View allAll Photos Tagged GeneticEngineering
Raisinets.
Maybe it's the soy?
"In 2014, the state of Vermont enacted a law – Act 120 – that required labels on products containing genetically engineered ingredients. This law was effective July 1, 2016. However, on July 29, 2016, President Obama signed Public Law 114-216 which establishes a “National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard” and calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to “establish a national mandatory bioengineered food disclosure standard”. This federal law preempts the State of Vermont’s law, and the Vermont law will not be enforced."
Perhaps disclosures of the type shown on this package will disappear?
I have read, "Raisinets are the number one largest selling candy in United States history." I have also read they are the second and third most popular.
Canola refers to a cultivar of either Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) or Field Mustard (Brassica campestris L. or Brassica Rapa var.). Its seeds are used to produce edible oil suitable for consumption by humans and livestock. The oil is also suitable for use as biodiesel.
The name "canola" was derived from "Canadian oil, low acid" in 1978. Although wild rapeseed oil contains significant amounts of erucic acid, a known toxin, the cultivar used to produce commercial, food-grade canola oil was bred to contain less than 2% erucic acid.
A genetically engineered rapeseed that is tolerant to herbicide was first introduced to Canada in 1995, and since then, genetically modified rapeseed, canola, has become a point of controversy and contentious legal battles.
The introduction of the genetically modified crop to Australia is generating considerable controversy. Canola is Australia's major oilseed crop, and also Australia’s third biggest crop, and is used often by wheat farmers as a break crop to improve soil quality. In 2003, Australia's gene technology regulator approved the release of canola altered to make it resistant to the herbicide Glufosinate ammonium (Zero or Roundup). This can encourage the evolution of weeds also resistant to existing herbicides, so farmers will be forced to use more powerful herbicides.
The Australian Oilseeds Federation gives a glowing report of the benefits of all Australian oils on its website www.australianoilseeds.com/australian_oils_natures_finest The website mentions nothing about genetic engineering.
Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda.
Credit: ©2011CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger has the natural capacity to produce various technically useful enzymes such as phytase, glucanase and xylanase. However it is only able to produce these biocatalysts in small quantities. The microorganism was genetically modified to enable it to manufacture large quantities of phytase and other enzymes – as a kind of living factory.
Magnification 180 :1 (12cm in width)
Print free of charge. Copyright by BASF.
Jack Williamson is credited with inventing the terms “terraforming” and “genetic engineering.” His novel “Dragon’s Island,” first published in 1951, is the first novel to use the term “genetic engineering.” It’s a fast-paced adventure story in which a young scientist seeks the whereabouts of a missing geneticist. He is whisked away to a secret location called Dragon’s Island, where strange creatures and a mutant race that is faster, smarter and stronger than humans seem to have been created.
The paperback publisher Popular Library put out "Dragon's Island" a few months later, in August 1952, and it had another great cover by Earle Bergey: www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/14408479633/in/set-721...
Born in Arizona and raised on a New Mexico farm, Jack Williamson (1908-2006) acquired degrees in English from Eastern New Mexico University. He became a member of the faculty in 1960 and remained with the University the rest of his life. He sold his first story at twenty and had a long and successful writing career well into his nineties, winning a Hugo at 93 and a Nebula at 94. He was named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers Association.
RIPE postdoctoral researcher Amanda DeSouza genetically engineers cassava, adding genes to increase the yield of this staple root crop.
Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering plants to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity. The international research project is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at ripe.illinois.edu/.
Image credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE
RIPE postdoctoral researcher Amanda DeSouza genetically engineers cassava, adding genes to increase the yield of this staple root crop.
Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering plants to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity. The international research project is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at ripe.illinois.edu/.
Image credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE
RIPE postdoctoral researcher Amanda DeSouza genetically engineers cassava, adding genes to increase the yield of this staple root crop.
Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering plants to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity. The international research project is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at ripe.illinois.edu/.
Image credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE
CRISPR/Cas9 engineering was used in mouse embryonic stem cells to insert a GFP tag in frame with the motor-neuron-specific transcription factor HB9. These cells were differentiated into motor neurons. The resulting motor neuron nuclei are labeled with the GFP reporter (green) and counterstained with antibodies against the neuronal marker Tuj1 (red).
Credit: T. Macfarlan, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH
Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand. Founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny, by the 1940s it was a major producer of plastics, including polystyrene and synthetic fibers. Notable achievements by Monsanto and its scientists as a chemical company included breakthrough research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and being the first company to mass-produce light emitting diodes (LEDs). The company also formerly manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin.
Monsanto was among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, along with three academic teams, which was announced in 1983, and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops, which it did in 1987. It remained one of the top 10 U.S. chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, through a process of mergers and spin-offs that focused the company on biotechnology.
