> Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000
>  >From: Rural Advancement Foundation Intl <[log in to unmask]>
>  >Subject: RAFI Geno-type: Calendar of Calamities 2000
>  >
>  >Rural Advancement Foundation International - RAFI
>  >Geno-type
>  >December 15 2000
>  >www.rafi.org
>  >
>  >CALENDAR OF CALAMITIES - 2000
>  >
>  >Biotech's "Generation One" - Travails of a Misspent Youth
>  >
>  >The RAFI Revue  ("tongue-in-cheek") of the scientific, political and 
media 
>  >disasters that struck the Agbiotech industry since the BioSafety Protocol 
>  >was adopted in January.
>  >
>  >January, 2000
>  >
>  >- Soiled reputation: As delegations readied for the Montreal biosafety 
>  >meeting, US and Venezuelan researchers confirmed that the Bt toxin in 
>  >transgenic maize could (contrary to industry expectations) escape into 
the 
>  >soil killing larvae up to 25 days after the break-out.(1)
>  >
>  >February, 2000
>  >
>  >- Hard to resist:   Canadian scientists acknowledged that Monsanto's 
>  >Roundup, Cyanamid's Pursuit, and Aventis's Liberty herbicides lost their 
>  >effectiveness against  weeds only 2 to 3 years after an Alberta farmer 
>  >planted the companies' GM canola seeds. (2)
>  >
>  >March, 2000
>  >
>  >- Vowel language:  A long-suppressed U.S. Government  memo dating to  
1993 
>  >revealed an experiment in which 4 of 20 female rodents fed the FlavrSavr 
>  >(a GM tomato now owned by Monsanto) suffered gross stomach lesions.(3)
>  >
>  >- "Play possum" penis plot: New Zealand scientists proposed to develop GM 
>  >carrots engineered to sterilize possums when eaten.  Possums are 
>  >threatening the country's crops.(4) Scientists pooh-poohed concern that 
>  >the carrots might have the same effect on people, and insisted  the 
>  >carrots could be kept separate from the human food chain if necessary.
>  >
>  >- The "Which Blair Project":   Tony Blair reversed his position of a year 
>  >earlier ("the Prime Minister is very strongly minded that these [GM] 
>  >products are safe.") and told readers of The Independent that "there is 
no 
>  >doubt that there is potential for harm from GM food."(5) Further flip 
>  >flops are widely predicted.
>  >
>  >April, 2000
>  >
>  >- Weevil wars:  It was found that GM cotton that "volunteered" in GM 
>  >soybean fields may be bringing the dreaded cotton boll weevil back into 
>  >the USA as a major pest.(6)
>  >
>  >-  A-maize-ing  pace:, American maize growers were shunning GM seeds 
>  >because  their 1998/99 exports to Europe had dropped to 137,000 tonnes 
>  >from 2 million tonnes one year earlier.(7) The announcement came on the 
>  >heels of media reports that major potato processors and fast-food chains 
>  >were warning growers to avoid GM potatoes.
>  >
>  >May, 2000
>  >
>  >- "Safe" … wherever they are? GM seeds were routinely - though 
accidentally
>  >- shipped to Europe by U.S. and Canadian seed companies who couldn't seem 
>  >to keep their conventional seeds separate from their GM lines.(8) In the 
>  >following days, the sloppy inventory management problem spread throughout 
>  >Western Europe as country after country found their fields contaminated 
>  >with illegal and unwanted GM crops.  (New Zealanders were assured that 
>  >such stock management problems could never occur with carrots.)
>  >
>  >- "Safe" … whoever they are: Monsanto advised U.S. officials that it had 
>  >detected an unidentified strand of DNA making "mystery guest" appearances 
>  >in its GM soybeans, Monsanto assured officials that the unknown DNA was 
>  >perfectly safe (and was not a virus playing "possum").
>  >
>  >- German Bee Bellies: A researcher in Saxony found that a gene had 
>  >transferred from genetically engineered rapeseed to bacteria and fungi 
>  >discovered in the gut of honeybees.  Industry had previously claimed such 
>  >a transfer was highly unlikely or impossible.
>  >
>  >June, 2000
>  >
>  >- Spider man: A "jumping gene" being used in genetic engineering has 
>  >crossed the species barrier at least seven times, including one jump 
>  >between flies and humans.  If organisms modified using this footloose 
gene 
>  >are released, there is risk of further unexpected jumps.(9) (New 
>  >Zealanders were assured the gene would not be used in developing 
>  >transgenic carrots).
