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By Jonathan Amos
BBC News Online science staff
Rodents do most of the work in the lab.
The use of genetically modified animals in UK labs continues to grow, official statistics released on Tuesday show.
In 2003, these animals were employed in 764,000 experiments, which represent just over a quarter of all procedures.
Overall, total experiments are also up but only marginally, by 2.2% to 2.79 million - still a significant reduction on what was happening in the 1970s.
GM animals have become increasingly important to science as researchers try to understand how human genes work.
In studying predominantly mice which mimic human illnesses, scientists hope to make sense of these afflictions at the genetic level.
The human genome project found that there were about 30,000 genes directing the functioning of our bodies - but precisely what most of them do is a complete mystery.
By adding or knocking out genes in rodents, scientists believe they can gain an insight into the molecular flaws in humans that lead to disease.
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NOORDWIJK, Netherlands - The European Commission is likely to authorize the first genetically modified (GMO) seeds for commercial use across EU territory this week, in the face of widespread consumer resistance to biotech crops.
No biotech seeds have so far been approved at EU level, but some national authorizations exist in countries such as France and Spain. This means that only farmers in those countries can buy and then plant the approved seeds.
However, under an established legal procedure, once an EU state gives the green light for a seed to be sold on its territory - and assuming all EU legislation is complied with - the Commission is obliged eventually to extend that authorization onto an EU-wide basis.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the EU executive will discuss entering 17 different strains of Monsanto's 810 maize into what is called the Common Catalog - the EU's overall seed directory that includes all national seed catalogs.
The parent maize seed, engineered to resist certain insects, won EU approval for cultivation just before the bloc began its ban on new GMO approvals in 1998 that lasted nearly six years. At present, very few "live" GMO crops may be grown in the EU.
"Failure to undertake the inscription now would mean the 2005 growing season could be lost and leave the Commission vulnerable to a Court challenge for failure to act," said a note obtained by Reuters to be delivered by EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne on Wednesday.
Wednesday looks certain to be a busy GMO day for the 25-strong group of EU commissioners, several of whom are lukewarm, at best, on pressing ahead with more GMO approvals.
Also likely to be on their agenda is a draft law on how much GMO material may be tolerated without labeling in batches of conventional seed - a highly controversial law that has bounced between the Commission's various units for more than a year.
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By Atul Prakash
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans a new policy promoting speedy approval of GMO crops to boost yields and feed its growing population, a government minister said on Wednesday.
The policy, which should be in place within eight to nine months, would also promote foreign and private sector investment in the biotechnology sector.
"We intend to have a biotech policy as quickly as possible to supply to the farmers pest-resistant and drought-resistant seeds with high nutritional values," Kapil Sibal, federal science and technology minister, told Reuters in an interview.
The debate on biotech grains has intensified worldwide, with advocates saying they could lead to a more secure future for food, while opponents say they could produce new toxins and allergens, affecting the health of consumers.
India opened the door to genetically modified organism (GMO) technology in 2002 after years of trials and allowed Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co. (MAHYCO), in which U.S. biotech giant Monsanto Co. owns a 26 percent stake, to sell transgenic cotton.
It may take many years for the approval of a second GMO crop. Sibal said at least seven GMO crops, including rice, potatoes and mustard, were being field-tested in India.
"But these products are six to seven years down the line," he said, adding that the government would seek to speed up the approval process for biotech products. The new policy would emphasize the use of biotechnology to increase food grain production to take care of India's growing food needs, the minister said.
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HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam said on Tuesday initial tests showed a 14-month-old boy died from bird flu, but it was unclear if the child was infected with the same H5N1 strain of the virus that killed 19 people in the country earlier this year.
"We have found this is the type A H5 virus," Tran Duc Long, deputy director of the Health Ministry's legal department said on Tuesday. He said the boy, from the outskirts of the capital city Hanoi, died on Sunday from pneumonia.
The World Health Organization in Vietnam said it had not received any official report of the death. Eight people in Thailand also died of the H5N1 bird flu virus this year.
Long said while doctors had not determined if the virus was the lethal H5N1 type, authorities were disinfecting the area around the boy's family home in Thanh Tri district outside Hanoi. The child fell ill with high fever, coughing and seizures on Aug. 28, doctors said.
In early August Vietnam reported three human deaths from the H5 virus and was only able to confirm the N1 component two weeks later. There are 15 sub-types of influenza virus known to infect birds but the H5N1 strain is deadly to humans.
Vietnam has sought the help of the WHO to further identify previous samples from bird flu victims, using the U.N. health agency's network of advanced laboratories.
Long said the diagnosis of bird flu in humans was complicated by the fact that its symptoms resemble the more common type A infection. Victims are believed to have caught the bird flu through close contact with sick poultry or their droppings.
Last week Vietnamese officials said they expected the bird flu virus to linger for at least five more years.
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In an attempt to avoid a chicken cull, Thai farmers are buying bird vaccines on the black market. The government is now considering whether to allow use of the avian-influenza vaccines, which were banned because of safety concerns. A government committee weighing up the issue is expected to report within the next few weeks.
This follows a government crackdown on their use. Vaccination claims to keep healthy birds infection-free, protecting the livelihoods of farmers and avoiding the need to kill hundreds of thousands of birds. But experts at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warn that even seemingly healthy vaccinated birds can contract the virus and spread it, and that black-market vaccines themselves might aid development of a more dangerous strain.
Experts agree that vaccine use can be successful, as long as it is accompanied by strict monitoring and testing — something Thailand does not have the resources to do. Culling remains by far the most effective way to stop avian influenza spreading, but this could have a massive impact on the country, once one of the world's main poultry exporters. While the government considers its next move, it plans an educational campaign. But this is not expected to end the use of illegal vaccines.
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VIENNA - Animal-to-human organ transplants could be at the dawn of a new era thanks to progress in overcoming rejection and the creation of transgenic pigs, an expert said on Tuesday.
Only about 25 percent of critically ill patients in need of a donor heart, kidney or liver receive the life-saving organs. Many die while waiting for a transplant.
Xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs or tissue, is considered a possible solution to the worldwide shortage of donor organs.
rofessor Ian F.C. McKenzie, Australian president of the International Xenotransplantation Association (IXA), told a medical conference that scientists are making progress in overcoming the obstacles in animal-to human transplants.
"We are now at the dawn of a new era," he said.
Pigs, with organs approximately the same size as their human equivalents, are thought to be the best animals for organ transplants because they breed quickly and produce big litters.
But fears of pig viruses infecting human cells and problems of organ rejection have been major obstacles.
McKenzie told the week-long meeting of the 20th International Congress of the Transplantation Society that genetically modified pigs could be a new avenue to overcome organ rejection.
"I would predict that at least six genes will need to be modified or eliminated in transgenic pigs to allow for the survival of donor organs," McKenzie said in a statement.
"There are already pregnant pigs that have up to five of the genes that could be important for carrying out xenotransplantation," he added.
Financial analysts estimate that the total market for xenotransplantation could run into billions of dollars but early attempts to commercialise the technology have been held up by problems.
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