 | The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see discussion on the talk page. | A genetically modified food is a food product containing some quantity of any genetically modified organism (GMO) as an ingredient. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
It has been suggested that Genetic engineering be merged into this article or section. ...
Some nations have very strong disagreement over genetically modified organisms. For example, the European Union and Japan have enacted labelling and traceability requirements for GM food products, while the United States does not believe these requirements are necessary. The European Union and the United States have strong disagreements over the EUs regulation of genetically modified food. ...
Mandatory labelling of consumer products enables moral purchasing and avoidance of health problems like allergies. ...
Traceability refers to the completeness of the information about every step in a process chain. ...
Background
Although "biotechnology" and "genetic modification" commonly are used interchangeably, GM is a special set of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of such living organisms as animals, plants, or bacteria. Biotechnology, a more general term, refers to using living organisms or their components, such as enzymes, to make products that include wine, cheese, beer, and yogurt. Combining genes from different organisms is known as recombinant DNA technology, and the resulting organism is said to be "genetically modified," "genetically engineered," or "transgenic." GM products (current or in the pipeline) include medicines and vaccines, foods and food ingredients, feeds, and fibers.
Locating genes for important traits—such as those conferring insect resistance or desired nutrients—is one of the most limiting steps in the process. However, genome sequencing and discovery programs for hundreds of different organisms are generating detailed maps along with data-analyzing technologies to understand and use them.
History The first commercially grown genetically modified food crop was a tomato created by Calgene called the FlavrSavr. Calgene submitted it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for testing in 1992; following the FDA's determination that the FlavrSavr was, in fact, a tomato, did not constitute a health hazard, and did not need to be labeled to indicate it was genetically modified, Calgene released it into the market in 1994, where it met with little public comment. Considered to have a poor flavor, it never sold well and was off the market by 1997. Binomial name Solanum lycopersicum L. The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to Peru and Mexico. ...
The Flavor Saver® tomato was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a licence for human consumption. ...
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government agency responsible for regulating food (human and animal), dietary supplements, drugs (human and animal), cosmetics, medical devices (human and animal), biologics and blood products in the United States. ...
1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...
1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...
There was a brief interlude where Monsanto flirted with introducing a technology called terminator into food crops, which produced plants that grew sterile seeds. The so-called "terminator" gene technology was developed by Delta and Pine Land and the USDA, who co-owned the patent. The purpose of the terminator gene is to prevent the escape of genetically modified traits into wild-type species by sterilizing any resultant hy-brids. The terminator gene technology created a backlash amongst those who felt the technology would prevent re-use of seed in the developing world and was merely a means to protect intellectual property rights. Use of the terminator technology would also prevent "volunteers", or crops that grow from unharvested seed, a major concern that arose during the Starlink debacle. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Terminator Technology is the coloquial name given to proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants. ...
A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. ...
In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. ...
Transgenic maize (corn) has been deliberately genetically modified to have agronomically desirable traits. ...
Challenge of Penetrating Communications Barriers It is very difficult to present to mainstream audiences a counterpoint to what the industry is doing. For example, with over 50M USD invested by Syngenta at the University of Berkley's biology department, and with several decision-making committees having two out of five seats controlled by Syngenta employees, professors opposing the technology feel threatened. There is even a web site for American professors saying they are being refused tenure for anti-GMO views.
Another example comes from documentarist, Adriano Sverko, creator of "My Kitchen Is Not Your Lab." Independent Labs designed to test for GMOs, using the most up-to-date testing equipment, in two separate cases (Fairfield, Iowa and Budapest, Hungary), refused to invite cameras into their lab testing sites. Publicizing the testing labs could make people feel safer and at-ease, since, a few hundred dollars is sufficient to test any food. Conversely, however, testing can inspire individuals to take action against the products that they are traditionally most loyal to. Independent testing labs are afraid to publicize themselves, fearing that various interest groups might accuse them of being partisan.