Monsanto was a pioneer in applying the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by Genentech and other biotech drug companies in the late 1970s in California. In this business model, companies invest heavily in research and development, and recoup the expenses through the use and enforcement of biological patents. Monsanto's application of this model to agriculture, along with a growing movement to create a global, uniform system of plant breeders' rights in the 1980s, came into direct conflict with customary practices of farmers to save, reuse, share and develop plant varieties. Its seed patenting model has also been criticized as biopiracy and a threat to biodiversity. Monsanto's role in these changes in agriculture (which include its litigation and its seed commercialization practices), its current and former agbiotech products, its lobbying of government agencies, and its history as a chemical company, have made Monsanto controversial.
Legal actions and controversies
Monsanto is notable for its involvement in high profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It has been involved in a number of class action suits, where fines and damages have run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, usually over health issues related to its products. Monsanto has also made frequent use of the courts to defend its patents, particularly in the area of agricultural biotechnology.
On 25 May 2013, rallies against Monsanto took place. According to organizers, rallies were planned in 52 countries and 436 cities, and their goal was to protest against Monsanto and the genetically modified food it produces.
"I’m not feeling alright today
I’m not feeling that great
I’m not catching on fire today
love has started to fade
I’m not going to smile today
I’m not gonna laugh
you're out living it up today
I’ve got dues to pay
And the grave-digger puts on the forceps
The stone mason does all the work
The barber can give you a haircut
The carpenter can take you out to lunch
I just want to play on my pan-pipes
I just want to drink me some wine
as soon as you're born you start dying
so you might as well have a good time
Sheep go to heaven
Goats go to hell
Sheep go to heaven
Goats… go to hell"
Cake......Sheep Go To Heaven
Credit: ©2013CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
I moderated a panel on disruptive innovaton with, from right to left, Drew Endy of Stanford, Gen9 and IGEM (synthetic biology), Wendy Arienzo, CEO of Array Converter (pioneering a new technique for DC to AC conversion), and Danny Yu, CEO of Daintree Networks (ZigBee light bulbs).
Video is now up: of my talk and of the panel.
Drew works to make biology ever easier to engineer:
“Our work is a radical departure from the past generation (35 years) of biotechnology which has tended to be overdriven by applications, given that we typically turn to biology as a technology partner of last resort to solve pressing problems (cure this disease, give me a drop in fuel now, etc.). This has resulted in a collective and persistent underinvestment in tools supporting biotechnology. Most practice the details of genetic engineering today no different from how it was done in 1980.
Over the last 10 years we are pioneered the idea of standard biological parts and the use of abstraction for managing biological complexity. Biofab has produced the foundations of the world's first "genome operating system" for E. coli. Basically, we have reduced the error rate of expressing genes in a bacterium by 6-fold (now at ~93.6% reliability). The impact of this advance is that the scale of the system that can be built (before a requirement to test what is happening) increases from 1 gene at a time to ~15 genes at a time. As we push this reliability higher, we eventually enable full forward engineering at the genome scale.
Ten years from now we should have made biology easy to engineer, sufficient to design (not just reconstruct) entire genomes. Everything now made in a plant can be made in yeast. Disruptions to material supply chains all over the place. Reduced energy and environmental loads, left and right.”
He gave the interesting energy-saving example of bio-engineered enzymes for detergents so we can now wash in a cold water cycle.
And for a recent example of computational design of de novo proteins, I mentioned David Baker’s groundbreaking work in designing proteins that target the invariant region of H1N1 and building novel catalytic enzymes (Science May 2011). He used 250,000 computers, but after a few turns of Moore’s Law, that will be commonplace.
(Panel press coverage at greentechmedia and Cnet)
While on the campaign trail in 2007, Barack Obama promised to label GMO foods if elected.
In 2009, Michelle Obama began planting an organic garden using organic seeds on the grounds of the White House for her family and the White House staff. I wonder why the genetically modified seeds where not good enough? She wrote a book about her garden called, "American Grown", which I am sure will provide her with a small fortune in personal revenue.
On March 26, 2013, Barack Obama signed his name to H.R. 933, a continuing resolution spending bill approved in Congress days earlier. Buried 78 pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech corporations such as the Missouri-based Monsanto Company from litigation.
With the president’s signature, agriculture giants that deal with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds are given the go-ahead to continue to plant and sell man-made crops, even as questions remain largely unanswered about the health risks these types of products pose to consumers.
In light of approval from the House and Senate, more than 250,000 people signed a petition asking the president to veto the spending bill over the biotech rider tacked on, an item that has since been widely referred to as the “Monsanto Protection Act.”
Obama ignored the people, instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future.
James Brumley, a reporter for Investor Place, explains a little more thoroughly just how dangerous the rider is now that biotech companies are allowed to bypass judicial scrutiny. Up until it was signed, he writes, “the USDA [US Department of Agriculture] oversaw and approved (or denied) the testing of genetically modified seeds, while the federal courts retained the authority to halt the testing or sale of these plants if it felt that public health was being jeopardized. With HR 933 now a law, however, the court system no longer has the right to step in and protect the consumer.”
hmmmm......me wonders why the GMO's and GE's are good enough for everyone else but not the Obama's? And.....me wonders why Barack Obama caved and broke his promise to the American people? hmmm....makes you wonder, doesn't it?
**photo courtesy of www.businessinsider.com
PS....I could caption this photo but I had better not....lol
Work as part of CIAT's Genetic resources program.
