GMO, LMO, Biosafety, Transgenic and Plant Biotechnology News
Jan
2020
Minister for Prime Industries and Regional Development Tim
Whetstone released his statement at the start of 2020, saying that farmers in
South Australia (SA) can now opt to grow genetically
modified (GM)
crops, following the State Parliament's move to lift SA's moratorium that
banned GM crops in
the region since 2004.
August 2019
USDA Approves Verdeca's HB4® Drought Tolerant Soybeans
Jan
2020
Scientists
Engineer Mosquitoes to Repel Dengue Virus
An international team of scientists led by Associate
Professor Omar Akbari's Lab at the University of California San Diego (UC San
Diego) has engineered mosquitoes that stop the transmission of the
Dengue virus. The UC San Diego Lab worked with colleagues at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center in identifying a broad spectrum human antibody for
Dengue suppression. The development marks the first engineered approach in
mosquitoes that targets the four known types of Dengue, improving upon previous
designs that addressed single strains. The research team then designed the antibody
"cargo" to be synthetically expressed in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread the Dengue
virus. Akbari said that once a female mosquito takes in blood, the antibody is
activated and expressed. "The antibody is able to hinder the replication
of the virus and prevent its dissemination throughout the mosquito, which then
prevents its transmission to humans," he added. According to the World
Health Organization, the Dengue virus threatens millions of people in tropical
and sub-tropical climates. No specific treatment is available and measures to
stop spreading the virus depend on prevention and control. Akbari said the
engineered mosquitoes could easily be paired with a dissemination system, such
as a gene drive based on CRISPR-Cas9 technology, capable of spreading the
antibody throughout wild disease-transmitting mosquito populations.
Minister for Prime Industries and Regional Development Tim
Whetstone released his statement at the start of 2020, saying that farmers in
South Australia (SA) can now opt to grow genetically
modified (GM)
crops, following the State Parliament's move to lift SA's moratorium that
banned GM crops in
the region since 2004.
August 2019
USDA Approves Verdeca's HB4® Drought Tolerant Soybeans
The U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has given its approval to Verdeca for HB4®drought tolerant soybeans which
will allow for commercialization in the U.S. market. The USDA approval comes
two years after the U.S. Food and Drug administration approved Verdeca's HB4
trait in 2017. With the USDA approval, the HB4 trait now has regulatory
approval in more than 80 percent of the global soybean market. The HB4 trait
has already been approved inArgentina in
2018 and in Brazil in
2019. Regulatory submissions are currently under consideration by China, Paraguay, Bolivia,
and Uruguay.
Import approval from China is
needed for commercial launch in Argentina, and is now expected in 2020.
July 2019
Gene-editing
Fails to Confer Virus Resistance but Develops Mutated Viruses in Cassava; - Third World Network Biosafety Information Service
Geminiviruses cause damaging
diseases in several important crop species including cassava which is a
tropical staple food crop consumed by more than a billion people. Each year,
cassava crops are decimated by cassava mosaic geminiviruses. A research team used
a new gene-editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 in an attempt to design cassava plants that could cut the DNA of the African cassava mosaic virus and make the plants resistant to its
damaging effects. The attempt was not successful. The CRISPR system failed to
confer effective resistance to the virus in controlled laboratory conditions.
Furthermore, between 33% and 48% of edited virus genomes evolved a conserved
single-nucleotide mutation that confers resistance to CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage. “Because
this technology creates a selection pressure on the viruses to evolve more quickly,
and also provides the viruses a means to evolve, it resulted in a virus mutant
that is resistant to our interventions,” explains lead author, Devang Mehta. The researchers encourage
other scientists who are using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to engineer virus-resistant
plants, to test their plants to detect similar viral mutations. They call for
more research before field testing and advise caution in the application
of CRISPR-Cas9 for virus resistance in plants, both in glasshouse and field
settings, to avoid inducing the evolution of resistant viruses.
March
2019
Gene-Edited
High Oleic Soybean Oil Now Available In the Us
Premium quality high-oleic soybean oil developed through gene editing is now available in the US market. The soybean oil known as CalynoTM was developed by experts from Calyxt, Inc. This is the first gene-edited food released for consumers in the US. Calyxt scientists turned off two genes involved in fatty-acid synthesis. Unlike traditional GMOs, this particular soybean had genes turned off instead of having another organism's gene inserted to it. This resulted to the Calyno oil being 80% higher in oleic acid, 20% less in saturated fatty acids, has 0 grams trans fat per serving, has three times the fry-life and has a longer shelf-life compared to the current soybean oil being sold in the market. Although the same process can be achieved through conventional crossbreeding, gene editing allows scientists to produce the crop with the desired trait more precisely and in less time. The successful introduction of the new soybean oil into the U.S. food industry may signify that food manufacturers and consumers are now welcoming scientific innovation, particularly gene-editing, to have access to healthier foods.
