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Month: December 2012

Indian farmer calls for access to biotechnology

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Farming in India has reached a very crucial phase.  In a scenario of rising consumption needs and aspirations, and dwindling or varying natural resources, it has become imperative for India to innovate or access appropriate technologies that will enhance our agricultural productivity efficiently.

Since the Green Revolution in the 1960’s, researchers, government and the private sector have been working relentlessly to improve the efficiency and productivity of agriculture in our country, blending science with traditional knowledge so the farming system will be more responsive to the needs of its farmers.

Today, the progress we have made is in jeopardy. We are under attack from several anti-technology activists who are using false and unfounded allegations to question our desire to have access to better technologies and seeds. They have gone so far as to request that our Supreme Court place a ten-year ban on GM crop field trials in India;  a radical and ignorant proposal that could  devastate Indian agriculture at a time when farmers must grow more food just to keep up with a population that recently boomed past 1.2 billion people.

View the original article here: India Must Listen to Its Farmers: An Indian Farmer’s Appeal to Access Biotechnology

China sacks three officials for GMO rice test

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China has sacked three officials for testing genetically modified rice on children as part of a Sino-U.S. research project, state media said on Thursday.

The officials from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences were sacked for violating regulations, scientific ethics and academic integrity, Xinhua news agency said.

The controversial test first came to light when environmental group Greenpeace said a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed study used 24 Chinese children aged between six and eight to test genetically modified “golden rice”.

View the original article here: China sacks three officials for GMO rice test

Costa Rica battles Monsanto over GMO corn

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With the exception of about 1,000 acres of land that have been devoted to the cultivation of transgenic crops for research purposes — these include cotton, soy beans, bananas, and pineapples — the Central American nation of Costa Rica, which is known for its bio-diverse agricultural heritage and stunning landscape, is essentially free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its native food supply. But the world’s most evil company, Monsanto, is once again trying to destroy this by quietly ushering in a variety of GM corn that Costa Ricans have been working feverishly in recent days to block from being approved.

View the original article here: Costa Rica now battling Monsanto over GMO corn

How to build a better tomato using genetics

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Since plants were first grown for food, farmers, and more recently plant breeders, have selected their best plants, saved the seeds and planted what they hoped would be improved varieties. Through much of the last half of the 20th century, scientists and plant breeders largely devoted their efforts to practical matters, creating tomatoes that were fast-growing, firm, robust and easy to harvest. They developed new and exciting molecular techniques to select for the traits they wanted, but there were some unintended consequences of their selections, such as inferior flavor.

Lately, my colleagues and I have been working on ways to reintroduce some of the memorable tastes and smells that have been lost, without sacrificing the benefits. The goal is to have hardy, economical fruit year-round that tastes like what’s harvested at the peak of the season.

But it’s complicated.

View the original article here: Building a better tomato

Expert tours own exome, finds mainly false alarms

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When 23andMe offered a few select clients the opportunity to have the protein-encoding portion of their genome sequenced, Gabe Rudy jumped at the chance. On Wednesday, he walked strangers through the results. His conclusion: most detected genetic “variants of interest” are either not variants or not interesting. “Clinics beware,” he writes in a blog post detailing the analysis.

View the original article here: Expert tours his own exome, finds mainly false alarms

Gene therapy on the mend

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Last month, Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use approved a gene therapy for a rare genetic disease, the first time a Western regulatory agency has okayed such a treatment, though gene therapies have been approved in China.

The first regulatory approval of a gene therapy treatment could spark broader patient access to the technology.

View the original article here: Gene Therapy on the Mend

Vermont ‘prioritizes’ GMO food labeling law

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When University of Vermont student Danielle Piraina heads to the grocery store, she steers clear of certain labels.

“I avoid ‘natural’ because it’s not regulated,” Piraina said.

Last year, she started paying close attention to exactly what is in her food. It was then she realized the word natural can be thrown on any product, even if that product contains genetically-modified organisms like crops that have had changes to their DNA.

“They’re totally fooled, I think the average consumer is,” Piraina said.