Credit: ©2010CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
Scientists will now start growing human eggs in labs, so in the future we may be hatching these?
More of my Creative Common images are available on my Picasa page.
If you find this image useful, please link it to my blog at: www.azrainman.com
Ira Levin - The Boys from Brazil
Dell Books 10760, 1977
Cover Artist: unknown
"Hiding in the jungles of Brazil...a Nazi scientist with a diabolical plan to create a new Hitler—and the deadly means to carry it out."
UH Manoa is always at the forefront in natural sciences. today taro farmers protested UH's patent on three genetically modified taro varieties.
taro / kalo is a Polynesian staple and has been grown across the Pacific for centuries.
because the school owns the patent on several varieties, farmers must to enter a licensing agreement with the school in order to grow them.
the figure above was part of an altar built for this event. the man represents the farmer who is raising his taro / kalo skyward.
news article here.
An empty seed bag blew into the yard from passing farm machinery. This year's corn crop; next year's high-fructose corn syrup. I hope it doesn't do a gene swap with poison ivy! The tag boasts of three patented genes that the corn contains that make it resistant to herbicides. So: farmers can spray harsh chemicals on the corn without killing it, and thus yield more of it to make our cornflakes!
This is one of my most viewed photos because it is widely reprinted. The res is pretty good and if you zoom in on the tag in the upper left you can read about the specific genes that are modified.
RIPE postdoctoral researcher Amanda DeSouza genetically engineers cassava, adding genes to increase the yield of this staple root crop.
Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering plants to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity. The international research project is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at ripe.illinois.edu/.
Image credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE
This idea came to me because I was laid-off from my job due to a Corporate Consolidation. So, if life gives you navel oranges, then..... uh........ make some photoshop art, then eat that orange and go get a new job. Now, where can I find that job?
©2011 Rick Childers All Rights Reserved (Click here to view a larger version.)
The under-the-sea artwork on the cover features a pair of humans and a pair of amphibious Tritons, genetically-engineered humans. Not so far-fetched given today's technology and incredibly perceptive of Mr. Knight for a story he wrote over 70 years ago.
Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda.
Credit: ©2011CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
RIPE postdoctoral researcher Amanda DeSouza genetically engineers cassava, adding genes to increase the yield of this staple root crop.
Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is engineering plants to more efficiently turn the sun’s energy into food to sustainably increase worldwide food productivity. The international research project is funded by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at ripe.illinois.edu/.
Image credit: Claire Benjamin/RIPE
Produced with genetic engineering!
Brach's Candy Corn : )
Something like 89% of the corn grown in the USA is GMO, but this is from Mexico...
Eat carcin-o-korn at your own risk. Brought to you by the makers of Agent Orangejuice and Dijon Mustardgas. Yummy stuff.
Remember this equation: "Corporate + Resposibility = Oxymoron" Don't think for a moment your corporate overseers would ever put your health (or the health of this spaceship Earth) ahead of their boundless insatiable greed.
Please download and print this image and display it everywhere. Cherish your organic seeds!
Credit: ©2010CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
Rice trials at CIAT's headquarters in Colombia.
Credit: ©2010CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
this is the third attempt at getting a litter of hairless babies - and im pulling out all stops to provide a suitable and acceptable environment, hence the 1970's retro space ship shaped home (which is actually a 70's ceramic light fitting i found at a garage sale)
I am providing a wide variety of foodstuffs, including twisties - for added 'vitamin T'
I have also put the two pregnant ones in with a normal mouse, and she had her babies yesterday. If the hairless ones give birth to viable babies, the normal mouse should act as a surrogate. These things are notoriously bad mothers.
The last two litters were born on the new moon, and the moon is at 100% right now - so lets hope i get it right this time! WONT SOMEBODY THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!
See this photo also at ;
www.suite101.com/content/polyculture-food-activists-poise...
Brand New Zealand
www.flickr.com/photos/celtico/5017484926/
Until the recent anti-mining march of 2010
waitakerenews.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-march-anti-mining... THIS Oct 2003 protest was THE largest Auckland march since the civilian Vietnam War protests....in the 1970s..there were similar GMO free marches in London in the same month of Oct 2003.This was the third such march in Auckland. Both Jon Carapiet (GEfreeNZ) and Allanah Currie* (madGE) were two of the main speakers at the end of the rally in Myers Park with singer Don McGlashan and Greenpeace.
(*) www.flickr.com/photos/celtico/5016878005/
www.flickr.com/photos/47661408@N02/4377503226/
This 3rd Genetic Engineering-free NZ protest march in Oct 2003 is making
its way up Queen St, the main street, of Auckland, New Zealand as
the NZ Royal Commission on Genetic Modification was about to deliver a
'greenwash' and play 'fence sitting' during the then Labour-led govt
which last nine years 1999-2009. This doubled the march of 2001 .
The two prior marches plus the 'Corngate' scandal of 2000-02
heightened the publics awareness despite mainstream media inattention or party spin by both minister Hobbs then civil servant Prebble .