The government of Bolivia has
granted the approval to usebiotechnology to produce soy solely for biodiesel on
18 March 2019. The announcement was made during the meeting of President Evo
Morales with private entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz. Also present were Vice
President Alvaro Garcia Linera and Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez of the
Ministry of Hydrocarbons. The government's decision was based on its commitment
to biofuels, which also prompted Bolivia to mass produce bioethanol to replace
the importation of gasoline and diesel fuel additives in September 2018. According
to Minister Sanchez, biotechnology will be used in soy production exclusively
for the preparation of the new biodiesel green fuel. This initiative is
estimated to cost over US$2 million in investments, and is predicted to
increase Bolivia's soy agricultural production by 250,000 hectares. He also
said that work will be done in Bolivia's regulatory framework in the coming
weeks, to regulate the activity through a supreme decree.
January 2019
With the development of gene editing tools, experts from the Federal University
of Viçosa in Brazil explored on the possibility of engineering spicy
tomatoes. The paper is published in Trends in Plant Science. The
primary goal of developing spicy tomatoes was to easily mass produce
capsaicinoids, which are secondary metabolites that give chilli peppers their
spicy flavor and has been proven to have health benefits and industrial
applications. According to the researchers, twogenome editing techniques could be used together to turn
on the capsaicinoid biosynthesis in tomato. The first one is the transcriptional
activator-like effectors (TALEs), a set of proteins secreted by pathogenic
bacteria, Xanthomonas spp., when they infect plant hosts.
Rapid assembly of the TALE genes into a single T-DNA vector would allow simultaneous
upregulation of the expression of some key capsaicinoid biosynthesis genes.
Actual experimentation would further exhibit whether the transcript levels
achieved will be enough for the capsaicinoid pathway to be functional. The
second technique is the use of genome engineering for targeted replacement of
promoters. This was proven to be effective in tomato using a constitutive 35S
promoter inserted in ANT1 gene, which encodes a transcription
factor involved in regulating anthocyanin production. Promoter regions of the
inactive genes in the capsaicinoid pathway could be replaced with endogenous
tomato fruit-specific promoters to produce cisgenic plants with
transcriptionally active genes. Actual testing will reveal if the products are
fully functioning, biochemically active, and catalyze the right reactions.
October 2018
1. Blue Roses
Coming Soon in Gardens
Blue roses do not exist naturally, so florists put cut roses
in dye to achieve blue-hued flowers. Thanks to modern biotechnology, blue
roses can now be attained through the help of pigment-producing bacteria. Researchers
have found a way to express pigment-producing enzymes from bacteria in the
petals of a white rose, producing roses with blue tint. The researchers chose
two bacterial enzymes that together can convert L-glutamine, a common
constituent of rose petals, into the blue pigment indigoidine. The team
engineered a strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciensthat contains the
two pigment-producing genes, which originate from a different species of bacteria. When
the researchers injected the engineered bacteria into a white rose petal, the
bacteria transferred the pigment-producing genes to the rose genome, and a blue
color spread from the injection site. The color was short-lived and spotty, but
the team states that the rose produced in this study is the world's first
engineered blue rose.
The inaugural harvest of the first gene-edited high-fiber wheathas been completed, as reported by its developer, Calyxt.
The high-fiber wheat is the seventh Calyxt product that has been declared as
non-regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including powdery
mildew-resistant wheat, high-oleic soybeans, high-oleic/low-linoleic soybeans, improved quality alfalfa, cold storable potatoes and reduced browning potatoes.
"Consumer demand for high-fiber products has never been higher, as fiber
is essential for healthy digestion, with the potential to decrease the risk of
food-related chronic diseases like coronary heart disease and diabetes. Most
adults only consume about half of the recommended amount of fiber in their diet
but, with this latest advancement, we're one step closer to developing a
product with up to three times more dietary fiber than standard white flour,
resulting in a healthier alternative for consumers with the same great taste
that they love," Calyxt CEO Jim Blome explained. The high-fiber wheat was
developed by using Calyxt's proprietary gene-editing technology, TALEN®, to
produce a small and precise modification in the wheat genome, which is almost
six times larger than the human genome. It is projected that the gene-edited
wheat will be commercially available by 2020/2021.
July 2018
The new LibertyLink® GT27 trait stack will benefit soybean
growers by being the first to market combining tolerance to Liberty® (glufosinate-ammonium), glyphosate, and a new HPPD mode of action herbicide for
soybeans, pending EPA approval. The new HPPDi (Group 27) herbicide under
development will be the first of its kind available in soybeans. There are no
HPPDi herbicides approved for use on soybeans. LibertyLink® GT27 soybeans have
received all of the required import approvals to advance to commercialization
in 2019 and will be broadly licensed throughout North America.
Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued license of DIR 158, authorizing the commercial release of safflower genetically modified (GM) for high oleic acid composition. Will be released throughout safflower from GM, from, The to to Australia . The GM safflower and products derived from it may enter into general commerce, for use in industrial oil production and animal feed . The GM will not be used in human food Both the risk assessment and risk management plan (RARMP) and the license public, state and territorial governments, Australian government agencies, the Minister for Environment, the Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee, and local councils
May 2018
GENE FROM TARO CONFERS APHID RESISTANCE IN INDIAN MUSTARD
Mustard aphid ( Lipaphis erysimi ) is the most devastating sucking insect pest of Indian mustard ( Brassica juncea L.). The taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) tuber agglutinin (CEA), has previously been reported to be effective against a wide array of hemipteran insects in artificial diet-based bioassays. Ayan Das together with colleagues from the Bose Institute in India conducted a study to develop transgenic Indian mustard express from CEA. Analysis of the transgenic plants confirmed stable integration of cea gene . Expression of CEA in transgenic plants was also confirmed. In the plant in insect bioassays, the CEA expressing Indian mustard lines exhibited significant enhanced insect mortality. The fecundity of the mustard aphid pest was also reduced compared to that in control plants. Biosafety assessment of the transgenic B. juncea protein containing CEA also carried out. The results showed that the expressed CEA protein from transgenic Indian mustard does not incite any allergenic response. This study establishes CEA as an effective insecticidal and non-allergenic protein to be used for controlling mustard aphid and similar hemipteran worms.
Carotenoids are plant secondary metabolites that are important in the diet of high animals due to their function in important physiological processes. Team of Caterina from, D'Ambrosio from Agenzia per Lucana: england from, The Sviluppo in the Innovazione in Agricoltura in Italy tested the efficacy of CRISPR-Cas9 in tomato by targeting the two key genes of carotenoid biosynthesis, Psy1 and b2-CrtR Psy1 and CrtR-b2 were selected as targets for CRISPR since their knockout is easily detectable. Two CRISPR-Cas 9 constitutes targeted to target each geneThirty-four out of forty-nine (69%) transformed plants showed the loss-of-function phenotypes due to the editing of both loci. However, by including plants edited only in either of the two loci, the genome-editing rate reached 84%. These results prove that the CRISPR-Cas9 system can become a efficient and quick method for generating mutations in tomato for use in breeding programs.
8-11-2016
USA granted the nonregulated status to two new potato events, Ranger Russet potato X17 and Atlantic potato Y9 . These two new events have reduced acrylamide potential, black spot bruising tolerance and resistance to potato late blight.
Canada approved the maize event MZIR098 (HT + IR) for food, feed and cultivation use.
15-7-2015
1. UK: NEW GM CEREAL CROP PRODUCES FISH OIL IN ITS SEEDS : - A genetically-modified cereal crop that produces fish oil in its seeds has grown successfully in the first time in Britain, scientists have announced. According to the researchers, the researchers said that the risk of heart disease, the researchers said.
4-6-2015
1. COLD GENETICALLY ENGINEERED HUMANS BECOME A REALITY ?: Science is close to making genetically engineered human beings, and the advances in technology are "a new kind of person". The National Institutes of Health said that it would not fund any research in the form of human embryos. The decision comes after human embryo genes. Gene editing, as the term implies, enables a scientist to cut DNA from a genome and insert it into another genome. Theoretically an edited human embryo could then be implanted in a woman's womb. The goal is to edit the group of cells called the germline that could lead to diseases from one generation to the next.
5-3-2015
1. CHINA's GENETICALLY Modified COWS STOP TB: China is introducing a new wave of genetically modified (GM) cows. And we're talking 'mad-scientist' GMOs here - animals that boast genetic traits are utterly impossible to create in nature. Could that be a good thing HowWell, new research has revealed it is minus the minus the minus beneficial in the particular ways, with the latest cows promising to help the cattle industry with a deadly pandemic of Bovine Tuberculosis (TB of of of-B). That's a minimum of a study published in the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which details how early testing with a new generation of GM cows has revealed that modified herds are completely resistant to low levels of Mycobacterium bovis infection the cause of B-TBB-TB has been a problem for the livestock industry for a long time now, with the debilitating disease affecting well over 26,000 cattle in the United Kingdom alone in 2013, according to BBC News.
