Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #GMOs
Most recents (24)
Leaked proposal to deregulate new #GMOs — European Commission plan gives in to #GMO seed corporations and means more risks and more market domination gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la… 
"If this proposal goes through, it will mean these #GMOs will no longer be subject to risk assessment for health and environment, or traceability or labelling. This will increase biosafety risks and abolish consumer choice. And patents will erode farmers’ rights." — @nina_holland
@nina_holland "It'll lead to further monopolisation of the seed market. The assumption the Commission makes that new #GMOs will lead to more sustainability are based on industry's claims, not real evidence. In reality, this is a give-away to the biotech seed firms like @Bayer, Corteva & @BASF"
The Fumigated Peoples of Argentina and comrades from other fumigated towns in the "United Republic of Soybeans" in Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia are meeting and marching this week in Rosario🇦🇷 for food sovereignty and freedom from fumigation! #GMOs anred.org/2023/06/16/enc…
They're mobilising against the concentration, expulsion, poisoning, disease and death agribusiness brings with its #GMO soy and #pesticides. There have also been talks and workshops organized by the Institute of Socio-Environmental Health of the National University of Rosario.
"We cannot continue producing crops based on chemicals poisoning people. What they are doing is crazy. The State cannot continue endorsing this way of producing, they are responsible for the economic, environmental and health disaster that is taking place" unosantafe.com.ar/santa-fe/los-p…
Escalating U.S.-Mexico debate over corn forces questions about #GMOs, cultural identity, food sovereignty and the U.S.'s imperialistic relationship with Mexico | Good article from @Salon salon.com/2023/06/07/esc…
@Salon US wants dispute confined to discussion of scientific evidence about whether #GMO corn is directly harmful to health. Ideal arena for agribiz, given the majority of industry research dollars have been spent on new products rather than health & safety evaluations of consuming them
@Salon Science writers often report on early-stage research promising plants using less water etc. but what's missing is which #GMOs get distributed. The most widely used #GMO corn is #glyphosate tolerant. W/ so much sprayed come resistant weeds which leads farmers to use old herbicides
Argentina has just approved its 70th #GMO. It's a soybean variety modified to tolerate two herbicides: the carcinogenic glyphosate and glufosinate (banned in the EU). The latter is considered up to 15 times more toxic than #glyphosate itself.
Argentina's latest GMO soybean is part of a commercial offering that includes #GMO varieties of corn, potato, wheat, safflower, cotton & alfalfa. And it precedes the imminent launch of the 1st variety of GMO sugarcane conceived in local laboratories.
None of these #GMO crops incorporate any nutritional improvement, reduce the use of poisons or achieve exorbitant yields as advertised by the companies that commercialise them, the media co-opted by agribusiness, and complicit politicians
EU Commission warning right wing EPP if they vote down proposed pesticide cuts in the European Parliament, it won't table proposals to deregulate new #GMOs (NGTs). But not a single new #GMO near commercialisation has the potential to reduce pesticide use! euractiv.com/section/agricu…
Will new #GMOs reduce pesticide use? NO! The evidence is clear. Some new #GMO crops are even designed to increase the use of #pesticides! This briefing looks at the new GMO crops commercialised and in the pipeline friendsoftheearth.eu/publication/ne…
The history of currently grown #GMO crops shows—contrary to what industry has been promising for decades—that they've never led to a reduction in pesticide use on a national scale. In the US, Brazil & Argentina—where GMO crops are liberally grown—pesticide use is higher than ever
Company genetically engineers fruit flies to be "biofactories" for fake meat production. The flies are engineered to produce growth factors, then killed and ground up into a mass from which the desired protein for making lab-grown meat is extracted. #GMOs gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la…
Biotech firm Future Fields has notified the Canadian authorities of its intention to commercialise EntoEngine — their name for this #GMO fly. The public can comment on the application until 28 January. In our view, EntoEngine flies have serious environmental & ethical downsides.
Future Fields argue that the #GMO fly is needed to replace the usual way of producing growth factors — in bioreactors. They confirm what GMWatch has long said — that bioreactor technology is expensive, resource and energy hungry, and produces vast quantities of problematic waste.
