by David Tribe on 12 August 2011 From GMO Pundit.
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Previous posts at GMO Pundit have covered GM insect protected eggplant being developed as a new crop variety in India. This insect-protected crop, making use of Bt protein trait, could avoid a large amount of current synthetic pesticide spraying in India and prevent many poisoning risks to farmers and their familes. The Hindu newspaper story quoted below highlights how concerns about GM eggplant (brinjal) potentially interferring with ayuvedic medicines in India have delayed governmental approval of insect-protected brinjal.
The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Agriculture : Lab test report to pave way for Bt brinjal release NEW DELHI, August 8, 2011
The government has ordered a laboratory test of to find out if genetically modified brinjal is fit for preparation of ayurvedic medicines, with a senior official saying its report in next two months could pave the way for commercial release of Bt brinjal.“Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) under Ministry of Environment and Forest has ordered for lab test to assess compositional analysis to find out if ayurvedic principles are disturbed in Bt brinjal,”, the official said.P. Anand Kumar, Principal Scientist, National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) under Ministry of Agriculture told reporters here that the test is being conducted in National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad.
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by David Tribe on 5 August 2011 From GMO Pundit.
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| Genome and plasmid comparisons of Enteroaggregative E. coli strains, Rasko and others NEJM 2011, illustrated by comparisons of the main chromosome, and two plasmids, one encoding antibiotic resistance, including extended spectrum beta-lactamase, the other (pAA) encoding enteroaggregative virulence traits. |
An amazing amount of genetic analysis has been rapidly published about the huge recent outbreak of foodborne illness in Germany caused by a pathogenic E. coli. Much of this has been discussed in previous posts at this blog (accessible using the tag EHEC EAEC STEC).
Adding to this, yet another paper decoding the genomes of germs isolated from this outbreak has just been published in New England Journal of Medicine. The full content of this publication is freely available at the New England Journal of Medicine website. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:
Our findings suggest that horizontal genetic exchange allowed for the emergence of the highly virulent Shiga-toxin–producing enteroaggregative E. coli O104:H4 strain that caused the German outbreak. More broadly, these findings highlight the way in which the plasticity of bacterial genomes facilitates the emergence of new pathogens.
But there is a swag of discoveries in this paper that are medically important and which give rich insights into the way in which gene movement between different types of bacteria is responsible for the emergence of new pathogens. They are really worthy of some further explanation (as given below), particularly since this kind of natural evolution of pathogens is so readily and wrongly interpreted by crank-science conspiracy theorists as the deliberate laboratory creation of some evil drug company.
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by David Tribe on 21 July 2011 From GMO Pundit.
At last the Pundit is seeing a major NGO (namely the WWF) say many of the things that he has been trying to popularise for several years at GMO Pundit and elsewhere.
As we peer into the future of this planet, globally farm management faces an immense challenge. Indeed we do.
The mindless chants by some NGOs “that we have plenty of food” and that more productive farming methods are not needed are put aside. Better still there is clear advocacy of realistic and constructive action:
Freeze the footprint of food
Jason Clay identifies eight steps that, taken together, could enable farming to feed 10 billion people and keep Earth habitable.
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This post was syndicated from GMO Pundit. You may comment here or on the original entry.
by David Tribe on 15 July 2011 From GMO Pundit.
This post was syndicated from GMO Pundit. You may comment here or on the original entry.
by David Tribe on 13 July 2011 From GMO Pundit.
Greenpeace recently enlisted Vandana Shiva to protest on their behalf about GM wheat trials underway in Australia. Vandana Shiva endorses criminal arson as direct action against scientific laboratories she disproves (explicit video interview).
Now Greenpeace — by their own self-acknowledged vandalism — are following Vandana Shiva (Sydney Peace [sic] Prize recipient) into the cesspool of criminality.
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Greenpeace destroys GM wheat
Jessica Nairn, ABC Radio 666 Canberra
Updated July 14, 2011 11:08:36
Greenpeace protesters have broken into a CSIRO experimental farm in Canberra to destroy a crop of genetically modified wheat.
In the early hours of this morning a group of Greenpeace protesters scaled the fence of the CSIRO experimental station at Ginninderra in the capital’s north.
Greenpeace says activists were wearing Hazmat protective clothing and were equipped with weed string trimmers.
They say the entire crop of genetically modified wheat has been destroyed.
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