit GM crop experiments underway in the country.
After
checking on half the experiments, the government announced that
(as with Monsanto) everything was okay (and that none of the experiments
could possibly involve either possums or carrots).
JULY
2000
No
safe refuge:
Non-GM
maize "refuges" planted by farmers near their GM maize
fields in order to slow resistance to the bacterial toxin in the
GM fields just don't work.
The
vulnerable insects in the refuge plots refuse to breed with the
resistant insects from the larger GM fields. (Possums, however,
are understood to find the corporate designed plots to be ideal
breeding grounds.)
Wander-lust:
A large-scale study of the U.K.'s oilseed rape crop and
indigenous weedy relatives proved that crosses can occur and that
traits such as GM herbicide-tolerance could leap to weeds.
AUGUST
2000
The
real Golden Rice:
A U.S. university study of "sticky" rice varieties in
China and the Philippines showed that planting a number of diverse
varieties increased yields by 89% while reducing disease by 98%.
Their
conclusion: diversity outperforms genetically uniform GM varieties.
Better
flee butterfly:
Researchers in Iowa (USA) confirmed a controversial Cornell
study proving that GM maize is a threat to Monarch butterflies.
Industry
had disputed the earlier Cornell findings.
Possum
labels:
Bowing to public pressure, both New Zealand and Australia
announced they would require labeling for almost all GM foods.
This
brought the two countries close to Europe and further isolated Canada
and the USA who still oppose labeling.
SEPTEMBER
2000
Taco
bulls:
A
GM maize variety ("StarLink") banned in the USA for human
consumption (because of fears of allergic reactions) but permitted
as a livestock feed, showed up in taco shells served at Taco Bell
restaurants.
The
Aventis variety raised new concerns about industry's and government's
capacity to regulate and manage GM products.
"Safe"
whatever part it is:
U.S. researchers warned of a loophole in biosafety regulations
for GM crops such as tomatoes and potatoes where the rule of "substantial
equivalence" applies only to the edible portion of the plant
and neglects changes that might occur in roots or leaves.
Failure
to test for significant genetic alteration of the inedible parts
could risk the environment they warned.
OCTOBER
2000
Power
Ranger epi-needles:
The
Taco Bell StarLink scandal spread to Kellogg's cornflakes as the
giant cereal company closed down one plant for fear that the illicit
GM StarLink maize had infected breakfast cereals.
(StarLink
was approved for animal feed but not for human consumption.)
In
a panic, the White House sent emissaries to Japan and Europe to
try to calm concerns that Aventis's "Starlink" had illegally
entered their countries.
Super
sugarweeds:
German researchers reported
that a GM sugarbeet designed to resist one herbicide accidentally
acquired resistance to a second herbicide.
EU
biosafety rules do not permit double-resistance because of the increased
possibility of gene diffusion into weeds and the creation of superweeds.
NOVEMBER
2000
Unethical
monopolies:
The
first meeting of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's Ethics
Panel (a group of world-renowned agronomists and ethicists) concluded
that GM crops are risky, Terminator technology is immoral; and that
patenting genes and other genetic material leads to crop genetic
erosion and unacceptable monopoly.
Biotech's
billion dollar mistake:
With the Aventis "StarLink" scandal spreading
to hundreds of food products and companies, the company estimated
that its cleanup costs would be less than $1 billion.
Then
the GM maize turned up in Japan and Korea.
DECEMBER
2000
Montpellier's
Monsanto rescue:
The
world's "biocrats" gathered in France to debate biosafety
rules and rescue Monsanto.
Never
before have so many gathered to debate biosafety for so few! In
essence, the $2.5 billion GM seed market involves four major industrial
crops (soybean, maize, cotton and canola) grown in 3 countries (the
U.S., Argentina, and Canada accounted for 98% of the total GM area
in 2000).
In
1999, Monsanto's GM seed traits accounted for over four-fifths of
the total world area devoted to GM crops.
Demand
for GM seeds almost flattened in 2000 with an increase of only 8%
after years of doubling and redoubling.
Analysts
predicted that, at least until 2003, demand would remain flat or
decline.
In
other words, the purpose of Montpellier was to rescue Monsanto,
the USA, Canada and Argentina from their GM blunder!
Possums'
"pay" TV:
Australian researchers may have found the answer to New
Zealand's possum problems.
Reports
earlier in the year that Aussie possums! were dropping like flies
from aboveground cable TV wiring has stirred speculation in the
island country that a similar emphasis on overhead wires could eliminate
the need for GM carrots.
Support
Rural Advancement Foundation's work to stop the spread of GE crops
and support family farmers.
Donations
gratefully accepted.
Contact
them at: P.O. Box 640, Pittsboro, NC 27312, phone 919-542-1396;
or on their website, www.rafiusa.org.