6-2-2015
1. KOREA; PREVENTION OF DISERTIFICATION WITH GENETICALLY- MODIFIED SWEET POTATOES: A research team led by Dr. Kwak Sang-soo at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology is offering a lot of attention with its original research. The research team studies crops and plants like sweet potatoes and alfalfa. They explain that the problem is preventable by desertification, and solve environmental problems, food shortages, and poverty through the edible products.
2-2-2015
1. GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP SUCCESSFULLY FED TO SALMON: Genetically Modified plants created by British scientists to contain health boosting Omega-3 has been declared a safe alternative to fish oil. A crop of camelina has been spliced with genes to produce an oil rich in fatty acid. It is the first example of a new generation of so-called nutraceuticals' plants whose genetic structure has been converted to introduce health-boosting properties. The plant was made to fed to farmed fish, such as salmon, to boost their Omega-3 content and make food healthier for shoppers. A new study showed that salmon who fed fed oil on thrived. Omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to health benefits, such as lowering the risk of heart disease, cancers and neuro-degenerative diseases.
20-1-2015
1. US TO CREATE EBOLA VACCINE FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED CATTLE: Genetically Modified Cows May save the world from the Ebola outbreak. See them as donors of human antibodies Scientistsfrom, The on United Stateshopesto make a vaccine against using the DNA of the Ebola 's genetically engineered with human peripheral blood plasma of animals. The genetically modified cattle are able to produce human antibodies after cloning and subsequent vaccinations against a number of viruses, including Ebola, NBC News reported. "These animals [cows] produce very high levels of human antibody,"
12-12-2014
1. USAMRIID USING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED COWS TO FIGHT VIRUS: At Fort Detrick, genetically engineered cows are the cutting edge of vaccine research. The US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is looking for a way to treat hantavirus, which can kill up to 40 percent of patients, even if they are treated in modern hospital intensive care units. Dr. Jay Hooper, a USAMRIID scientist who authored a recent research paper, said the army is interested in a treatment since a strain of hantavirus first started infecting soldiers in the Korean War. Scientists at SAB Biotherapeutics Inc. in South Dakota grew human antibodies in genetically engineered cows, which received a experimental vaccine against the virus. USAMRIID scientists took those antibodies and injected them in hamsters that were infected with the Andes hantavirus at Fort Detrick. According to Dr. Eddie Sullivan, President and CEO of SAB Biotherapeutics, the cows' own antibodies were turned off and replaced with human antibodies. "The idea is that when a human receives these antibodies as a therapist to fight the disease, it is recognized by human body as a human protein and hence the risks of complications decreases,"
26-8-2014
1. TOBACCO PLANT ENGINEERED FOR MORE EFFICIENT PHOTOSYNTHESIS: A genetically engineered tobacco plant, developed with two genes from blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), holds the improvement of many food crops. Plants photosynthesize - convert carbon dioxide, water and light in oxygen and sucrose, many sugar cans compared to cyanobacteria may cause photosynthesis significantly faster. "This is the first time that a plant has been created through genetic engineering to fix all of its carbon by a cyanobacterial enzyme," said Maureen Hanson, a co-author of the study and Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at Cornell. "It is an important first step in growing plants with more efficient photosynthesis," Hanson said. The study is published Sept. 17 in the journal NatureMyat Lin, a postdoctoral fellow in Hanson's lab, and Alessandro Occhialini, a scientist at the UK's Rothamsted Research, are co-lead writers of the study.
22-8-2014
1.
ENGINEERED MOTHS COLD REDUCE PEST POPULATION: Genetically engineered moths can give farmers a new way to control pests without spraying pesticides.
Diamondback moths and their larvae cause up to $ 5 billion in damage to broccoli, cabbage and other cole crops each year, especially in areas where they can survive over winter due to mild temperatures.
Scientists at Oxitec, a British biotech company, has inserted a gene in the moth that kills female larvae. The idea that genetically engineered males will breed with wild females to pass the gene on the next generation, greatly reduced the population. "Any women who develop out of that will not live to adulthood, they will not be able to reproduce," said Anthony Shelton, an entomology professor at Cornell University who is studying the insects. The moths also have a gene that causes them to glow red when under certain lights, allowing for easy identification in the field.
Diamondback moths and their larvae cause up to $ 5 billion in damage to broccoli, cabbage and other cole crops each year, especially in areas where they can survive over winter due to mild temperatures.
Scientists at Oxitec, a British biotech company, has inserted a gene in the moth that kills female larvae. The idea that genetically engineered males will breed with wild females to pass the gene on the next generation, greatly reduced the population. "Any women who develop out of that will not live to adulthood, they will not be able to reproduce," said Anthony Shelton, an entomology professor at Cornell University who is studying the insects. The moths also have a gene that causes them to glow red when under certain lights, allowing for easy identification in the field.