No, the EU shouldn't allow the use of NGTs — new #GMOs — in plants. They're part of an intensive model of agriculture based on monoculture, widely acknowledged to be a contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss, poor farm revenues & unhealthy diets theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/a…
NGT advocates argue they're key to achieving the EU’s pesticide reduction target. But many new #GMOs in the pipeline are designed to increase herbicide use. Surprised? That's been the biotech business model for the last 20 years: herbicide-tolerant crops sold w/ their herbicides
NGT (gene editing) advocates also claim their new #GMOs can help achieve food security. Food security experts warn against further intensifying food production as we already produce enough to feed the world. Food insecurity is caused by poverty and inequality.
Bill Gates calls #GMOs "magic seeds". They must indeed be magic if all the bread & corn he's ever eaten was GMO🧙♂️🪄🌽🧬
Gates was born in 1955 and no #GMO crops reached the US market till the 1990s. And there is still no GMO wheat on the US market to this day!🧙♂️🪄🍞✨
Gates was born in 1955 and no #GMO crops reached the US market till the 1990s. And there is still no GMO wheat on the US market to this day!🧙♂️🪄🍞✨
Here's @BillGates spouting that nonsense in Kenya. He also tells his audience that "the West is totally #GMO" when it comes to crops. He also seems to believe that these crops have been used for "billions of years"!!!!!!!!!!!
A thread on lifting the ban on GMOs in Kenya.
In 2020, I wrote why the move by the Kenyan government then to lift the ban on GMOS was an ill advised
I still hold the same opinion today. Here’s why.
Link to article conservationatheart.wordpress.com/2020/11/21/eco…
In 2020, I wrote why the move by the Kenyan government then to lift the ban on GMOS was an ill advised
I still hold the same opinion today. Here’s why.
Link to article conservationatheart.wordpress.com/2020/11/21/eco…
1.Lifting the ban exposes innocent smallholder farmers to draconian intellectual property laws by the multinational corporations fronting GMOs.
GM seeds are patented and this could, for instance, have farmers forced to pay royalties for GM crops that contaminate their farms
GM seeds are patented and this could, for instance, have farmers forced to pay royalties for GM crops that contaminate their farms
This has happened with potato variety cases in India. Where farmers had to pay a fine of about Kshs.15M for a GM potato variety that grew on their farm without their knowledge.#GMOs
Divonne-les-Bains : Karin Schneider, l'insolente qui fait du vin ...
Elle réfléchit déjà au vin qu'elle veut faire l'année prochaine, certainement avec du raisin en culture biologique ou en biodynamique. latribunerepublicaine.fr/43801/article/… #biodynamie
Elle réfléchit déjà au vin qu'elle veut faire l'année prochaine, certainement avec du raisin en culture biologique ou en biodynamique. latribunerepublicaine.fr/43801/article/… #biodynamie
Le Hofgut Rengoldshausen célèbre 800 ans de ferme et 90 ans d'agriculture biodynamique. Depuis la fondation au XIIIe siècle, une ferme progressiste s'est développée et les femmes sont toujours influentes. #Biodynamique
suedkurier.de/region/bodense…
suedkurier.de/region/bodense…
Château d’Estoublon: le jardin provençal du couple Bruni-Sarkozy Depuis longtemps conduite en agriculture biologique, les vignes se voient appliquer les principes de la biodynamie depuis quelques années. terredevins.com/actualites/cha…
UK environment minister George Eustice is said to have told the visiting Americans he hoped the government’s Genetic Technology Bill would be passed by parliament this year -– potentially moving the UK closer to US #GMO food norms thegrocer.co.uk/sourcing/us-re…
So if you were wondering why the UK govt was rushing through a #GMO deregulation bill that its own advisors say is "not fit for purpose", and every survey shows is not what the public wants, then here's the answer from the Minister himself: to move the UK closer to US food norms!
When Dr Michael Antoniou was asked why the govt was rushing in GMO deregulation, he said it had to align its regs with the US to get a trade deal. He said it could only be for political and commercial reasons because the science told you this technology needed careful regulation.
Heard the one about how we must deregulate #GMOs so the world's biggest pesticide corporations can use them to cut pesticide use?
#GMO crops are helping drive pesticide use, especially herbicide use, not reducing it. And new GMOs are set to do exactly the same.
#GMO crops are helping drive pesticide use, especially herbicide use, not reducing it. And new GMOs are set to do exactly the same.
