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Month: October 2012

Whole-genome sequencing tracks spread of severe intestinal disease in sub-Saharan Africa

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The emergence and spread of a particularly virulent and rapidly evolving strain of Salmonella bacteria may have been made worse by the HIV epidemic in Africa, according to a study published online this week in ‘Nature Genetics’.

The pool of people with compromised immune systems caused by HIV infection may have provided a reservoir for the Salmonella bacteria to evolve to become better at infecting humans, suggest the researchers.

View the original article here: Whole-genome sequencing tracks spread of severe intestinal disease in sub … – Wellcome Trust

Prop. 37 is about language, not concept, says GM supporter

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People who are either clueless or shills for anti-science hysteria insist ‘something is better than nothing’ when it comes to laws about food, and that we can just ‘fix’ it despite its flaws but we should go ahead and pass it if we care about what we eat.

It’s smart to reject such simplistic black or white thinking.  Especially in California. This state has too many problems to count and ‘fix them’ should be an easy concept, except the legislature and 64% of the population remain so one-sided in their thinking nothing ever gets fixed because it is an echo chamber. Believing yet another bad law will magically get fixed when plenty of other bad laws have survived is in defiance of reality.

View the original article here: Prop. 37 Is About Language, Not Concept – Science 2.0 (blog)

Are animal traits the result of behavioral epigenetics?

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A plant that is unremarkable in one environment becomes an invasive species in another, pushing through house foundations and sprouting up through roads. A house sparrow that’s a perfectly charming resident of the English countryside is transported around the world, where it wipes out other bird species with aggressive behavior and harbored diseases. It sounds like these plants and animals might be the result of mutant DNA – but they’re not. They have the same DNA they had in their native land; it’s the expression of their genes that’s been radically changed.

View the original article here: Are animal traits the result of behavioral epigenetics? – Phys.Org

India: Anti-GM protestors do not seem to understand science, says Deputy Director of India’s Council of Agricultural Research

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Anti-GM protestors do not seem to understand science and that genetically-modified crops are an extension of modern science, Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Deputy Director General (Crop Science) Swapan Datta said here today.

Researchers wish to improve crops and increase their productivity, he told reporters on the sidelines of the Sixth International Conference on Legumes Genetics and Genomics, organised by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here, as part of COP 11.

He said that presently ten million hectares of land is under BT cotton cultivation and that despite the high cost of production, more farmers grew BT cotton because they benefit from doing so.

View the original article here: India: Anti-GM protestors do not seem to understand science, says Deputy Director of India’s Council of Agricultural Research

India: Activists seek new law on GM crop trials

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Even as the Indian government has expressed its willingness to ratify the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur supplementary protocol on biosafety, the potential stakeholders in the system feel there is not enough internal regulatory framework to thwart the damage from the transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs). They are particularly opposing the field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the absence of a regulation on liability and redress.

View the original article here: India: Activists seek new law on GM crop trials

In the Prop 37 food fight, is fair play losing out?

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In the bruising, high-dollar battle over California’s Proposition 37, truth has often been a casualty.

On Nov. 6, voters will decide whether to approve the country’s first law requiring labels for genetically modified foods. More than $36 million has flowed into the campaign so far, with opponents out raising supporters 8 to 1, led by $7 million from St. Louis-based biotech giant Monsanto.

Yet even as the campaigns start to heat up, both sides have already pushed questionable science, dubious studies and uncertain claims in pursuit of votes, underscoring that the stakes are high, and the fight testy.

View the original article here: In the Prop 37 food fight, is fair play losing out?

DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper, faster

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Sequencing, splicing and expressing DNA may seem to be the quintessence of cutting-edge science—indeed DNA manipulation has revolutionized fields such as biofuels, chemicals and medicine. But in fact, the actual process can still be tedious and labor-intensive, something Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Nathan Hillson learned the hard way.