3-8-2014
1.
GENOME EDITING REWREES THE FUTURE OF DAIRY CATTLE: Four years ago, Scott Fahrenkrug saw an ABC News segment of the dehorning of dairy cows, a painful procedure that makes animals safe to handle. The shaky undercover video shows a black-and-white Holstein as it is a moaning and bucking as a farmhand burned off its horns with a hot iron.
Fahrenkrug, an atomic geneticist then at the University of Minnesota, thought he had a way to solve the problem. He could create cows without horns. He was saved farmers money And by eliminating the dairy industry's most unpleasant secret, he could win a public relations success for genetic engineering. The technology Fahrenkrug believes that it can do all genome editing (see "Genome Surgery" and "Genome Editing"). A fast, precise new way of altering DNA, it's been sweeping through biotechnology labs. Researchers have used it to change the genes of mice, zebrafish, and monkeys, and it is being tested as way to human diseases like HIV (see "Can Gene Therapy Cure HIV?"). With livestock, gene editing offers some extraordinary possibilities At his startup, Recombinetics, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fahrenkrug thinks he can create blue-ribbon dairy bulls possessing traits not usually found in those animals but present in other animals, such as lack of horns or specific diseases for resistance. Such "molecular breeding," he says, would have achieved the same effects as, only too faster. In short, a beast could be edited to be the best genes. That could upend the global livestock industry. Companies are patent these animals just as they do genetically modified soybeans or corn Entrepreneurs are willing to challenge the US Food and Drug Administration, they say gene editing is regulated without being "we're talking about genes that already have a species in the existence we already eat , "says Fahrenkrug
The use of the food chain But says some big breeding companies are starting , "says Jonathan Lightner, R & D chief of the UK company Genus, which is the world's largest breeder of pigs and cattle and has recombinetics' laboratory for research. paid "This is a glowing fish. It's a cow that does not have to have its horns cut off. "
Fahrenkrug, an atomic geneticist then at the University of Minnesota, thought he had a way to solve the problem. He could create cows without horns. He was saved farmers money And by eliminating the dairy industry's most unpleasant secret, he could win a public relations success for genetic engineering. The technology Fahrenkrug believes that it can do all genome editing (see "Genome Surgery" and "Genome Editing"). A fast, precise new way of altering DNA, it's been sweeping through biotechnology labs. Researchers have used it to change the genes of mice, zebrafish, and monkeys, and it is being tested as way to human diseases like HIV (see "Can Gene Therapy Cure HIV?"). With livestock, gene editing offers some extraordinary possibilities At his startup, Recombinetics, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, Fahrenkrug thinks he can create blue-ribbon dairy bulls possessing traits not usually found in those animals but present in other animals, such as lack of horns or specific diseases for resistance. Such "molecular breeding," he says, would have achieved the same effects as, only too faster. In short, a beast could be edited to be the best genes. That could upend the global livestock industry. Companies are patent these animals just as they do genetically modified soybeans or corn Entrepreneurs are willing to challenge the US Food and Drug Administration, they say gene editing is regulated without being "we're talking about genes that already have a species in the existence we already eat , "says Fahrenkrug
The use of the food chain But says some big breeding companies are starting , "says Jonathan Lightner, R & D chief of the UK company Genus, which is the world's largest breeder of pigs and cattle and has recombinetics' laboratory for research. paid "This is a glowing fish. It's a cow that does not have to have its horns cut off. "
2.
MICROBES HAVE BEEN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TO PRODUCTION PROPANE: Scientists have the first time genetically engineered microbes to produce renewable propane, liquid petroleum gas of a major component. Propane is considered a viable biofuel because it can be more easily be separated and stored as a liquid than other fuel alternatives such as hydrogen, methane or butanol. Patrik Jones of Imperial College London and colleagues engineered E. coli in the laboratory to producesynthetic pathway for this fossil fuel. Although initial yields were low, the team was able to identify and add biosynthesis reaction to the biochemical reaction to the vital biochemical components. specific E. coli strain to synthesize propane in considerable amounts. The study is published in Nature Communication.
26-8-2014
1. INDIA TO HAVE INDIGENOUS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MOSQUITOES : - India will soon have a army of indigenous genetically engineered mosquitoes which are sterile and unable to reproduce, thus wiping out deadly dengue and malaria spreading wild vectors. An Oxford-based biotech firm Oxitec is all set to bring its RIDLtechnology to India to combat aedes aegypti, the mosquito vector that causes dengue and chikungunya. The Oxitec mosquito is a strain of the wild species that contains two additional genes. The Oxitec males (which can not bite) are released and seek out the wild females. Their offspring inherit the additional genes and die before becoming functional adults. They also inherit a marker that is visible under a special light, making the field simple and helping to ensure that dengue mosquito control programs succeed.
