The genetic blueprint of the mosquito that spreads yellow and dengue fever is more complex than the one that carries malaria, and scientists are hoping to use the information to find ways to thwart the little killers. Researchers on Thursday published the genome -- a map of all the DNA -- of the mosquito species Aedes aegypti, a connoisseur of human blood that spreads disease in tropical and sub-tropical locales worldwide. The genome, they said, could guide efforts to develop insecticides or to create genetically engineered versions of this mosquito that are unable or less able to transmit the viruses that cause yellow fever and dengue fever.

Chicago Board of Trade rice futures ended deep in negative territory Friday as fund liquidation uncovered sell stops that drove prices down, traders said. [...] It was unclear what caused the fund sell-off, traders said. There was pressure from technical signals and potentially from concerns over the inability of the U.S. to sell genetically-modified rice, a trader said. Bearish stories are circulating about GMO rice building up in Arkansas elevators, he said.

U.S. antitrust authorities are poised to approve plans by biotech crop developer Monsanto Co. to buy Delta and Pine Land Co. on the condition that the companies divest some key assets, a source familiar with the deal said on Thursday. Antitrust officials at the Justice Department are working out final details of a settlement deal that would require the companies to sell some genetic material owned by Delta and Pine that is used to develop new cotton seed varieties, the source said. The genetic material, known as germplasm, would be sold to a rival company in the business, the source said.

Genetically modified alfalfa presents significantly different challenges than any other previous GE crop introduction. These differences mean the introduction of GE alfalfa could have significant economic impact on producers of organic forage and animal products. The differences directly relate to the biological differences between alfalfa and the grain crops and the way seed is produced.

Ventria Bioscience has received regulatory approval to plant bioengineered rice in Kansas. Three Kansas producers began planting a combined total of about 250 acres of the rice on Thursday. The rice has been genetically modified to produce proteins found in human breast milk, saliva and tears. Ventria will use it in a pharmaceutical product that will lessen the severity and duration of diarrhea in infants and children.

There are signs of the European Union loosening its stance on accepting products originating from genetically enhanced crops. There are 11 genetically enhanced products that have been approved by the EU and 14 more that are in the approval pipeline, according to Mariann Fischer Boel, Agriculture Commissioner of the EU. Further concessions may have to be made to get the products the EU needs, says Fischer Boel. ”I think that we have to review very seriously the speed with which we approve new (genetically modified products),” said Fischer Boel in response to questions following her address to the World Agriculture Forum this week in St. Louis, ”otherwise we might face a situation where there will be no imports available.”

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) is releasing a new Issue Paper, The Role of Transgenic Livestock in the Treatment of Human Disease. [...] Transgenic livestock have the potential to play a critical role in the production of new medications for the treatment of human disease.

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the rhesus macaque, providing more precise data on how humans are genetically different from primates. Sequencing the macaque genome not only benefits research in human health but expands the understanding of primate evolution. More than 170 scientists from 35 institutions worked on the macaque genome project, and they published their findings in several articles in the April 13 issue of Science, a special edition devoted to the discovery.

As the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) wraps up its annual convention in Boston, the STOP GE Trees Campaign and member groups from around the U.S., including Dogwood Alliance, WildLaw, Southern Forests Network, Sierra Club and Global Justice Ecology Project are uniting to stop the plans of GE tree giant ArborGen to release genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the southeast U.S.

ArborGen, which was a co-sponsor of the BIO convention, is laying the groundwork for massive plantations of non-native eucalyptus trees genetically engineered to be cold tolerant for biofuels and paper pulp. In addition to the cold tolerance trait, these eucalyptus have been engineered for other traits which ArborGen refuses to reveal. News articles and reports indicate these traits likely include reduced lignin content and the ability to kill insects.

Following a two-year span during which the corporate farming sector lobbied heavily in support of state bills aimed at keeping local governments from regulating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), 2007 state legislatures are now filled with bills confirming farmer and consumer concerns about such foods and crops. It has been a decade since multinational corporations began blanketing the planet with their patented varieties of genetically modified seed. With little government oversight, poll after poll has shown that consumers would like to see greater supervision of genetic engineering including all-out limitations on their cultivation.