1st-generation #GMO crops were introduced over 20 years ago with the same promises of pesticide reductions now being made for #newGMO crops. Due to the adoption of GMO herbicide-tolerant crops in the US herbicide use from 1996-2011 INCREASED by an estimated 239M kg—239000 tonnes!
In Argentina🇦🇷after #GMO herbicide-tolerant soy was authorised in 1996, they saw a 60% increase in herbicide use (figures 2000-2014) with accompanying reports of increased rates of cancers and birth defects friendsoftheearth.eu/wp-content/upl… #GMOs
Advisory body deals blow to UK gene editing plans foodingredientsfirst.com/news/advisory-… “Not fit for purpose,” is the response from the UK Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) to govt attempts to deregulate food editing of crops and animals. #GMOs
The RPC gives a “red” (or failing) grade to the UK govt regarding the new gene-editing bill’s impact on businesses. It also says more discussion is needed on “impacts, labeling & traceability”. It also says that consumer sentiment toward gene-editing has to be further considered
The RPC says the govt’s impact assessment didn’t rely on independent evaluations: “Much of the evidence re risk discussed in the impact assessment is drawn from interested parties, or based on scientific trials that don't replicate real-world conditions (incl farmers’ behavior).”
GeneWatch UK—The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill: Briefing for Committee Stage genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d…
The Bill's exemption from regulation of certain #GMOs is very wide, applying to ALL plants (not just crops), including algae, wild plants & trees, and ALL multiple-celled animals, including pets, farmed and wild animals, some of which are highly mobile (e.g. fish and insects).
Exempt #GMOs (such as forestry trees, pets or wild animals, including insects) will not be required to have ANY environmental risk assessment before open release into the environment, and there is NO provision to stop, destroy or clean-up such releases if anything goes wrong.
German ministry warns on risks of new #GMO products gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la… And even the European Commission's representative expects gene-edited organisms will be traceable and labelled. #GMOs
The German environment minister @SteffiLemke emphasised that there's no need to regulate new #GMOs differently. But she said if new regulation is introduced in the EU, we need risk assessment and mandatory labelling (both of which are missing from #GMO deregulation in the UK)
@SteffiLemke The German environment minister also warned that that new GMO techniques (involving gene editing) have unintended effects, that new #GMO products may pose risks for health and the environment, and that the claimed benefits are not proven: "There is a high risk of greenwashing."
Leading molecular geneticist warns about the impact of #GMOs (including gene editing) and glyphosate gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la… His deep familiarity with gene editing makes him concerned about its deregulation. And his cutting-edge research makes him concerned about #glyphosate
Dr Michael Antoniou says deregulation "will make it almost a free-for-all", which he views with great concern because gene editing technologies are "nowhere near as precise" as claimed – "in fact, they are imprecise, and they carry major risks to both health and the environment."
Dr Antoniou contrasts the highly regulated, highly contained, carefully monitored & targeted use of gene editing in a clinical context, with agriculture where deregulated novel engineered organisms carrying unintentional genetic damage will be freely released into the environment
The UK Govt says that before moving to #GMO deregulation it consulted with the "independent experts" on its Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), whose view is that gene-edited organisms pose no greater risk than traditionally bred foods. But guess what👇
Meet Jim Dunwell, chair of the UK's "independent" #GMO advisory body ACRE. Jim used to work for the GM firm Zeneca. He gets a Syngenta pension. And he was a founding member of a GM industry-funded group that lobbies "to make the case for GM crops & foods." gmwatch.org/en/myth-makers…
If someone with a GM industry background & Syngenta pension who co-founded a pro-GMO lobby group doesn't sound like an "independent expert" on #GMOs, then you need to know he's far from alone, eg he's just 1 of 3 members of ACRE who all connect to Syngenta
UK govt turns its back on science in #GMO free-for-all Bill gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la… GMWatch publishes its response to a Bill that's based on dishonesty and a determination to dismiss years of peer-reviewed findings on the real effects of gene editing. #GMOs
The UK govt's Bill is accompanied by an Impact Assessment. Both are deeply problematic, as they cast aside the interests of public health & the environment and raise animal welfare concerns—in the rush to smooth the path to market for new experimental #GMO crops & animals. #GMOs
Claire Robinson of GMWatch and the molecular geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou have laid out their concerns with the Bill and propose a series of Amendments. They spell all this out in easy-to-follow detail👉gmwatch.org/en/uncategoris… #GMOs
Scotland's Environment Minister signals no change to #GMO regime in Scotland🏴 gov.scot/publications/g… In a letter to the UK Govt, the Minister says Scotland won't be deregulating and it opposes no labelling of #NewGMOs—"the public have a right to know what they are consuming."