View the original article here: DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper, faster – Phys.Org

Chilling effect of FDA slowness on approving GM animals that would lead to sustainable foods

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A salmon with designer DNA has been in regulatory limbo since the Food and Drug Administration concluded that the fish appeared to be safe and without environmental risk two years ago. The process for getting government approval to sell food derived from genetically engineered animals faces what appears to be a hopeless, politicized logjam.

GM foods present serious challenges

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For those that want to complain about restricting technologies, the truth is that we do it all the time. According to a GM critic, the controversy swirling around the questionable Seralini maize study may obscure the fact that GM foods present genuine challenges, including genetic dispersal, herbicide resistance and patent issues.
View the original article here: GM foods present serious challenges

Sloppy anti-GMO journalism goes viral

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Keith Floor, who thoroughly deconstructed the uncritical reporting that accompanied the release of the now widely discredited Seralini GM maize study, is now tackling another case of uncritical reporting on GM technology. Over at Collide-a-Scape, he blogs on the coverage of a widely propagated Reuters article headlined, “Pesticide use ramping up as GMO crop technology backfires” that purports to debunk biotech supporters who claim that GM technology can reduce pesticide use. Many other news outlets blew it. As Deborah Blum pointed out at MIT’s Knight Science Journalism Tracker, it’s part of a disturbing pattern of sloppy, anti-GMO journalism.

View the original article here: Sloppy anti-GMO journalism goes viral

 

Fear mongering about DNA-modified apples hurts farmers, consumers, says GM supporter

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Most people are familiar with the unappetizing browning of apples shortly after they’re cut or bitten into. The good news is that molecular biologists have devised a clever way to prevent it. The bad news is that organizations that represent apple growers are implacably opposed to the improved fruit. And therein lies a cautionary tale.

The biology of apples is complicated but fascinating. Almost all commercial apple varieties are grafted onto hardy root stocks that have dwarfing genes to keep the trees on apple plantations short and easier to harvest. Therefore, the DNA of the roots is different from the DNA of the fruit tree.

View the original article here: Fear mongering about DNA-modified apples hurts farmers, consumers, says GM supporter

DNA test for babies speeds diagnosis

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A new technique for quickly analyzing the DNA of newborns zeros in on mutations that can cause disease, demonstrating that it is possible to quickly scan a baby’s entire DNA and pinpoint a disease-causing mutation in a couple of days instead of the more typical weeks or months.       
View the original article here: DNA test for babies speeds diagnosis

Stem cell-modifying antibodies could be used for regenerative therapies

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Stem cell therapeutics firm Medistem and Superview Biotechnology signed a collaboration centered on the use of Medistem’s stem cell lines to screen for monoclonal antibodies with potential in regenerative medicine. Superview is a subsidiary of China’s Yinhuan Holding, which is exploiting a technology for generating monoclonal antibodies against highly defined targets.

The aim of the collaboration is to identify monoclonal antibodies that modulate the activity of stem cells that are already present in the body, in effect, taking an alternative tack to approaches based on developing stem cells-derived therapeutics. “To date, the majority of stem cell companies are focusing on the stem cell itself being a product,” explains Thomas Ichim, Medistem CEO. In contrast, he claims, using monoclonal antibodies to target endogenous stem cells “not only provides methods of activating stem cells but also allows for the development of stem cell adjuvant therapies that could be used to resurrect stem cell candidates that failed in clinical trials.”

View the original article here: Stem Cell-Modifying Antibodies for Regenerative Therapies – Genetic Engineering News

GM cow designed to produce milk without an allergy-causing protein

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A genetically modified cow whose milk lacks a substance that causes allergic reactions in people has been created by scientists in New Zealand.

In their first year of life, two or three in every hundred infants are allergic to a whey protein in milk called BLG. The researchers engineered the cow, called Daisy, to produce milk that doesn’t contain the protein.

While the genetic alteration slashed levels of BLG protein in the cow’s milk to undetectable levels, it more than doubled the concentrations of other milk proteins called caseins.