In November, 2000 - in the middle of the Royal Commission on genetic engineering - the Government learned that a shipment of GE contaminated sweet corn seeds had been planted in three regions of New Zealand.Then Environment minister Marion Hobbs fudged things all three Labour environment ministers had no interest or experience in the area; all being ex-teachers . Imposing strict secrecy, Prime Minister Helen Clark took control of the issue and said that the crops must be pulled out. A good call to save the election.
Then the big business lobbying began.
.
New Zealand is a country where gmos became an election issue in the leadup to the 2002 general election.Perhaps only in France,Germany and to a degree UK has there been more public discussion of this new technology of less than twenty years.
www.sustainabilitynz.org/docs/NZGMFreeFoodProducer.pdf
Date 11 October 2003 (2003-10-11)
Source Own work Author Alan Liefting in Wikipedia commons.
www.flickr.com/photos/travelmaster/3826887161/in/photostr...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering_in_New_Zealand
What is GE or are gmos ?
PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS FOR
RESPONSIBLE GENETICS (PSRGNZ-Charitable Trust)
affiliated to the international organisation PSRAST
Physicians and Scientists for the Responsible Application of Science and Technology
www.flickr.com/groups/gmo-free/discuss/72157621756822328/
www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/news?related_item_id=90500
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYVoCAnvbs8
www.flickr.com/photos/aksamba/163435584/
www.flickr.com/photos/aksamba/sets/72057594141645823/with...
www.flickr.com/photos/76074333@N00/476317353/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us42DZO0NX0&feature=related
US gmo apologist in NZH/Listener recent visit
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti...
The first of three Auckland marches attracted at least 10,000 on a wet September day in 2001
www.flickr.com/photos/socialistworkernz/4554241106/in/set...
See article.
www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/nzrally090701.cfm
Christchurch march same year
www.ourspace.tepapa.com/media/5036
Article on Allanah Currie NZ/UK former singer who helped co-ordinate and founded 'MadGE' the voluntary grassroots organisation 'Mothers against GE'.They went to court in NZ and were charged costs in GE free legal battle , however, they still do survive as a branch in Australia.
www.investigatemagazine.com/jan3ge.htm
Choking on GE Wheat - Protest Images
Wednesday, 24 March 2004, 4:24 pm
Press Release: Wellington Anti-GE Action
Press Release:
Wellington Anti-GE Action
Date: March 24, 2004
Ringiers farbige Kinderbücher / Kinderbuchserie
> Ringgi + Zofi / Spannende Abenteuer in Genikon
von Robi Reinfrank und Röbu Schnieper
Ringier & Co AG / Zürich 1988
ex libris MTP
Documenting the impact of improved climbing beans in Rwanda.
Credit: ©2011CIAT/NeilPalmer
Please credit accordingly and leave a comment when you use a CIAT photo.
For more info: ciat-comunicaciones@cgiar.org
Science, fuck yeah! GMO makes you healthy and strong... It's also fantastic for corporate America. And you love America. So, you love GMO. Right?
GMO's are plants and animals that have an altered genetic make-up that's been "edited" in the laboratory in order to incorporate genes from another organism. When scientists use genetic engineering to alter the genes of an organism, they're generally seeking to add a trait that they view as beneficial, generally for production purposes. Usually genetic engineering is done to achieve a trait not normally held by an organism, such as longer shelf life, disease resistance or different colors or flavors.
The dangers vs. benefits of GMOs are widely debated, but genetic modification is currently allowed in conventional farming. In fact, many organizations and studies estimate that possibly 70% or more of all processed foods sold to consumers now contain genetically modified ingredients.
Former Canada Health chief and vaccine scientist, now a whistleblower, Dr Chopra who helped stop the gmo hormone rGBH being added to cows milk in Europe after Monsanto and Eli-Lilly chemical companies tried to share the 'market', falsify poor and limited testing.They managed to make it acceptable in US ,Canada and Chile amongst other places through the corruption of the FDA in USA in 1994.He has featured in several films on food safety including the World according to Monsanto (France) and The Future of Food (USA). A succinct speaker at the Auckland Trades Hall tonight. He is the recent author of the book of his ongoing struggle "Corrupt to the Core" , also on DVD , and his hearings also feature in the film "The Corporation."
In 1998 and 1999, Chopra, along with two co-workers: Drs. Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert, testified to the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry that they were pressured by senior supervisors to approve multiple drugs of questionable safety, including Bovine Growth Hormone (rBST).Prior to the 'mad cow' disease crisis in Canada, Chopra warned the government that the current handling of feed to cows including rendering was inadequate.So they turned upon him and his colleagues fortunately he had the support of his union of 200 other scientists so could not be so easliy impuned or dismissed as the 'Wikipedia' article implies from one journalist.
Dr Shiv Chopra tour also extends to Australia on the 16 Jun 2009
Dr Chopra has been called a hero by both David Suzuki and Vandana Shiva. A former Senior Scientific Advisor at Health Canada, he is a microbiologist and internationally recognised contributor to the public debate on key food safety issues. He testified before the Canadian Senate, where his evidence led to the banning of Monsanto’s controversial Bovine Growth Hormone.
