'Insulted' farmers pick GM potato fight with Syngenta

A coalition of indigenous farmers in South America will today (12 January)
launch an international protest against the multinational corporation Syngenta, claiming that its plans threaten their region's biodiversity, culture and food sovereignty.

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GE Crops Slow to Gain Global Acceptance

Widespread use of genetically engineered (GE) crops remains limited worldwide, even as growing weed and pest issues are forcing farmers to use ever greater amounts of pesticides.

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Idaho company tries to perfect a genetically modified potato that's tastier and healthier

BOISE, Idaho: Inside tucked-away labs in this town built by french fries, teams of scientists are splicing potato genes, working daily to improve Idaho's top cash crop with modern biotechnology.

At J.R. Simplot Co., biologists hope to create the first genetically modified potato, designing a spud that's tastier and resistant to unsightly bruises and sprouts.

What's more, the potato's revamped gene structure rebuffs acrylamides, potentially dangerous chemicals that studies suggest bond with sugars in fried potatoes.

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Seeding starvation in Iraq

In 2004, when L. Paul Bremer III left his position as Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) administrator to “transfer sovereignty,” he also left behind 100 deadly orders to govern Iraq. Order 81, which included “Patent, Industrial Design, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety,” prohibited Iraqis from reusing seeds of “new” plant varieties patented under the law. Think about that for a second . . .

What that order means is that seeds from those “new” varieties cannot be saved for reuse, at least not without paying a royalty to its “manufacturer,” whether it’s Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, or any of the other genetically-modifying seed giants. This could easily bankrupt farmers and contribute vastly to massive food shortages and starvation.

This law amended Iraq’s original patent law of 1970. Until it is revised or cancelled by a new Iraqi government, it is legally binding under the hawkish wing of the colonizing CPA. Historically, the Iraqi constitution prohibited private ownership of biological resources. Yet this US-stamped patent law does just that. It introduces a plan for monopoly rights over seeds, if you can believe it.

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New potatoes, markets eyed

Rapid growth in developing countries, says Joe Guenthner, University of Idaho economist.

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Fury as genetically modified potatoes given go-ahead in UK

Ministers have been accused of ignoring consumers and risking contamination of the countryside after giving the green light for genetically modified potatoes to be grown in the UK.

The Government granted permission for the GM variety to be cultivated at two trial sites, prompting claims that they are stealthily trying to reintroduce the technology after previously being forced to back away from it by public opposition.

Plans to grow Britain's first commercial GM crop - a bioengineered maize - were abandoned two-and-a-half years ago in the face of consumer protests.

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GM food is answer to poverty and hunger

PEOPLE ARE being urged by Scotland's new chief scientific adviser to embrace genetically modified (GM) food as an answer to poverty, hunger and toxic pollution.

Professor Anne Glover, herself a genetic engineer, is urging consumers to ignore labels like "Frankenstein foods" because they are misleading and damaging. The potential benefits of GM crops are "huge", she says, and the risks "extremely small".

But her enthusiasm for GM food has infuriated environmentalists, who fear she could exert an important influence on Scottish ministers. They argue GM crops are "potentially dangerous" and point out that they have been widely rejected by the public and supermarkets.

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