View the original article here: GM cow designed to produce milk without an allergy-causing protein – The Guardian

Tanzania: Endless debate on GMOs must come to an end

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LAST week during the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Arusha, fresh calls were made for the government to adopt the Genetically Modified Organs (GMO) technology.

Among the proponents for the plan is the Minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Jumanne Maghembe, who argued that an urgent policy shift is needed to enable the country improve the agricultural sector and also boost income by peasant farmers.

Prof Maghembe says that there is need to change negative mindset on the adoption of GMO technology especially in the face of uncertain weather patterns. Taking part in the panel at the forum on how technological change in agriculture is essential for improving food security and agricultural growth, the minister stuck to his position that GMOs are one way to increase productivity and enrich the African farmer.

View the original article here: Tanzania: Endless Debate On Gmos Must Come to an End – AllAfrica.com

Scientists fret over FDA slowness on genetically altered animals

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Scientists have created a genetically modified milk that lacks a key protein involved in triggering allergies — an impressive technical feat that won plaudits in the biotechnology world.

But the development, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, isn’t likely to lead soon to less-allergenic milk. The process for getting government approval to sell food derived from genetically engineered animals appears to be a hopeless logjam.

A salmon with designer DNA has been in regulatory limbo since the Food and Drug Administration concluded that the fish appeared to be safe and without environmental risk two years ago. The company behind the fish, AquaBounty Technologies, is still waiting for the final regulatory steps and a sign-off from the FDA.

View the original article here: Scientists fret over FDA slowness on genetically altered animals

Prop. 37: More information is good, but rampant litigation isn’t, says GM supporter

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While outsiders will try, it’s hard to generalize about Californians. The most populous state in the nation is as diverse and divergent as a Bakersfield oil field roustabout and a Big Sur masseuse.

But it’s safe to say Californians are concerned – more concerned than others, even – about what goes into our food. The Central Valley is the nation’s green grocer. Our restaurants are at the leading edge of world cuisine. Our commitment to sustainable agriculture and eating locally sourced food is second to none.

Our passion for safe and additive-free foods makes California a natural place for activists to push a measure such Proposition 37 on the Nov. 6 ballot, the Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling Initiative. It would require labeling some foods in grocery stores (but not all: meat and dairy are exempt) if they are made from plants or animals that include genetically modified organisms. No other state has such a measure, though some other countries do.

View the original article here: No on Prop. 37: More information is good, but rampant litigation isn’t – San Bernardino Sun

Study shows epigenetics of adult stem cells influences organ creation

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A team led by Manel Esteller, director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program in the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), was able to identify epigenetic changes that occur in the somatic stem cells to generate different body tissues.

The use of somatic or adult stem cells had been a regular occurrence since their discovery in the 1950’s. It was then that researchers found that bone marrow contains two different kinds of stem cells. The first, called hematopoietic stem cells, form all the types of blood cells in the body. The second, known as bone marrow stromal stem cells, were discovered only a few years later and are effective in the generation of bone, cartilage, fat and fibrous connective tissues.

View the original article here: Study Shows Epigenetics Of Adult Stem Cells Influences Organ Creation – RedOrbit

Does Prop 37 bar “natural” labeling of non-GM foods?

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The first sentence of California’s Proposition 37 sums up its essence: “California consumers have the right to know whether the foods they purchase were produced using genetic engineering”.

But San Francisco lawyer Michael Steel contends one of the provisions in the labeling initiative would impact foods that aren’t even genetically modified. Section 110809.1, forbidding the labeling of certain defined foods as “natural” or bearing similar words, applies to “processed” foods.

The question is whether processed foods that are not genetically modified also are subject to the labeling prohibition titled “Misbranding of Genetically Engineered Foods as ‘Natural'”. As you would expect, lawyers don’t agree on the answer.

View the original article here: Does Prop 37 bar “natural” labeling of non-GM foods?