Articles

Around the world, we hear stories of agricultural progress, as more countries join the Gene Revolution. In 2012, Cuba and Sudan planted biotech crops for the first time. This year, Bangladesh—which has the world’s eighth-largest population—will make the leap as well.

Jonathan Matthews of GMWatch lifts the lid on the US-and-industry-backed lobbyists driving the latest wave of corporate colonialism in Africa.

Back in May 2013, a controversial PR operative headed for Africa. He even tweeted a picture of the hotel where he was staying in Dar es Salaam.

When people think of Hawaii, they probably imagine beautiful sunsets over white sand beaches, bountiful waves, colorful clothing, and spasmodic volcanos. For the average person, what probably doesn’t leap to mind when thinking about Hawaii is the food they eat and Hawaii’s agriculture industry. It should, however, because Hawaii is at the forefront of modern, high-output agriculture: biotech farming.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has developed four kinds of GM brinjal, based on local varieties and with the assistance of scientists at Cornell University and USAID. After seven years of testing in greenhouses and fields, BARI has submitted its products for government approval, which should arrive soon.

In India, since Bt brinjal, was stopped from being commercialised, the debate has taken a turn. Even field trial research can be conducted only after obtaining a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from State governments.

The late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, plus-size comedian Jackie Gleason and chubby Winston Churchill were what they ate. They knew what they were swallowing. Today, few of us know. Because of industry’s tampering with the very architecture of life, few of us are able to bypass genetically engineered food even for a day.

With a little more than three months remaining before Election Day, supporters of a law requiring the labeling of some genetically modified foods have raised $2.3 million for their campaign.

Kickstarter is clamping down on genetically-modified organisms following the success of a project to genetically engineer glowing plants for use as additional lighting in people's homes. Earlier this week and without explanation, the crowdfunding website quietly altered its guidelines for project creators, introducing a new term that bans creators from giving away genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) as rewards to their online backers. "Projects cannot offer genetically modified organisms as a reward," the new language states. The prohibition is effective July 31st, meaning that the popular glow-in-the-dark plant project is safe, but that any future projects like it can't offer GMOs to their backers.

Ghana’s Biosafety Bill was given Presidential assent to become law, after it has been in Parliament for four years.

Rarely is the relationship between science and everyone so direct as it is in the case of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in particular foods. It is one thing to turn on your plasma TV or talk on your iPhone; it is an entirely different proposition to knowingly ingest something that has been modified in the lab.

GMOs in Canada have been allowed since the mid 1990s. Canada is one of the top-five producers of GMO crops in the world. The major GM crops produced in Canada include canola, corn, soy, and to a lesser extent, sugar beet. Canada also imports GM varieties of cottonseed oil, papaya, and squash, among others.