A simple observation from New Zealand's Member of Parliament, Susan Kedgley, has yet to circulate in the American popular press: "It is interesting to have a food that is so unique you are able to take out a patent on it, yet in regulatory regimes, it is treated as essentially the same as a conventional food." However, perhaps this is because Ms Kedgley is ignorant of the fact that it is the method used to produce the GM plant that is patented - not the the food itself.
Controversies over risks In August 1998 widespread concern, especially in Europe, was sparked by remarks by a leading nutrition researcher (with 270 published scientific papers to his name), Dr Arpad Pusztai, regarding some of his research into the safety of GM food. Pusztai claimed his experiments showed that rats fed on genetically modified potatoes had suffered serious damage to their immune systems and shown stunted growth. He was criticized by leading British politicians, other scientists and by the GM companies, not least because his remarks, in a television interview, preceded the scientific publication of his results. When his studies were finally published in The Lancet 1999 354:1353-1354, no evidence of stunted growth or damage to immunue system was substantiated. The Royal Society's review of the Pusztai data had led to the damming verdict that the study "is flawed in many aspects of design, execution, and analysis and that no conclusion should be drawn from it" Royal Society Report. Ãrpád Pusztai is one of the worlds most widely respected protein scientists. ...
As part of the EU regulatory process biotech company Monsanto supplied data on a 90-Day Rat Feeding Study on a strain of GM corn. In May 2005, critics of GM foods pointed to differences in kidney size and blood composition found in this study, suggesting that the observed differences called into question the regulatory doctrine of substantial equivalence - that GM food with similar proteins and toxins is deemed no different than conventional food, without further investigation of the effects of any other differences. It was also suggested that this study suggested that human health could be affected by eating GM food. However, the EU regulatory authorities that examined the Monsanto data concluded that the observed small numerical decrease in rat kidney weights were not biologically meaningful, and the weights were well within the normal range of kidney weights for control animals. There were no corresponding microscopic findings in the relevant organ systems, and all blood chemistry and organ weight values fell within the "normal range of historical control values" for rats. Thus, the experts concluded that there were no effects on the functioning of kidneys in rats fed a diet of GM corn. In the early-to mid 1990s, with the development and commercialisation of genetically modified food becoming an imminent possibility, national and international authorities began to consider a suitable regulatory framework for the new technologies. ...
For some fears of the safety of GM food for human consumption remain, despite 10 years of catastrophe free consumption of such foods in the USA. However, the main public concerns have been over the environmental impacts of crops grown for food or for animal feed. In March 2005 results of a farm-scale trial comparing the biodiversity impact of GM crops with equivalent conventional crops was published. Some claimed that the results showed that GM crops had a significant negative impact on wildlife.[1] Others pointed out that the studies showed that using herbicide resistant GM crops allowed better weed control and that under such conditions there were fewer weeds and fewer weed seeds. This result was then extrapolated to suggest that GM crops would have significant impact on the wildlife that might rely on farm weeds. Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of and in living nature. ...
In July 2005 it was reported [where was it reported? Ttguy2 14:20, 2 October 2005 (UTC)] that those same trials had seen a possible transfer of a herbicide-resistance gene from GM oilseed rape to a wild cousin, charlock, a possibility previously discounted by scientists as virtually impossible. Two other weeds (both wild turnips) were also found to be herbicide-resistant Binomial name Brassica napus Rapeseed (also known as Rape, Oilseed Rape, Rapa, Rapaseed and for some cultivars Canola) known scientifically as Brassica napus, is a bright yellow flowering member of the brassicaceae (also known as the mustard family). ...
Species See text Brassica is a plant genus, in the cabbage family (Cruciferae, also known, more fashionably, as the Brassicaceae). ...
Public reaction Public outcry about the undue influence that the Terminator Technology (preventing plants from producing seeds) would give to Monsanto, particularly in less developed nations where seed saving is more common (in developed countries farmers usually tend to use the 1st generation seeds anyway), led to its withdrawal. Terminator Technology is the coloquial name given to proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants. ...
