[Info] Institute for Responsible Technology

[RobinN]

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/

The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) was founded in 2003 and has become a world leader in educating policy makers and the public about genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. It focuses on investigating and reporting GMO risks and impact on health, environment, economy, and agriculture, along with digging deep into the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting. It is led by a team of subject experts, consultants, media experts, writers, fundraisers, outreach workers, and other professionals in and out of its Iowa headquarters.

Ten Reasons to Avoid GMO's

 

[RobinN]

Int. Jrnl. of Soc. of Agr. & Food, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 31–49
ISSn: 0798-1759 this journal is blind refereed.
Abstract. A major conflict is developing in science over transgenic foods. Food,
feed, and fiber products derived from transgenic agricultural crops are presented
here as a different case from industrial and pharmaceutical crop transgenics and
should be parsed from the larger transgenics industry for comprehensive re-evaluation
and market roll-back. Reviewed is the development of the crop transgenics
industry; the early influence of the biotechnology industry over the US federal regulatory
agencies in the context of the development of minimal regulation; the basic
technology of plant transgenics; the main transgenic crops, traits, and producing
countries; consumer resistance to transgenic foods; industry problems with shrinking
investments; the worldwide promotion of transgenic crops; and ecological
issues of transgenic crops. Flaws in the one gene–one protein model, the foundation
of transgenics, are reviewed in the context of the recent and ongoing
restructuring of the science of genetics. Research on the mutational consequences
of plant transgenics and its phenotypic ramifications such as allergens and novel
proteins is discussed. Major research findings and ‘red flag’ incidents in the history
of transgenic foods and feeds are reviewed that reflect the flaws in the genetic
foundations of transgenics.

Conclusion:
the hasty transition of the radically new technology of crop transgenics from the research and development stage to commercialization, in which products of the
young industry have permeated global food markets, has resulted in what may turn
out to be the largest diet experiment in history. this problem is limited to transgenic
foods and should not affect bacterial and pharmaceutical crop transgenics, with the
proviso that pharmaceutical crops be grown in enclosures which prevent pollen
escape and be transported and stored in systems which do not transport or store food
grains at any time.
The lack of oversight that has led to the transgenic foods situation has been a major
failure of US’s science leadership. this paper has reviewed the major points in the
history of these failures, from allowing biotechnology industry domination of US federal
regulatory bodies overseeing transgenic products, to a lack of response to ‘red
flag’ incidents and research findings on transgenic crops and foods, to failure to adequately analyze and characterize the genetic and phenotypic integrity of transgenic
products. Part 2 of this paper reviews the major factors in the failure of science to
oversee transgenics, and discusses the agro-ecological alternative to transgenics as a
foundation for building world food security, on top of which can rest non-transgenic
biotechnologies and tried-and-true Green revolution methods.

Don Lotter, <http://www.donlotter.net>. e-mail: don<at>donlotter.net. Don Lotter has a Ph.D. in agroecology from the University of California Davis. He did his post-doctoral work on organic crop systems at the rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, later was a journalist for rodale’s new Farm magazine. Since 2005, he has taught at Imperial Valley College, Santa Monica College, and the University of California Davis. He is based in Davis, California and currently is spending a year as a freelance writer, most recently as a visiting scientist at Colegio Postgraduados in Chapingo, Mexico.

 

[RobinN]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20crop.html

“No truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions,” the scientists wrote in a statement submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. is seeking public comments for scientific meetings it will hold next week on biotech crops.

The researchers, 26 corn-insect specialists, withheld their names because they feared being cut off from research by the companies. But several of them agreed in interviews to have their names used.

The problem, the scientists say, is that farmers and other buyers of genetically engineered seeds have to sign an agreement meant to ensure that growers honor company patent rights and environmental regulations. But the agreements also prohibit growing the crops for research purposes.

So while university scientists can freely buy pesticides or conventional seeds for their research, they cannot do that with genetically engineered seeds. Instead, they must seek permission from the seed companies. And sometimes that permission is denied or the company insists on reviewing any findings before they can be published, they say.

Such agreements have long been a problem, the scientists said, but they are going public now because frustration has been building.

“If a company can control the research that appears in the public domain, they can reduce the potential negatives that can come out of any research,” said Ken Ostlie, an entomologist at the University of Minnesota, who was one of the scientists who had signed the statement.