Scientists demand protection from anti-GM protestors to assess benefits in crop trials

Field trials of GM crops in the UK need better protection to allow researchers to assess the benefits of genetic modification technology, scientists said today.

Professor Howard Atkinson of the University of Leeds suggested the location and details of small-scale trials could be kept from the public, as they are in Canada, to prevent them being vandalised by anti-GM protesters.

Other options could include a national, secure field testing site for GM crops or that universities conducting trials should not have to bear the costs of security measures such as fences or guards, researchers said.

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Germany's BASF takes GM potato case to EU court

BASF has taken legal action against the European Commission for failure to act on its genetically modified Amflora potato, the German chemicals company said on Thursday.

BASF said in a statement it filed the action with the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg because the Commission unjustifiably delayed the approval of Amflora after a 12-year process.

"EU commissioners have postponed Amflora's approval despite repeated positive safety assessments by EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority," said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's executive board.

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SA's GM spud awaits commercial approval

Africa's first locally developed genetically modified crop has finished its field trials and is now before an interdepartmental committee that will decide whether it can go on South African markets.

The GM potato, developed by SA scientists using an American "design", has been adapted to fend off the potato tuber moth, which costs the food industry up to R40-million annually.

The potato was developed for local conditions by an Agricultural Research Council team led by Dr Kobie de Ronde. The findings of six years of field trials will be presented to the media in Irene, Pretoria, on Friday.

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Nuevos estudios ponen en jaque a los transgénicos

El Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ha analizado la situación en Cataluña y Aragón, donde hay cultivo comercial de transgénicos desde 1998 y concluye que su coexistencia es prácticamente imposible. Analizamos la situación del Estado español y, en concreto, de Aragón.

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South Africa develops new GM potato variety

South Africa's Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has developed a new potato variety resistant to the potato tuber moth, a major pests causing millions worth of harvest loss in major solanaceous crops.

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The Scientific Solution

This season, hundreds of potato growers are tentatively watching their crops for signs of one of the most virulent strains of blight to have so far evolved in the UK - genotype 13.

Its presence has prompted the Potato Council to step up its Fight Against Blight (FAB) and Blightwatch alerting services and is a reminder of the increasing threat that diseases and pests pose to UK horticulture and agriculture.

Given these circumstances, a genetically modified (GM), blight- resistant crop could be a saviour to many potato growers - as could other kinds of GM crops to a number of growers.

But controversy still surrounds this technology - despite the fact that countries such as Canada and the US have been using it for years.

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Scientists reopen debate over GM food

Scientists have genetically engineered fruit and vegetables capable of providing most of a day’s nutrients in a single meal.

Heading towards the market are potatoes with 33% more protein content, modified tomatoes that could be capable of protecting against cancer and peanuts without the chemicals that cause deadly nut allergies.

Cassava has been packed with new genes that help the plant accumulate extra iron and zinc from the soil, and synthesise vitamins E and A.

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