>  >
>  >- "Safe" … whatever they are: The New Zealand Government admitted that 
>  >there were at least 100 illicit GM crop experiments underway in the 
>  >country.(10) After checking on half the experiments, the Government 
>  >announced that (as with Monsanto) everything was okay  (and that none of 
>  >the experiments could possibly involve either possums or carrots).
>  >
>  >July, 2000
>  >
>  >- No safe refuge: Non-GM maize "refuges" planted by farmers near their GM 
>  >maize fields in order to slow resistance to the bacterial toxin in the GM 
>  >fields just don't work.   The vulnerable insects in the refuge plots 
>  >refuse to breed with the resistant insects from the larger GM fields. 
>  >(Possums, however, are understood to find the corporate designed plots to 
>  >be ideal breeding grounds.)
>  >
>  >- Wander-lust?  A large-scale study of the UK's oilseed rape crop and 
>  >indigenous weedy relatives proved that crosses can occur and that traits 
>  >such as GM herbicide-tolerance could leap to weeds. (11)
>  >
>  >- Still mad:  UK authorities reported a new case of Mad Cow disease in 
one 
>  >cow born after stringent new controls were established in 1996. (12) 
>  >Public distrust of government and scientists over GM crops in Europe 
began 
>  >with their failures in handling Mad Cows.
>  >
>  >August, 2000
>  >
>  >- And madder still: Human deaths from Mad Cow Disease in the UK were 
>  >reported to have increased markedly in the first half of 2000 compared to 
>  >1999.  There were 15 deaths to August 2000 compared to only 18 in all of 
>  >1999.(13)
>  >
>  >- The real Golden Rice: A U.S. university study of "sticky" rice 
varieties 
>  >in China and the Philippines showed that planting a number of diverse 
>  >varieties increased yields by 89% while reducing disease by 98%.  Their 
>  >conclusion: diversity outperforms genetically uniform GM varieties.(14)
>  >
>  >- Better flee butterfly! - Researchers in Iowa (USA) confirmed a 
>  >controversial Cornell study proving that GM maize is a threat to Monarch 
>  >butterflies.  Industry had disputed the earlier Cornell findings.(15)
>  >
>  >- Possum labels? - Bowing to public pressure, both New Zealand and 
>  >Australia announced they would require labeling for almost all GM foods. 
>  >This brought the two countries close to Europe and further isolated 
Canada 
>  >and the USA who still oppose labeling. (16)
>  >
>  >September, 2000
>  >
>  >- Taco bulls:  A GM maize variety ("Starlink") banned in the USA for 
human 
>  >consumption (because of fears of allergic reactions) but permitted as a 
>  >livestock feed, showed up in taco shells served at Taco Bell restaurants. 
>  >The Aventis variety raised new concerns about industry's and government's 
>  >capacity to regulate and manage GM products.
>  >
>  >- Golden fleeced:  The May surrender of the public sector's Golden Rice 
>  >technology to AstraZeneca due to fears that the Vitamin A enhanced GM 
>  >cereal contravened up to 105 intellectual property arrangements was shown 
>  >to be false.  At most 11 patents could be implicated and all would likely 
>  >be surrendered upon request.
>  >
>  >- "Safe" … whatever part it is?  U.S. researchers warned of a loophole in 
>  >biosafety regulations for GM crops such as tomatoes and potatoes where 
the 
>  >rule of "substantial equivalence" applies only to the edible portion of 
>  >the plant and neglects changes that might occur in roots or 
>  >leaves.  Failure to test for significant genetic alteration of the 
>  >inedible parts could risk the environment they warned. (17)
>  >
>  >October, 2000
>  >
>  >- Power Ranger epi-needles: The Taco Bell scandal spread to Kellogg's 
corn 
>  >flakes as the giant cereal company closed down one plant for fear that 
the 
>  >illicit GM StarLink maize had infected breakfast cereals. (StarLink was 
>  >approved for animal feed but not for human consumption.) In a panic, the 
>  >White House sent emissaries to Japan and Europe to try to calm concerns 
>  >that Aventis's "Starlink" had illegally entered their 
>  >countries.  Consumers joked that breakfast cereal makers would have to 
>  >give away epi-needles or epi-pens (injections to treat anaphylactic 
shock) 
>  >in cereal boxes instead of Power Rangers or StarWars toys, for fear of 
>  >allergic reactions in children.(18)