16-7-2014
1. INDIA: GOVT APPROVES FIELD TRIALS FOR VARIETIES OF GM CROPS : -The new government has approved field trials for 21 new varieties of genetically modified (GM) crops, including staples such as rice and wheat. The controversial move is considered critical to feeding India's teeming millions but opposed by some activists as a health hazard. upporters of the modern technology say GM crops can help improve yield by re-engineering the genetic code and stabilise food prices. The government's approval is against the fact that the Supreme Court is currently deliberating on the biosafety of GM crops. The issue has been highly controversial in India, which has so far allowed only BT cotton to commercially grownIn 2010, then environment minister Jairam Ramesh rejected a move to grow Bt brinjals
19-6-2014
1.
USA: GM SUPER BANANA TO BE TESTED ON AMERICANS : A vitamin-enhanced 'super-banana' developed by scientistsThe trials are to take place in the US over a six-week period. Researchers aim to start growing the fruit in Uganda by 2020. The bananas are 'super' because they have been genetically engineered to have increased levels of vitamin A - a deficiency of which can be fatal. The project was created by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2.
BANGLADESH: GOVT PLANS TO INTRODUCE GM COTTON : The government plans to introduce a genetically modified variety of cotton.
10-6-2014
29-5-2014
1. USA: IF GE TREES ARE PLANTED, EXPECT RESISTANCE - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently considering approval of the first genetically engineered (GE) tree for commercial use-a GE eucalyptus tree developed by the biotechnology corporation ArborGen. The tree is designed to withstand the pulp for paper and wood pellets used for fuel.
20-5-2014
1. NEW JRC GMO-MATRIX HELPS INCREASE EFFECTIENCY OF GMO SCREENING-JRC Scientists have developed a decision support tool to optimize the discovery of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) via computer simulation. The JRC GMO-Matrix will make the analysis of GMOs in the food chain more efficient and cost-effective
4-4-2014
1. PARAGUAY APPROVES NEW GE CORN EVENT: - The Paraguayan Minister of Agriculture Jorge Gattini announced the new GE corn event, the MON89034 x TC1507 x NK603 "Powercore" developed by Monsanto and Dow Agrosciences. The "powercore" is a new corn hybrid that combines two herbicidolerant genes plus three genes resistant to pests of economic importance to Paraguay. Through its multiple modes of action, this event combines the control of major corn pests, such as Fall Archeology (Spodoptera frugiperda), Sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), Corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea), Corn stalk borer (Elasmopalpus lignosellus) and Black cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon), and tolerance to two types of herbicides - glyphosate and glufosinate. This event is already approved in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay
28-3-2014
1. India: FIELD TRIALS OF 10 GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS APPROVED: - The country's topx regulator on Genetically Modified (GM) crops has been given 10 crops in wake of Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily has been removed by his predecessor Jayanthi Natarajan Developers of these crops But the decision taken by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee in March 2013 is in the abeyance by Natarajan on the ground that Supreme Court has decided on the government's decision on the government's decision on the decision of GM crops that decided on its decision
25-3-2014
1. DUPONT SCIENTISTS MAKE BREAKTHROUGH IN CROP BIOFORTIFICATION: - Paul E. Schickler, Dupont President has announced that scientists at Dupont Pioneer have made research breakthrough in crop biofortification that micronutrient enriching sorghum delivery, which is a contribution in food and nutrition security. As well, the efforts he said, is to improve the nutrition for the nearly 300 million people in Africa, which depends on sorghum as a staple crop, but who do not have access to another staple that provides essential nutrients that sorghas lacks. "The African Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) initiative's achievement of enhancing pro-vitamin A stability in sorghum marks a critical advancement in our ability to meet the food and nutritional needs of a rapidly growing global population," said Schickler.
19-3-2014
1. Fire-blight Resistant Apples: Source: ETH Zurich (13 Mar 2014): - Researchers from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the Julius Kuhn Institute, Germany, has created the first fire blight-resistant apple. The apple uses genetic engineering to transfer a gene from a wild apple in the gala apple. The researchers used a method called cis-genetic engineering, which incorporates additional genes that are not foreign to the species. The researchers succeeded in identifying and isolating the gene for fire-blight resistance in a wild apple for the first time and confirming its function as a resistance-mediating gene. The gene carries the genetic code for a protein that recognizes a surface protein of the pathogen, triggering a defence response in the plant affected . This one, single gene is the disease Fire blight can cause considerable damage to apple plantations and is primarily controlled by sprays. Cesar Gessler, a plant pathologist from ETH-Zurich, and head of the research team, said that despite his success, he does not grow the genetically modified apples. Switzerland still has a ban on the cultivation of GM crops and the country does not assess individual products "Unless the attitudes and laws change, the cis-gene gala apple will grow ever," he said. Gessler added that GMO hardliner looking to push GM crops at any cost. "In the case of crops like the banana, cassava or apples, which can be reproduced via clones, however, the use of genetic engineering makes sense," he said. Conventional cultivation would take too long to yield the same results, Gessler said. The new apple will need more endeavors, he said. "Although the gene now implanted works, it only takes one mutation for the pathogens to get around this resistance, which can happen very quickly," Gessler explained.