Dr Chopra will be giving public lectures in Auckland and Wellington in NZ then Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in Australia..
In summary Dr Shiva C' mentions the five steps or pillars to food safety which would leave foods and crops close to pre so-called 'green revolution' of the 1950s or they retain their organic status... :
(Make no mistake, true ORGANIC foods/crops can NOT CO-EXIST with gmos despite the attempt in the US recently to blurr both defintions and world standards) .
....exclusion of
PESTICIDES ,
GMOS ,
HORMONES ,
ANTIBIOTICS and
SLAUGHTERHOUSE WASTE ( the rendered carcases which are/were fed back to the same species as feed , prompting BSE etc , prion diseases etc)
www.alive.com/3700a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=634
www.truefood.org.au/newsandevents/?events=8
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Chopra
www.eff.org/cases/eli-lilly-zyprexa-litigation
Originally shared by +National Geographic
Will it one day be possible to bring a wooly mammoth or a Neanderthal back to life? If so, should we?
Can Genetic Engineering Bring Back Extinct Animals?
Check this out on Google+https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnCurrinFamily/
currinfamily.alljc.co/2015/09/22/will-it-one-day-be-possi...
rachel and holly in the parking lot of one of rachel's old companies
san diego, california
july 26 - august 2, 2003
copyright © 2003-07-31 sean dreilinger
view holly and rachel standing in the parking lot - dscf6092 on a black background.
Environmental Sciences Europe 2014
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: www.enveurope.com/content/26/1/14
Received:22 March 2014
Accepted:16 May 2014
Published 24 June 2014
© 2014 Séralini et al.; licensee Springer
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background
The health effects of a Roundup-tolerant NK603 genetically modified (GM) maize (from 11% in the diet), cultivated with or without Roundup application and Roundup alone (from 0.1 ppb of the full pesticide containing glyphosate and adjuvants) in drinking water, were evaluated for 2 years in rats. This study constitutes a follow-up investigation of a 90-day feeding study conducted by Monsanto in order to obtain commercial release of this GMO, employing the same rat strain and analyzing biochemical parameters on the same number of animals per group as our investigation. Our research represents the first chronic study on these substances, in which all observations including tumors are reported chronologically. Thus, it was not designed as a carcinogenicity study. We report the major findings with 34 organs observed and 56 parameters analyzed at 11 time points for most organs.
Results
Biochemical analyses confirmed very significant chronic kidney deficiencies, for all treatments and both sexes; 76% of the altered parameters were kidney-related. In treated males, liver congestions and necrosis were 2.5 to 5.5 times higher. Marked and severe nephropathies were also generally 1.3 to 2.3 times greater. In females, all treatment groups showed a two- to threefold increase in mortality, and deaths were earlier. This difference was also evident in three male groups fed with GM maize. All results were hormone- and sex-dependent, and the pathological profiles were comparable. Females developed large mammary tumors more frequently and before controls; the pituitary was the second most disabled organ; the sex hormonal balance was modified by consumption of GM maize and Roundup treatments. Males presented up to four times more large palpable tumors starting 600 days earlier than in the control group, in which only one tumor was noted. These results may be explained by not only the non-linear endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup but also by the overexpression of the EPSPS transgene or other mutational effects in the GM maize and their metabolic consequences.
I am glad to deliver the Annual Lecture to the Association of Indian Diplomats consisting of great minds in this area who had represented our country in various parts of the world. My greetings to all of you. I am happy that the years of unique experience of all of you are made available to the younger generation by way of training programmes and publications and you are keeping yourself posted with the latest serving the interest of our country. I would suggest that you should bring out specific case studies of your rich diplomatic experience and the significant contribution made by our country in maintaining world peace. When I am with you, I was thinking what I can discuss with you. As I see the experience of the experienced amidst the current players of diplomacy with the energy of the future generation, I have chosen the topic of this lecture as "Past meets the present and creates the future".
Changing Phase of Diplomacy
Diplomacy is a dynamic process. It depends upon the state of the country, the state of the world, the global technological levels and aspirations of the human society. In future we may also move towards getting material from Moon and creation of habitat in Mars. Above all we have to keep peace in space. From the earlier cold war era, the world has become uni-polar. A number of economic powers are emerging in the world such as South East Asia, Gulf Countries, Brazil, China and India apart from the existing USA, EU, Japan and Russia. The revolutions in integrated circuit technology, internet, communication and space technologies have shrunk the distances and created a global village and Genetic Engineering has created a new dimension for healthcare. Thinking globally and acting locally has become a reality. The technologies have revolutionized the communication and contact among the world citizens and large population has their realistic appreciation of situation in other parts of the world. The borderless world enables optimal utilization of talent across the world be it science, technology, industry, economy and business. India, in particular, has demonstrated its upswing in economic development, and also in the field of space, nuclear science, Pharma and auto industries on a strong foundation of its democratic process. We have become a software capital of the world and the contribution of the Indian Diaspora, business leaders and talents in arts and sports are becoming increasingly visible in various parts of the world. Multinational companies are evincing great interest in starting new joint ventures with Indian companies. However the pace of progress will further increase if the country adopts a single window clearance system for foreign investment. The interaction among the reputed academic institutions from all over the world with Indian institutions is on the increase. Indian companies based on their technological and managerial excellence are able to take over large industries abroad.