Awareness grew throughout the nineties and eventually produced a strong backlash against GM foods (discussed below), which were panned as "untested", "unlabeled" and "unsafe"; following this backlash, the International Rice Research Institute, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation developed a strain of rice enriched with vitamin A through genetic modification, dubbed golden rice. When did this backlash supposedly start? Because Ingo Potrykus took on a PhD student, Peter Burkhardt in 1991 to start work on the vitamin A rice. The first commercial GM food was flavr savr tomatoes in 1994. So you are saying that the backlash started before 1991 - 3 years before the first GM food was even put on the market You are perpetuating a myth. Golden rice was not invented after the backlash. The developement of Golden rice started in 1991. Ttguy2 14:38, 2 October 2005 (UTC) Subsequently the biotech industry touted this as a boon to poor people suffering from Vitamin A deficiency, which can cause blindness. Because Golden Rice disproved many of the claims made by GM food opponents about GM food (eg GM crops can only help the rich, GM crops will force farmers to be dependant on mulitnational companys etc) the critics were forced to condem this GM crop as a ploy and a public relations move. (See golden rice for more.) The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international NGO. Its heaquarters are in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, and it has offices in ten countries. ...
The Rockefeller Foundation is a charitable organization that operates out of New York City. ...
Retinol, the dietary form of vitamin A, is a fat-soluble, antioxidant vitamin important in vision and bone growth. ...
White rice and golden rice Golden rice is a variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced through genetic modification to biosynthesise of the precursors of beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) in the edible parts of rice. ...
White rice and golden rice Golden rice is a variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced through genetic modification to biosynthesise of the precursors of beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) in the edible parts of rice. ...
The Sierra Club ran several advertising campaigns that dubbed the new technology "franken foods". A Sierra Club article in the New York Times in the late 1990s compared the use of plant retroviruses as transgenes in GMOs to HIV, also a retrovirus. No plant virus cross infects humans, nor are any plant viruses remotely related to HIV.
Many prominent environmental organizations, like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, currently consider the issue of the presence of GMOs in conventional food products to be a major issue - indeed Greenpeace has made it a centerpiece of their activism. In 2002, opponents placed a measure on the Oregon ballot that would have made that state the first to require labelling of GMO food. Greenpeace's activities are in spite of the views of founder Patrick Moore, who has championed the use of GMOs for food production in third world countries that are especially prone to drought and poor soil conditions. Complicating the issue, the majority of GM crops grown today are fed to animals, and many fear the indirect affects to human food production. Friends of the Earth is an international network of environmental organizations in 70 countries. ...
The Greenpeace logo Greenpeace is an international environmental organisation founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1971. ...
2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Ballot Measure 27 of 2002 would have required the mandatory labelling of all genetically modified food sold in the State of Oregon. ...
State nickname: Beaver State Other U.S. States Capital Salem Largest city Portland Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) Senators {{{Senators}}} Official languages None Area 255,026 km² (9th) - Land 248,849 km² - Water 6,177 km² (2. ...
Application Transgenic crops are grown commercially or in field trials in over 40 countries and on 6 continents. In 2000, about 109.2 million acres (442,000 km²) were planted with transgenic crops, the principal ones being herbicide- and insecticide-resistant soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola. Other crops grown commercially or field-tested are a sweet potato resistant to a US strain of a virus that affects one out of the more than 89 different varieties of sweet potato grown in Africa, rice with increased iron and vitamins, and a variety of plants able to survive extreme weather. Transgenic plants are plants that have been genetically engineered using recombinant DNA techniques to make plants with new characteristics. ...
Between 1996 and 2002, the total surface area of land cultivated with GMOs has increased by a factor of thirty. Land producing GMO crops grew from 17,000 km² (4.2 million acres) in 1996 to 520,000 km² (128 million acres) in 2001. The value for 2002 was 145 million acres (587,000 km²) and for 2003 was 167 million acres (676,000 km²). Soybean crop represented 63% of total surface in 2001, maize 19%, cotton 13% and canola 5%. In 2004, the value was about 200 million acres (809,000 km²) of which 2/3 were in the United States. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...
2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Land is sometimes used synonymously with country. ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
Binomial name Glycine max Merr. ...
Binomial name Zea mays L. Maize (Zea mays ssp. ...
Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ...
Alberta Canola field near Red Deer, Alberta In agriculture, Canola is a cultivar of the rapeseed plant from which rapeseed oil is obtained. ...
Four countries represent 99% of total GM surface in 2001: United States (68%), Argentina (22%), Canada (6%) and China (3%). It is estimated that 70% of products on U.S. grocery shelves include GM products. In particular, Bt corn is widely grown, as are soybeans genetically designed to tolerate Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Roundup is the brand name of a family of herbicides produced by the American chemical manufacturer Monsanto. ...
The US Agriculture Department estimated that 38 percent of the 79 million acres (320,000 km²) of corn planted in 2003 will be genetically engineered varieties as well as 80% of the 73.2 million acres (296,000 km²) soybeans. The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimate that 75% of all processed foods in the U.S. contain a GM ingredient.
Future applications On the horizon are bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B; fish that mature more quickly; fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties. The next decade will see exponential progress in GM product development as researchers gain increasing and unprecedented access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms beyond the scope of individual projects. A bottle and a syringe containing the influenza vaccine. ...
Originally known as serum hepatitis, Hepatitis B has only been recognized as such since World War II, and has caused current epidemics in parts of Asia and Africa. ...
Technologies for genetically modifying (GM) foods offer dramatic promise for meeting some areas of greatest challenge for the 21st century. Like all new technologies, they also pose some risks, both known and unknown. Controversies surrounding GM foods and crops commonly focus on human and environmental safety, labeling and consumer choice, intellectual property rights, ethics, food security, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation (see below for a summary of "GM Foods: Benefits and Controversies").
Policy around the world In 2000, countries that grew 99% of the global transgenic crops were the United States (68%), Argentina (23%), Canada (7%), and China (1%). Although growth is expected to plateau in industrialized countries, it is increasing in developing countries.
United States In the United States, genetically modified food is widely available and accepted by consumers. The Food and Drug Administration assists companies in testing the safety of GM foods, but this process is voluntary. Labeling food as GM or non-GM is also voluntary. The USDA's office of the animal and plant health inspection service (APHIS) also regulates GM crops. Some environmentalist groups believe the U.S. should regulate GM food more closely, and have called for mandatory labeling and testing requirements. Although agribusinesses are not required to test the safety of GM foods any more than non-GM foods, they have a legal duty to ensure that all their products are safe for human consumption. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government agency responsible for regulating food (human and animal), dietary supplements, drugs (human and animal), cosmetics, medical devices (human and animal), biologics and blood products in the United States. ...
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term that refers to the various businesses involved in the food production chain, including farming, seed, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesaling, processing, distribution, and retail sales. ...
Interestingly, some Amish people have adopted GM crops, because they are more productive, allow for less intensive farming (less pesticides, etc.), and do not conflict with the Amish lifestyle. [2] Amish couple in a horse-drawn buggy in rural Holmes County, Ohio, the site of one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the United States The Amish are a denomination of Anabaptists and noted for their restrictions on the use of modern devices such as automobiles and electricity. ...
European Union See also Trade war over genetically modified food The European Union and the United States have strong disagreements over the EUs regulation of genetically modified food. ...
In Europe, a series of unrelated food crises during the 1990s (e.g. the BSE (or 'mad cow' disease) outbreaks and foot and mouth disease) have created consumer apprehension about food safety in general, and eroded the public trust in government oversight of the food industry. This has further fueled widespread public concern about GMOs, in terms of environmental protection (in particular biodiversity), health and safety of consumers and the right to make an informed choice. The apprehension might also be due to the perceived novelty of GM foods, as well as cultural factors relating to food. The mishandling of the BSE crisis has left some consumers unwilling to consider "science" to be a guarantee of quality. World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...
Many food crises have occurred in the world today. ...
// Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ...
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle, which infects by a mechanism that shocked biologists on its discovery in late 20th century and appears transmissible to humans. ...
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), sometimes called hoof-and-mouth disease, is a highly contagious but non-fatal viral disease of cattle and pigs. ...
In economics, consumers are individuals or households that consume goods and services generated within the economy. ...
