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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union approved on Wednesday the first genetically modified (GMO) seeds for planting that may be sold across the 25-nation bloc.
But the European Commission was unable to reach consensus on a proposal to set maximum levels of GMO content in seeds -- one of the final pieces of the EU's raft of legislation to end the bloc's nearly six-year ban on growing new types of GMO crops.
The EU executive authorized 17 different seed strains of maize engineered by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto from a parent crop that won approval for growing just before the EU began its biotech ban in 1998 that lasted nearly six years.
"The European Commission approved today the inscription of 17 varieties derived from MON 810 maize in the Common EU Catalog of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species," the Commission said in a statement.
"This maize has been authorized under the EU GM legislation since 1998," it added.
Before Wednesday's decision, the 17 seeds only had national authorizations issued by France and Spain. This meant that only farmers in those countries were able to buy and plant the seeds. 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 to extend that authorization onto an EU-wide basis. But the move has angered greens, who say it is irresponsible to allow the widespread use of GMO seeds while many EU countries have no laws on separating biotech and conventional crops.
The 17 seeds will now be entered into what is called the Common Catalog, the EU's overall seed directory that compiles all national seed catalogs. The parent maize seed, known as MON 810, has been engineered to resist certain insects.
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But, for the first time, the commission did include genetically modified corn in its authorized catalog of seeds - a move that could speed the spread of such foods.
The commission was expected to agree upon a new rule that would allow a batch of 1,000 conventional seeds containing three or less genetically modified seeds to be sold without informing food manufacturers and consumers of the presence of the organisms. Ten of the 25 commissioners, however, opposed that move at a meeting in Brussels, including Romano Prodi, the president, and 5 commissioners were undecided.
The decision, which will form the last important part of the European Union`s new rules on genetically altered food, will be passed on to the new commission, which takes office in November.
"The failure to decide after three years of preparation is good news for those people opposed to G.M. foods," said Adrian Bebb, who campaigns against genetically altered food for the environmental group Friends of the Earth Europe.
Leaving the decision to the incoming commission "is a golden opportunity for a new commission to get into line with public opinion, which is distrustful of G.M. food," Mr. Bebb said.
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The Green Party reiterated its call today that Ireland should remain a GM free zone following the announcement that the EU has approved the sale of genetically modified seeds.
Green Party/Comhaontas Glas Leader Trevor Sargent TD said, "Unfortunately the European Union has approved the sale of genetically modified seeds in all member states and has brushed aside consumer concerns. Ireland must be protected from the predatory tactics of biotech companies, which seek to end our effective GMO seed free status, if our marketing potential as Green Food Ireland is to be developed."
"If the experience of US farmers is reflected in Ireland it will mean farmer viability and consumer confidence in Irish produced food will suffer. To date, the American experience of cultivating GMOs shows that GM farmers are less profitable than conventional or organic farmers. The Green Party demands strong clear action from the Irish Government on an All - Ireland basis in co-operation with the Northern Ireland Office to halt this EU decision."
"The contamination of conventional and organic crops by neighbouring GM crops, has already been proven. "The question remains of who will be liable? Insurance companies have refused to assume responsibility for environmental and health risks linked to the marketing of GMOs within the EU. The Government must clearly act on this latest EU decision. What is the Government for if it is not protect us from such attempts at national sabotage by bio-profiteers."
"The Green Party have always maintained that a moratorium on the release of GMOs should remain until all five precautionary requirements are firmly established in practice: safety, traceability, labelling, protection against contamination (coexistence), and liability."
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Helen Pilcher
Editor uneasy about fertility expert's portrayal of cloning work.
fter declaring last week that he had successfully used genetic material from dead people in cloning experiments, fertility researcher Panayiotis Zavos has had a peer-reviewed paper on human cloning pulled by the journal that accepted it.
Zavos has made several cloning claims in recent years, including an assertion that he had implanted a cloned human embryo into a woman. But he has yet to support any of his claims with published work.
On 30 August, Zavos told a London press conference that he had created cloned human embryos by mixing genetic material from dead people with cow eggs. He claimed that the supporting data was in the press with a peer-reviewed journal, which he did not name.
On his website, Zavos lists a paper about the use of cow eggs for human cloning as 'in press' with the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. But the journal's editor-in-chief, Norbert Gleicher, says that the paper, which had been scheduled for publication, has now been withdrawn. "We do not tolerate unauthorized prepublication publicity," he says.
Gleicher would not disclose details of the paper, but says that he was also concerned by Zavos's public portrayal of the work. "Nothing in the paper we initially accepted had anything to do with cells from deceased individuals," he told news@nature.com.
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A human blood-clotting factor used to treat some people with haemophilia and accident victims suffering serious bleeding has been produced using genetically modified fish.
There is still a long way to go before any product reaches the market, but if the fish project is a commercial success many other proteins might be made in this way.
"We have a list of 20 other human therapeutic proteins that could be produced via fish to treat lung disease, liver problems, even tumours," says Norman Maclean of the University of Southampton in the UK.
Maclean has been working on producing human coagulation factor VII in fish together with AquaGene of Alachua, Florida. Factor VII can be purified directly from human blood, but there is a risk of diseases being transmitted this way.
The only alternative, called NovoSeven, is produced using genetically modified hamster cells. But growing mammalian cells is very expensive, and the cost of a single injection can be as high as $10,000.
AquaGene is hoping to produce a much cheaper rival product using tilapia, a fast-growing freshwater fish widely farmed for food. Maclean has now managed to produce several lines of transgenic tilapia that produce human factor VII.
His team added a genetic switch from the tilapia to the human gene. This ensures that the gene is switched on in the liver of modified fish, and the protein secreted into the blood.
"Each millilitre of human blood has about 500 nanograms of the protein. We were able to match that yield in the blood of our fish," says Maclean. He hopes to produce tilapia that will make 10 times that level within a year.
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