"The Scottish Govt remains wholly opposed to the imposition of the Internal Market Act, and will not accept any constraint on the exercise of its devolved powers to set standards within devolved policy areas." Refers to unlabelled #GMOs from England being marketed in Scotland🏴
"Your own consultation last year rejected the changes to the regulation of GM that you're now pursuing. Consumer information & choice is key. I'm therefore extremely concerned that the UK Govt’s preferred option, as set out in the Bill documentation, will not require labelling.."
#Gentechnik, wie sie im #Bioladen zu finden ist: In solchen "Atomaren Gärten" entstanden Sorten, die noch heute im Biolandbau üblich sind. In der Mitte des Gärten befand sich eine radioaktive Strahlenquelle..
die gezielt geöffnet werden konnte. Durch die unkontrolliert erfolgenden Mutationen entstehen neue Genvarianten mit eventuellen neuen, positiven Eigenschaften, die für die Züchtung genutzt werden können. Doch die meisten entstehenden Mutationen unbrauchbar, weil die Gendefekte
häufig die Lebensfähigkeit der Pflanze vermindern. Auch bei den letztlich genutzten neuen Sorten sind mehrere tausend Gene verändert - wie viele, weiß niemand genau. Manche, die sich besonders unangenehm bemerkbar machen, müssen mühsam wieder herausgekreuzt werden.
BBC slammed for “lies” about gene-edited foods but it refuses to correct its misreporting gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la… In multiple stories the BBC has hidden the fact that the Govt is “deregulating all manner of genetic manipulations of crops”—Dr Michael Antoniou, Kings College London
The BBC & other UK media have repeated ad nauseam the govt's lie that gene editing only involves “snipping out a small piece of DNA” but anyone who reads the govt's bill will see it includes the insertion of foreign DNA as “part and parcel of the deregulation”—Dr Michael Antoniou
#GMO promoters claim foreign DNA can be removed from gene-edited plants like stitches from a wound. But it's not so clean a process: “The gene-editing tool DNA can fragment & bits can randomly insert in many locations around the DNA of the plant and that is not being checked for”
UK Gene-Editing Bill Raises Animal Welfare Concerns theepochtimes.com/uk-gene-editin… Experts warn that, contrary to the hype, the technology is imprecise and will open the door to the “wild west” of genetics. #GMOs
“It’s not precise, so the term ‘precision breeding’ is a complete misnomer. In addition to any intended genetic modification you invariably have large numbers of unintended alterations to the organism.” These could include the production of toxins and allergens in plants or crops
“It’s a ‘wild west’ of gene-editing of crops, plants and animals and even bacteria that are going to be released into the environment in an uncontrolled way,” says Dr Michael Antoniou, lead geneticist in gene expression and therapy at King’s College London. #GMOs
Food experts slam the BBC for 'lies' about gene-edited foods thenational.scot/news/20173456.… If you can’t open, try here
archive.ph/nZckK #GMOs
archive.ph/nZckK #GMOs
The BBC and other media have been accused of “repeating uncritically and ad nauseam” UK Government “lies” about genetically edited foods. “They’re literally ripping up the rulebook on all types of genetic modification procedures & being completely dishonest to the science.” #GMO
Dr Michael Antoniou, a genetics expert from the King’s College London School of Medicine, said claims gene editing didn't involve genes from other species “misrepresented” the facts. “Under the new bill, the insertion of foreign DNA is part and parcel of the deregulation.” #GMOs
100% of members of UK govt's #GMO advisory body have potential or actual conflicts of interest—List of interests reads like a Who's Who of the British biotech industry! gmwatch.org/en/106-news/la…
All members of ACRE have COIs that may enable them to benefit from any weakening of the regs around GMOs + in spite of ACRE's role in regulating environmental releases of #GMOs, only 1 of ACRE's panel has expertise in ecology and none seem to have ANY in environmental toxicology.
Get this! Jim Dunwell, the chair of this "independent" #GMO advisory body to the UK govt, was a founding member of the biotech industry-funded lobby group CropGen that says its mission is "to make the case for GM crops and foods." He also gets a pension from GMO giant Syngenta.