18-3-2014
1. GM COW A STEP CLOSER TO COMMERCIAL PASTURES: - Researchers in China say a domestically grown genetically modified (GM) dairy cow that is resistant to mastitis a infection that is in the milk yield market in the market from five to eight years. According to Sun Qixin, the President of Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University and a National People's Congress deputy, "It's now being tested for its safety in human food products and in the environment." Those tests from favorable results are the fact that the cow still needs a commercial prospect before becoming a regulatory hurdle. The team has 100 GM cows, all of whom have been tested for any potential health and growth problems. Zhang Yong, a professor in the veterinary medicine department, said, that the cows "have been doing pretty well." Zhang said the protein used in the GM cow is human milk and saliva, so, in theory, "it" from, the public food is minus continuing in on China, and many people have long-term consumption on China: en: Daily . (15 Mar 2014))
11-3-2014
1. RESEARCH SHOWS GM TOBACCO VIABLE AS RAW MATERIAL FOR BIOFUELS: - Ruth Sanz-Barrio, an agricultural engineer of the NUP / UPNA-Public University of Navarre and researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology (mixed center of the CSIC-Spanish National Research Council , Public University of Navarre and the Government of Navarre), has demonstrated, for the first time, the viability of using specific tobacco proteins (known as thioredoxins) as biotechnological tools in plants. Specifically, she has managed to increase the amount of starch produced in the tobacco leaves by 700% and fermentable sugars by 500%. "We believe that these genetically modified plants," she explained, "could be a good alternative to food crops for biofuels."
7-3-2014
1. GM TOBACCO PLANTS CAN TRAP PESTS: Scientists have created genetically modified tobacco plants that have been engineered to produce pheromones that can trap pests. As an alternative to industrial laboratories synthesizing pheromones to attract or repel crop pests, the researchers have genetically engineered plants. With the new research, plant biologists report on genetically engineered tobacco plants that produce a moth sex pheromone. Once extracted from the plant, the pheromone can be used to trap male moths.
3-3-2014
1. INDIA: GEM VARIETIES SET TO BOOST MUSTARD OIL PRODUCTION: - The Center for Genetic Manipulations of Crop Plants, University of Delhi, through its persistent research and development (R & D) efforts have developed a mustard variety which researchers claim to be healthier than kanola oil The variety has been developed by genetically modifying the mustard seeds and purportedly has high omega-13 content.
25-2-2014
1. SCOTLAND: SCIENTISTS PLAN GENETICALY TO TO TO ALTER IN A BIT BARREY TO TO BOOST TO TO WHICH KY WISKY A INDUSTRY: - Scientists are planning to change and also with the Genetically Barley in a bid. Barley is a key ingredient in the Water of Life - but 10% of the Scottish crop is damaged by a general benign fungus which can turn on the plant. Scientists at the Scottish Agricultural College (SRUC) have given £ 1m to work out why the fungus attacks and see if they can engineer a solution. The three-year project will see researchers from SRUC, the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen and Aarhus University in Denmark studying the pathogen like fungus
20-4-2014
1. JAPAN: FIRST TRIAL BREEDING OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SILKWORMS TO START: -Fluorescent silk kimono could soon be the rage of the Japanese fashion world. Researchers from the government-affiliated National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, announced they have produced green fluorescent silk by genetically modifying silkworms. The institute said it created the genetically engineered silkworms by injecting them with the gene that produces the green fluorescence in jellyfish. The resulting silk from the modified worms turned around orange filters. The institute has also developed fluorescent pink and orange silk by genetically altering silkworms using genes from coral.
2. EU: VITAMIN B FROM GM SOURCE CONSIDERED SAFE: - A vitamin B source made out of genetically modified bacteria is considered safe for use as feed additive. This is the conclusion of a scientific opinion, done by FEEDAP, the scientific panel of EFSA. Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2 is a easily absorbed micronutrient with a key role in maintaining animal health. Following a request from the European Commission, The Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of vitamin B2 in the form of riboflavin produced by bacillus subtilis as a additive for: en: drinking water and feed The to- from, the riboflavin of the additive (80%) is minus produced by a fermentation of a strain's genetically modified bacillus subtilis. Neither the production strain nor its recombinant DNA was detected in the final product. Therefore, the final product does not give rise to any safety concern.