Foodborne illness or food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. ...
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of and in living nature. ...
Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. ...
Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon a full appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of any actions (as far as humanly possible), with the individual being in possession of all of his faculties (not mentally retarded...
European consumers are demanding that their "right to know" the content and origin of the food they consume be respected. In a context of local food surplus where current GM food has little added nutritional value, many European consumers are wondering why any risk should be taken. However, as a result of the high quantity of GMO crops, the presence of GM in imported food products (shipments of grain for food, feed and processing for example), is now thought inevitable and largely unavoidable, and usually not mentioned. Local food (also regional food) is a principle of sustainability relying on consumption of food products that are locally grown. ...
In economics, consumers are individuals or households that consume goods and services generated within the economy. ...
Risk is the potential harm that may arise from some present process or from some future event. ...
Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a caryopsis). ...
EU regulation For these reasons, the marketing of GM food is regulated in a manner that helps to provide the necessary levels of safety, transparency and reassurance. At the beginning of the 2000's, European officials insisted that new regulations were needed to "restore consumer confidence" in the technology. These new regulations required strict labelling and traceability of all food and animal feed containing more than 0.5 % GM ingredients. Directives, such as directive 2001/18/EC, were designed to require authorisation for the placing on the market of GMO, in accordance with the precautionary principle. (see also Tax, tariff and trade). This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Mandatory labelling of consumer products enables moral purchasing and avoidance of health problems like allergies. ...
Traceability refers to the completeness of the information about every step in a process chain. ...
In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed livestock, such as cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs. ...
The precautionary principle, a phrase first used in English circa 1988, is the idea that if the consequences of an action are unknown, but are judged to have some potential for major or irreversible negative consequences, then it is better to avoid that action. ...
The tax, tariff and trade laws of a political region, state or trade bloc determine which forms of consumption and production tend to be encouraged or discouraged. ...
One of the features of the European system is a comprehensive pre-market risk assessment, a system trying to provide means for products to be followed at each stage of their production and distribution, by both transmission of accurate information and labelling. This traceability is a means to implement post-market measures such as monitoring and withdrawals (recalls).
This system is not only limited to GMO products but should encompass any food product ultimately. Information is a word with many meanings depending on context, but is as a rule closely related to such concepts as meaning, knowledge, instruction, communication, representation, and mental stimulus. ...
Traceability refers to the completeness of the information about every step in a process chain. ...
The original EU rules for labelling of GM products were limited to products where transformed DNA and/or transformed protein are detectable, not to products that have been produced from GMOs but no longer appears to contain modified DNA and/or proteins. New rules for tracebility and labelling which came into force in 2004 also require labelling of highly refined products made from GM indgredirents like oil and corn syrup, even though that the presence of recombinant DNA or protein cannot be proven. The labelling rules do not apply to products of microbial genetic engineering, so the cheese made with the help of GM-chymosin doesn't have to be labelled. Officials stress that while traceability facilitates the implementation of safety measures, where appropriate, it cannot and should not be considered as a safety measure. Space-filling model of a section of DNA molecule Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life (and many viruses). ...
A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ...
Cheese is a solid food made from the curdled milk of various mammals—most commonly cows but sometimes goats, sheep, or buffalo. ...
Rennet, also called rennin or chymosin (EC 3. ...
In April 1998, a 5 year ban was pronounced on new genetically modified crops. At the end of 2002, European Union environment ministers agreed new controls on GMOs could eventually lead the 25-member bloc to reopen its markets to GM foods. European Union ministers agreed to new labelling controls for genetically modified goods which will have to carry a special harmless DNA sequence (a DNA code bar) identifying the origin of the crops, making it easier for regulators to spot contaminated crops, feed, or food, and enabling products to be withdrawn from the food chain should problems arise. A series of additional sequences of DNA with encrypted information about the company or what was done to the product could also be added to provide more data. (see Mandatory labelling). Ban could be: ban, a decree that prohibits something, a form of censorship ban, a barring of access of resources on the Internet Ban, a king from Arthurian legend. ...
Food chains and food webs or food networks describe the feeding relationships between species in a biotic community. ...