Now, I would like to share with you my personal experience in dealing with the foreign collaboration which was mainly possible by the counseling, guidance and effective follow-up on a mission mode by our diplomatic community.
Pan African e-Network
During the year 2003-04, I visited African countries such as Sudan, Tanzania, Tanzania-Zanzibar and South Africa. I addressed the Pan African Parliament on 16 Sept 2004, at Johannesburg, South Africa which was attended by Heads of 53 member countries of the African unit. Based on my study of the communication, healthcare and education needs of the African countries, I proposed the concept of Pan African e-Network for providing seamless and integrated satellite, fiber optics and wireless network connecting 53 African countries.
The proposal was to use the core competencies of our country in the field of IT for providing at least one hub in each of the African countries through which various e-services like tele-education, tele-medicine and e-governance could be provided. Pan African e-Network project brings together the terrestrial network between India and Africa through the international under sea fiber cable network and also the African satellite network services to provide education and health care services from India and Africa to the 53 Pan African nations and also connecting the 53 heads of the state. The universities and Super Specialty hospitals of Africa will also use this Pan African e-Network to provide services and content. I am happy to inform you that this offer has been received very well all over the African Continent and 20 countries will be connected in the first half of 2007 and the rest will be operationalized by early 2008 at a cost of $100 million.
Role of Diplomacy in Programme Execution
Now, I would like to give the sequence of events which took place before signing of the MoU between India and African Union for implementation of Pan-African e-network project. As soon as the project was announced, a technical committee was appointed by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to generate the project report. The project report was evolved in sixteen weeks’ time coordinated by MEA with technical experts drawn from Department of Space, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL). MEA had also interacted with African Union (AU) and member countries in this period. After review by PMO, MEA organized presentation of the project report by a high level team to Chairman and members of the AU. AU also constituted a Technical Review Committee consisting of members drawn from AU and International organizations. The final presentation was made by the Indian team to the Technical Review Committee which observed that this proposal is in line with the missions and objectives of the African Union and provides tremendous potential for achieving the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) through the use of innovative ICT.
Meanwhile, a presentation was made at Rashtrapati Bhavan to the 28 Ambassadors of Pan African countries stationed in Delhi. They also visited ISRO and also familiarized themselves with the operational tele-medicine facilities. I have seen the active contribution of MEA team members and the Indian Ambassador at Ethiopia in coordinating various activities connected with the project in a mission mode by comprehensively addressing the technical, programmatic, financial, contractual and international relationship angle. This enabled signing of the MoU on 27th October 2005.
An International Joint Venture – BRAHMOS
Similarly, I would like to recall the contribution of our MEA team in Russia in the signing of Indo-Russian Joint Venture agreement for BRAHMOS. BRAHMOS is a unique experience for design, development, production and marketing of a missile system - an Indo-Russian joint venture with equal scientific and technological and financial partnership. What we have achieved through this venture is the development and realization of a world-class product using the synergy of technological competence and consortium of industries of partner countries. The BRAHMOS missile is the first supersonic operational cruise missile existing in the world today and can be launched from any type of platform - land, sea, and air and precisely reach the targets either on land or at sea with high lethal effect. The missile has been inducted by the Indian Navy. In addition, the product being internationally competitive, it is able to service a large market with availability in time and state of the art performance at a competitive cost. This has enabled early entry of the product into the world market well before any competitor could emerge. This proves that if the core competencies of nations are combined, best of knowledge products can emanate well ahead of time. This being a new initiative, diplomacy had to play a unique role in visualizing the benefits of the programme to both sides while committing the co-operation and resources.
I am mentioning these examples to illustrate how our diplomatic community closely working with our technological and administrative segments of the Government can facilitate time bound accomplishment of mutually beneficial, multi-lateral, complex international collaborative initiative.
Nalanda Indo-Asian Institute of Learning
Now, I would like to mention about another evolving international partnership as an Indian initiative. To recapture the past glory in the modern context, in keeping with Buddha’s teaching for seeking knowledge in a holistic way by understanding the interconnectedness of things in life and the Universe, it has been proposed to establish a Bodhgaya Nalanda Indo-Asian Institute of Learning in partnership with select Asian countries. I proposed this as one of the missions of Bihar to the Legislative Assembly on 28th March 2006. Bihar Government, MEA and our missions in the South-East Asian countries have a great opportunity to implement this in a mission mode. All of you, with tremendous experience in various countries may be able to support MEA in this mission. You may also be able to support the Bihar Government on the development of spiritual tourism circuits attracting tourists from the country and abroad and particularly the people of south-east Asian countries.
World Knowledge Platform
During my visit to South-East-Asian countries in February 2006, I proposed a joint working programme called World Knowledge Platform. “World Knowledge Platform”, will integrate the core competencies of the partner countries to develop knowledge products. This platform will enable joint design, development, cost effective production and marketing of the knowledge products in various domains based on the core competence of partner nations to international market.