3. GM GOLDEN RICE VARIETY STIRS UP CONTROVERSY: - Biologists Peter Beyer and Ingo Potrykus succeeded in developing a new type of rice named Golden Rice (pictured above on the left) some 15 years ago. The two scientists genetically modified the rice to produce and accumulate provitamin A - or beta-carotene - which the human body then converted into vitamin A. Beyer, Potrykus and other supporters of rice argue their staple food can save lives - the life of many children Who can go from blind to vitamin A deficiency or die from infectious diseases such as measles vitamin A deficiency is a huge problem which is widely known for people in unknown countries. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), some 250 million young children suffer from the vitamin deficiency. Every year, about 250,000 to 500,000 children go blind due to malnutrition, half of them being dying in one year after blind children in poor African and Southeast Asian countries are among the most affected Mother's death rates also these areas. Rice met with resistance but the genetically modified rice is still not available on the market and many critics. The rice prototype has passed a number of tests to receive approval - and this may take a while. It takes years to optimize the prototype, which is then tested on outdoor fields. Finally, the rice is in the regulatory process, which takes into account all the data collected in trials. But the delays are also due to the massive resistance to the project. In the summer of 2013, activists destroyed fields in the Philippines where the scientists were carrying out trials. Critics of the project They also said that the rice is simply a PR stunt orchestrated by the biotech industry that wants to take root in developing countries under the pretence of benevolence. According to Thilo Bode, who founded Germany-based consumer organization Foodwatch, according to The Golden Rice is supposed to help him come as benefactors.
"There are a lot of conspiracy theories," he said. "It is always the case with the GMO [genetically modified organism] debate - the opponents will always try to show that the reality with Golden Rice is that it is a publicly owned and publicly funded project."
4. UK: GENETICALLY MODIFIED POTATOES 'RESIST LATE BLIGHT': -British scientists have developed genetically modified potatoes that are resistant to the vegetables. A three-year trial has shown that despite being exposed to late inset blight
5-2-2014
1. CANADA: BUMPER HARVEST FOR GM PURPLE TOMATOES: - The color of the tomatoes is derived from high levels of anthocyanins, compounds commonly found in blueberries, blackberries and other deeply colored berries. The purple tomato has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects compared to regular ones and to slow the progression of soft-tissue carcinoma in cancer-prone mice. They also have double the shelf life
2. UK: ROTHAMSTED RESEARCH SUBMITS APPLICATION TO DEFRA FOR PERMISSION TO CARRY OUT GM FIELD TRIAL: -The trial will test whether GM Camelina sativa plants are able to make significant quantities of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) In Field conditions of the public consultation
28-1-2014
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UK: 'FISH OIL' GM PLANT TRIAL APPLICATION SUBMITTED: - By substituting synthetic versions of up to seven genes from marine algae, the researchers have engineered Camelina plants to produce two key omega-3 fatty acids, usually oily fish, EPA and DHA.Both are said to have important health benefits, including protection against heart disease.
24-1-2014
1. In his lab at the Owensboro facility, Chandrakanth Emani, Assistant Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the Western Kentucky University and his students are genetically engineering the basil to produce more eugenol, a compound in basil that "has a very great pharmaceutical value It's shown to control breast cancer, "The University said in a statement.
7-1-2014
1. Germany: - The Amflora Potato, which is genetically modified to produce additional starch for use in the paper industry. - Permitted in EU-2014
2. Canada: - ARCTIC APPLESAn apple genetically engineered not to turn brown._Kept for approval in US 2013
3. AquaBounty Technologies, now owned by synthetic biology company Intrexon, has developed an engineered Atlantic salmon as AquAdvantage salmon as conventional salmon as fast as two-breasted: Coming in Next year 2015 US. - It's really simple AquaBounty introduced a gene from a Pacific Chinook salmon in its AquAdvantage Salmon, or AAS, to allow it to grow in full market size in the half time. Despite the hastier maturity profile, AAS produces the same amount of growth hormone as conventional salmon. A molecular switch (called a "promoter") from an antifreeze protein gene was also integrated in the fish genome, although AAS do not produce antifreeze protein. Additionally, all AAS will be sterile females; ensuring there will be no gene flow to wild populations if they escape production facilities
4. UK: 2014 - The UK's GM-FREE YEAR- "The best efforts of the GM industry and government, no GM trials are to take place in the UK in 2014. Would this spell the beginning of the genetically modified crops in the country? ? "
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