So, she headed to Montpelier where lawmakers debated forcing companies to label food that contains GMOs and forbid others from using the word “natural.”

View the original article here: Debate over GMO labeling law in Vermont

We all have hundreds of DNA flaws

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Everyone has on average 400 flaws in their DNA, a UK study suggests. Most are “silent” mutations and do not affect health, although they can cause problems when passed to future generations. Others are linked to conditions such as cancer or heart disease, which appear in later life, say geneticists. The evidence comes from the 1,000 Genomes project, which is mapping normal human genetic differences, from tiny changes in DNA to major mutations.

View the original article here: We all have hundreds of DNA flaws, UK geneticists say

Prenatal diagnosis story shows challenge of genetics reporting

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ultrasound

The New England Journal of Medicine reported this week that prenatal diagnosis with gene chips is superior to conventional chromosome analysis in detecting many kinds of abnormalities in a developing fetus. The different ways journalists reported on the story shows how challenging genetics research can be to interpret.

Additional Resources:

View the original post here: Coverage of a tricky genetic story

New prenatal genetic test offers parents more answers

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Three studies released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine highlight the use of microarray testing as the latest technology in chromosome analysis.  Researchers suggest using this test to identify potential intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, autism and congenital abnormalities as well as determining why a pregnancy failed.

During pregnancy a number of tests are suggested by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists based on the mother’s age, medical history or ethnic or family background, along with results of other tests. Chromosomal microarray analysis is a genetic test that finds small amounts of genetic material that traditional testing such as karyotyping cannot detect.

View the original article here: New prenatal genetic test gives parents more answers

Genetics traces Gypsies to ancient Indian origin

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The Romani people—once known as “gypsies” or Roma—have been objects of both curiosity andpersecution for centuries. Today, some 11 million Romani, with a variety of cultures, languages and lifestyles, live in Europe—and beyond. But where did they come from?

Earlier studies of their language and cursory analysis of genetic patterns pinpointed India as the group’splace of origin and a later influence of Middle Eastern and Central Asian linguistics. But a new study uses genome-wide sequencing to point to a single group’s departure from northwestern Indian some 1,500 years ago and has also revealed various subsequent population changes as the population spread throughout Europe.

View the original article here: Genetic Sequencing Traces Gypsies Back to Ancient Indian Origin

Justice Department ends Monsanto Investigation

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While we were celebrating Thanksgiving, Monsanto had much to be thankful for, too. Last month, the Department of Justice quietly scrapped an investigation begun in January 2010 into anticompetitive practices in the American seed market that Monsanto dominates like an extra-mean, extra-genetically-modified Hulk. Today, Hulk “pleased.”

Additional Resources:

View the original article here: Justice Department ditches Monsanto investigation

XYY men and genetic determinism

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This week’s New England Journal of Medicine has four articles about the new precision in reproductive genetic testing. (See www.medscape.com/viewarticle/775687) Yet as genetic information increases, so too does the risk of genetic determinism – defining ourselves by our genes. But this is hardly a new idea. This week’s guest blog recalls a classic example of genetic judgment – the case of the man with an extra Y chromosome.

View the original article here: XYY Men – PLoS Blogs (blog)

Costa Rica: March against Monsanto GMOs reaches San Jose, decision stalled

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After a one week, 200-kilometer journey which began in Gauancaste, marchers fighting against a plan that would introduce genetically modified Monsanto corn into Costa Rica reached their destination on Monday, when they arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture in San Jose, their numbers growing as they made their way through Central Valley towns such as Grecia, San Ramon and Palmares.

The National Commission on Biosecurity met on Monday with the purpose of making a final decision in the matter.  The decision was delayed, however, as two of the institutions that compose the commission requested additional technical information, stating they felt the information they had was “lacking.”

View the original article here: March against Monsanto GMO’s reaches San Jose, decision stalled

Crop contamination from GMOs: USDA suggests sticking small farmers with the bill

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A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisory board has developed a roadmap  on how farmers whose crops become cross-contaminated by GMO seeds–and lose their status as organic or non-GMO producers–could find ways to “co-exist” with biotech agriculture.