Missions of World Knowledge Platform: The convergence of Bio, Nano and ICT is expected to touch every area of concern to the humanity. The “World Knowledge Platform” will take up the missions, in some of the areas given below, which are of utmost urgency to all of us to make our world a safe, sustainable, peaceful and prosperous place to live:
1. Energy: Leading to Energy independence using four types of energy systems; solar power using high efficient CNT solar cells, thorium based nuclear reactors and energy from bio-fuel such as bio-diesel and ethanol and hydrogen based fuel cells.
2. Water: Desalination, channelization and networking of rivers, layered wells for water storage in hill regions and flood control, water harvesting, water recycling, treatment and water management.
3. Healthcare: Diagnosis, drug delivery system, development of vaccines for HIV/TB, Malaria and Cardiac diseases, detection and cure of diabetics.
4. Agriculture and Food processing: Increased production of food grain in an environment of reduced land, reduced water and reduced manpower; preservation of food; food processing; cost effective storage and distribution.
5. Knowledge products: Hardware, Software and Networking and Storage Products including handheld micro and nano electronic devices.
6. Transportation systems: Fossil fuel free transportation systems using renewable energies, safety systems, Hardware and embedded software integration.
7. Habitat: Energy efficient, water efficient, pollution free habitat
8. Disaster Prediction and Management: Earth quake forecasting, assessing the quantum of rain for particular cloud condition.
9. Capacity Building: Quality human resource development for all the above areas including the development of personnel with world class skills.
The world knowledge platform will also evolve a virtual design centre with the participation of collaborating countries. India and partner countries can jointly take certain missions in the World Knowledge Platform. World knowledge Platform will be the launch pad for many innovations that are waiting to be unearthed only by the combined power of partnering nations. In addition to the above task, I foresee research on international peace and understanding with multi-country partnership could be a subject of common interest. This subject can encompass all areas of human development including enlightened citizenship and collective methods to combat obstacles to development particularly all forms of terrorism. I can see with your intimate knowledge of our country’s cultural and spiritual heritage and your exposure to multiple nations and their culture, you can contribute by assisting in evolution of Prosperous India and peaceful planet Earth.
Conclusion
With the above background, I would like to suggest the following missions for the Association of Indian Diplomats:
1. Publication of case studies of effective diplomatic intervention in promoting business, science and social activities for mutual benefits to India and the partner countries.
2. Strategy for showcasing the current Indian development to the various parts of the world to generate joint programmes for mutually benefits. Apart from science, technology and industry based category of products for business promotion, our diplomats can study the core competence of every one of our Panchayats and try to link the core competencies of rural enterprises into a marketable export product in a sustainable manner.
3. 25 million Indians living abroad are bubbling with an urge, “what I can give for India”. All of you with your experience in various countries may be able to suggest how this energy can be further channelised.
4. Members of Association of Indian Diplomats can take up a task to redefine the role of diplomacy when India is progressing to become a developed nation by 2020 for consideration of the Government.
5. Development of potential of India as a meeting of minds of human thinkers from various countries to develop enlightened citizenship as part of world knowledge platform.
6. The association of Diplomats may consider making suitable recommendations for further facilitating welfare of NRIs and mechanism for solving their issues so that our Ambassadors can win the confidence of the people of Indian origin in all countries.
7. Largest remittance is coming from the NRIs in Gulf Countries. The association of diplomats may like to study the special problems of people of Indian origin in Gulf countries and make suitable recommendations for their entry, working, living and exit.
My best wishes to all the participants of this Annual Lecture of the Association of Indian Diplomats and their families for success in their mission of better international understanding.
May God bless you.
The "confetti mouse" is the name given to a strain of mice genetically engineered so that their cells glow in various combinations of red, blue, yellow, or green markers, depending on what particular proteins those cells are producing. This color coding, demonstrated here in mouse kidney cells, can be especially useful in cancer research, shedding light on subtle molecular differences among tumors and providing clues to what may be driving the spread, or metastasis, of cancer cells beyond the original tumor site.
This photo is a 2015 FASEB BioArt winner (www.faseb.org/bioart)
More info: directorsblog.nih.gov/2015/12/17/snapshots-of-life-bring-...
Credit: Heinz Baumann, Sean T. Glenn, Mary Kay Ellsworth, and Kenneth W. Gross, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
This image is not owned by the NIH. It is shared with the public under license. If you have a question about using or reproducing this image, please contact the creator listed in the credits. All rights to the work remain with the original creator.
NIH funding from: National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Sulaiman Sebuliba, Research Technician, and Brenda Makyanzi, field technician. CIAT’s bean genebank at Kawanda research station, Uganda, receives new varieties from Colombia and safeguards beans across Africa. Researchers use the beans to breed more resilient varieties which are not only more drought and heat tolerant, but also more resistant to harmful pests and diseases, protecting the important bean staple.
Credit: ©2016CIAT/GeorginaSmith
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Genetically Altered Salmon Get Closer to the Table
By ANDREW POLLACK, NEW YORK TIMES on June 25, 2010
www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/business/26salmon.html?src=me&...