Mandatory labelling of consumer products enables moral purchasing and avoidance of health problems like allergies. ...
See Trade war over genetically modified food for more details on disputes and more recent developments between the United States and the EU arising from EU position on genetically modified organisms. The European Union and the United States have strong disagreements over the EUs regulation of genetically modified food. ...
Japan Japan, like Europe, maintains labelling standards for GM food products. Japanese demand and assistance has led to a small effort to set up separate processing facility for non-GM soybeans in the U.S.
Canada Labelling is currently not required for GM food products sold in Canada. In 2005, a standing committee began work in the province of Prince Edward Island to assess a proposal to ban the production of GM foods within the province. 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
A standing committee is a subunit of a political or deliberative body established in a permanent fashion to aid the parent assembly in accomplishing its duties, usually by provided focused attention on one particular subject matter. ...
Motto: Parva Sub Ingenti (The small under the protection of the great) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Charlottetown Largest city Charlottetown Lieutenant Governor J. Léonce Bernard Premier Pat Binns (PC) Area 5,660 km² (13th) Land 5,660 km² Water 0 km² (0%) Population (2004) Population 137,900...
China and other developing countries China is currently a producer of GM cotton. Research published in Science shows that Chinese farmers growing GM cotton use significantly less pesticides, reducing costs and improving farmer health. The Chinese government has also released safety certificates following field and laboratory testing allowing the cultivation of GM tomato, pimiento and a species of morning glory. Development of new GM crops for food is an active field of research in Chinese institutions. Science is the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). ...
Binomial name Solanum lycopersicum L. The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to Peru and Mexico. ...
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Ipomoea indica in Baja California Morning glory is one of several climbing plants of the following species, all belonging to the Convolvulaceae. ...
In March 2002, China introduced biosafety rules that demanded strict labelling, extensive documentation and government approval for food shipments. Under these new rules, all soybean shipments from the United States were briefly interrupted until interim safety certificates could be acquired. Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. ...
In 2004 the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture announced its intention to assess the safety of GM rice lines developed by Chinese institutions for insect, disease and herbicide resistance. With government approval the crops may be planted as soon as spring 2006. 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Agriculture officials from developing and other economically disadvantaged nations are receiving training courses on GMO at the American Agriculture Department, with instruction in the WTO rules on GM products and benefits of biotechnology. U.S. industry groups are also providing "technical assistance" to fund initiatives that promote "science-based and transparent biotechnology regulations" in countries such as China. Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ...
Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ...
See also The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement on biosafety, as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. ...
Organic food is, in general, food that is produced without the use of artificial pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). ...
The tax, tariff and trade laws of a political region, state or trade bloc determine which forms of consumption and production tend to be encouraged or discouraged. ...
In the early-to mid 1990s, with the development and commercialisation of genetically modified food becoming an imminent possibility, national and international authorities began to consider a suitable regulatory framework for the new technologies. ...
References - Huang, J. et al. 2002. Plant Biotechnology in China. Science 295:674-677.
- Niu, 2003. Caution in China over GM Crops. Science 299: 1013
- Lei, W. 2004. China Could Be First Nation to Approve Sale of GM Rice. Science 306:1458-1459.
- Robert Ali Brac De La PerriFre and Franck Seuret (2001), Brave New Seeds: The Threat of GM Crops to Farmers, Zed Books
- Stephen Nottingham (2003), Eat Your Genes: How Genetically Modified Food Is Entering Our Diet, Zed Books
External links News/commentary - Geoffrey Lean, The Independent, 22 May 2005, "Revealed: health fears over secret study into GM food"
- Severin Carrell and Andy Rowell, The Independent, 22 May 2005, "When fed to rats it affected their kidneys and blood counts. So what might it do to humans? We think you should be told"
- Paul Brown and David Gow, The Guardian, March 22, 2005, "Damning verdict on GM crop:Final report on world's most comprehensive field trials says oil seed rape varieties would harm wildlife and environment"
- Zachary Makanya, Seedling, July 2004, "12 reasons for Africa to reject GM crops"
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