Key to the advisory board’s report  was the discussion of insurance and “joint coexistence” schemes in the event a farm became subjected to “unintended GE [genetically engineered] presence in identity-preserved products.” Central to the board’s recommendations was the recommendation of a “crop insurance model” to address such “potential inequities.” In English, conventional or organic farmers would have to buy insurance in the event their crops became affected by GMOs.

View the original article here: GMO Contamination? USDA Suggests Sticking Small Farmers With the Bill

GMO regulation: Politicians meddling with little regard for science

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Be it salmon, eggplant or BPA, the United States, India or France, politicians have insinuated themselves into the regulatory process with little regard for either scientific evidence or the consequences of their meddling.  In each of these examples, there is a valuable, exhaustively tested product that poses no appreciable harm to human health or to the natural environment.  Yet in the pursuit of prominence, power or votes, politicians have deprived the public of valuable products and discouraged innovation.

View the original article here: Politicians’ Meddling With Regulation Does Not Serve Society Well

UK could miss out on the genomics revolution

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The UK has a huge opportunity to lead the world in disease discovery, treatments and cures. But support from the NHS and better data collection is needed if Britain is not to lose out in the coming genomics revolution, leading scientists believe.

The cost of whole genome sequencing – mapping the DNA code of any human being – is dropping through the floor, from £750m for the first-ever sequence to probably as little as £1,000 soon. Experts say it will soon be as cost‑effective to carry out a whole genome sequence on a patient as to do one or two genetic tests. They see a time in the not too distant future when it could be normal to sequence the genome of every newborn baby.

Additional Resources:

  • “A need to know the worst news you will ever hear,” CBS News

Read the original article here: Genomics revolution: UK could miss the boat, scientists warn

Genes should not be patentable

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The Supreme Court will decide whether human genes can be patented.

If the Supremes allow genes to be patented, that will not mean that the patent holder actually own bits of you. But it would mean that the company would possess the exclusive right to commercially benefitfrom the use of the patented genes in the manufacture and testing of products during the term of the patent. If others wanted to use the same gene in research or manufacture, they would have to pay a licensing fee.

Here’s the problem: A patent is supposed to protect a human invention. A gene — even if isolated — is not a human invention. It occurs naturally. In that sense, I don’t see the controversy. Genes should not be patentable.

View the original article here: Supremes to decide whether others can own your genes

Biotech regulation: Are democracy and science in conflict?

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In the last few weeks, Kenya and Peru issued blanket bans on the importation of GMOs, India’s regulatory system struggled with a backlash of popular opinion against GMOs, a march has been taking place across Costa Rica in opposition to Monsanto’s GM crops and in the United States the FDA’s overview of the so-called “Frankenfish” — a genetically modified Atlantic salmon that grows twice as fast as unmodified salmon — has stalled.

What all of these issues have in common is confusion about the benefits and potential dangers of GMOs. Why do GMOs fester in regulatory limbo for so long? Some of these debates have been ongoing for years.

Henry Miller, writing at Forbes, argues this confusion is all just a byproduct of political meddling, driven by a desire to pander and a disregard for science.

Democratic governments — and the regulatory agencies, politicians, and legislators within — are obligated to listen to their constituents. In the case of regulatory issues that affect health, safety, food supply for millions, we all seem to agree that policymakers should make decisions based on empirical evidence. The problem is that we don’t create reality by agreement; we uncover it through the process of science.

Any regulatory agency attempting to address both science and people’s fears is bound to come into internal conflict; many of our strongest fears are not based in science. Indeed, it’s an old argument that ignorance itself is the basis of fear.

One way around this conflict is the solution Miller proposes: our governments should ignore public opinion when it comes to regulatory decisions and make them based purely on fact — assuming the facts are not in dispute.

The other way around is to do a better job informing people, eliminating — or at least tempering — the conflict that impacts any and all biotech regulation by bringing public opinion on the science of genetic engineering and the reality of genetic engineering into closer accord.

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