The Food and Drug Administration is seriously considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.
The developer of the genetically altered salmon eggs, AQUA BOUNTY, has been trying to get approval for a decade. But the company now seems to have submitted most or all of the data the F.D.A. needs to analyze whether the salmon are safe to eat, nutritionally equivalent to other salmon and safe for the environment, according to government and biotechnology industry officials. A public meeting to discuss the salmon may be held as early as this fall.
Some consumer and environmental groups are likely to raise objections to approval. Even within the F.D.A., there has been a debate about whether the salmon should be labeled as genetically engineered (genetically engineered crops are not labeled).
The salmon’s approval would help open a path for companies and academic scientists developing other genetically engineered animals, like cattle resistant to mad cow disease or pigs that could supply healthier bacon. Next in line behind the salmon for possible approval would probably be the “EnviroPig,” developed at a Canadian university, which has less phosphorus pollution in its manure.
The salmon was developed by a company called AquaBounty Technologies and would be raised in fish farms. It is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon as well as a genetic on-switch from the ocean pout, a distant relative of the salmon.
Normally, salmon do not make growth hormone in cold weather. But the pout’s on-switch keeps production of the hormone going year round. The result is salmon that can grow to market size in 16 to 18 months instead of three years, though the company says the modified salmon will not end up any bigger than a conventional fish.
“You don’t get salmon the size of the Hindenburg,” said Ronald L. Stotish, the chief executive of AquaBounty. “You can get to those target weights in a shorter time.”
AquaBounty, which is based in Waltham, Mass., and publicly traded in London, said last week that the F.D.A. had signed off on five of the seven sets of data required to demonstrate that the fish was safe for consumption and for the environment. It said it demonstrated, for instance, that the inserted gene did not change through multiple generations and that the genetic engineering did not harm the animals.
“Perhaps in the next few months, we expect to see a final approval,” Mr. Stotish said.
But the company has been overly optimistic before.
He said it would take two or three years after approval for the salmon to reach supermarkets.
The F.D.A. confirmed it was reviewing the salmon but, because of confidentiality rules, would not comment further.
Under a policy announced in 2008, the F.D.A. is regulating genetically engineered animals as if they were veterinary drugs and using the rules for those drugs. And applications for approval of new drugs must be kept confidential by the agency.
Critics say the drug evaluation process does not allow full assessment of the possible environmental impacts of genetically altered animals and also blocks public input.
“There is no opportunity for anyone from the outside to see the data or criticize it,” said Margaret Mellon, director of the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. When consumer groups were invited to discuss biotechnology policy with top F.D.A. officials last month, Ms. Mellon said she warned the officials that approval of the salmon would generate “a firestorm of negative response.”
How consumers will react is not entirely clear. Some public opinion surveys have shown that Americans are more wary about genetically engineered animals than about the genetically engineered crops now used in a huge number of foods. But other polls suggest that many Americans would accept the animals if they offered environmental or nutritional benefits.
Mr. Stotish said the benefit of the fast-growing salmon would be to help supply the world’s food needs using fewer resources.
Government officials and industry executives say the F.D.A. is moving cautiously on the salmon. “It’s going to be a P. R. issue,” said one government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the issue.
Some of these government officials and executives said that F.D.A. officials had discussed internally whether the salmon could be labeled to give consumers the choice of avoiding them.
The government has in the past opposed mandatory labeling of foods from genetically engineered crops and animals merely because genetic engineering was used. Foods must be labeled, it says, only if they are different in their nutritional properties or other characteristics.
It would seem difficult for the government to change that policy. And experts say the administration may not have the legal authority to do so.
One possibility could be voluntary labeling by those who sell the fish.
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the principal deputy commissioner of the F.D.A., said in a statement: “Labeling is one of many issues involved with the review of genetically engineered animals for use in food. As has been publicly reported, the AquAdvantage Salmon is under review by the agency, and as we move forward, we will share information with the public.”
Mr. Stotish of AquaBounty said his company was not against voluntary labeling, but the matter was not in its hands because it would only be selling fish eggs to fish farms, not grown salmon to the supermarket.
He said the company had submitted data to the F.D.A. showing that its salmon was indistinguishable from nonengineered Atlantic salmon in terms of taste, color, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins and other nutrients.
“Our fish is identical in every measurable way to the traditional food Atlantic salmon,” Mr. Stotish said. “If there’s no material difference, then it would be misleading to require labeling.”
Virtually all Atlantic salmon now comes from fish farms, not the wild.
The F.D.A. must also decide on the environmental risks from the salmon. Some experts have speculated that fast-growing fish could out-compete wild fish for food or mates.
Mr. Stotish said the salmon would be grown only in inland tanks or other contained facilities, not in ocean pens where they might escape into the wild. And the fish would all be female and sterile, making it impossible for them to mate.
The F.D.A. is expected to hold a public meeting of an advisory committee before deciding whether to approve the salmon. Typically at such advisory committee meetings, much of the data in support of the drug application is made public and there is some time allotted for public comment.
But Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology project director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said such meetings often do not give the public enough time to analyze the data.