>  >
>  >- Super sugarweeds: German researchers reported that a GM sugarbeet 
>  >designed to resist one herbicide accidentally acquired resistance to a 
>  >second herbicide.  EU biosafety rules do not permit double-resistance 
>  >because of the increased possibility of gene diffusion into weeds and the 
>  >creation of superweeds.(19)
>  >
>  >- Slow learners: Mad Cow disease = the food crisis that sparked distrust 
>  >of scientific judgement and government regulatory competence, appeared to 
>  >be taking hold in France with new reports of diseased animals. (20)
>  >
>  >- Possum patent policy: A policy change that would have allowed the 
>  >world's largest agricultural research network devoted to Third World food 
>  >security to patent genes and gene sequences was turned down when the 
>  >Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) met in 
>  >Washington. The move would also have encouraged a shift toward GM crops. (
> 21)
>  >
>  >November, 2000
>  >
>  >- Unethical monopolies:  The first meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture 
>  >Organization's Ethics Panel (a group of world-renowned agronomists and 
>  >ethicists) concluded that  GM crops are risky, Terminator technology is 
>  >immoral; and that patenting genes and other genetic material leads to 
crop 
>  >genetic erosion and unacceptable monopoly. (22)
>  >
>  >- Biotech's billion dollar mistake: With the Aventis "Starlink" scandal 
>  >spreading to hundreds of food products and companies, the company 
>  >estimated that its clean-up costs would be less than $1 billion.  Then 
the 
>  >GM maize turned up in Japan and Korea…(23)
>  >
>  >December, 2000
>  >
>  >- Montpellier's Monsanto rescue: The world's "biocrats" gathered in 
France 
>  >to debate biosafety rules and rescue Monsanto. Never before have so many 
>  >gathered to debate biosafety for so few!  In essence, the $2.5 billion GM 
>  >seed market involves 4 major industrial crops (soybean, maize, cotton and 
>  >canola) grown in 3 countries (the US, Argentina, and Canada accounted for 
>  >98% of the total GM area in 2000). In 1999, Monsanto's GM seed traits 
>  >accounted for over four-fifths of the total world area devoted to GM 
>  >crops.(24) Demand for GM seeds almost flattened in 2000 with an increase 
>  >of only 8% after years of doubling and redoubling.  Analysts predicted 
>  >that, at least until 2003, demand would remain flat or decline.  In other 
>  >words, the purpose of Montpellier was to rescue Monsanto, the USA, Canada 
>  >and Argentina from their GM blunder! - Possums'  "pay"-TV: Australian 
>  >researchers may have found the answer to New Zealand's possum 
>  >problems.  Reports earlier in the year that Aussie possums!
>  >!
>  >  were dropping like flies from above-ground cable TV wiring has stirred 
>  > speculation in the island country that a similar emphasis on overhead 
>  > wires could eliminate the need for GM carrots.
>  >
>  >
>  >Watch for RAFI's "Generation 3" Communique!
>  >
>  >
>  >Notes
>  >
>  >1. 'Toxic Leak', New Scientist, 4 December 1999, p. 7.
>  >2. 'Resistance is useless', New Scientist, 19 February 2000, p. .21.
>  >3. Edwards, Rob, 'Is it or isn‚t it?', New Scientist, 4 March 2000, p. 5.
>  >4. Graham-Rowe, Duncan, 'Possums on the Pill', New Scientist, 4 March 
>  >2000, p. 18.
>  >5. Editorial, 'Just give us the facts', New Scientist, 4 March 2000, p. 3.
>  >6. Coghlan, Andy, 'Pocket of resistance', New Scientist, 15 April 2000, 
p. 
> 17.
>  >7. 'Maize malaise', New Scientist, 15 April 2000, p. 17.
>  >8. Coghlan, Andy,  'Sowing dissent', New Scientist, 27 May 2000, p. 4.
>  >9. Edwards, Rob,  'Look before it leaps', New Scientist, 24 June 2000, p. 
5.
> 
>  >10. 'Red faces all round', New Scientist, 10 June 2000, p. 5.
>  >11. Sample, Ian, "Modified crops could corrupt weedy cousins", New 
>  >Scientist, 15 July 2000, p.6.
>  >12. New Scientist, "Young, nut Mad", July 8, 2000, p.5.
>  >13. New Scientist, "CJD creeps up", 12 August 2000, .p.19.
>  >14. New Scientist, "Triumph for Diversity", 19 August 2000, p.21
>  >15. Kilman, Scott, "Modified Corn a Threat to Butterfly, Study Says", 
Wall 
>  >Street Journal, August 22, 2000.
>  >16. New Scientist, "Stick a Label on it", 5 August 2000, p.5.
>  >17. Coghlan, Andy, "Killer Tomatoes", New Scientist, 23 September 2000, 
p.9.
> 
>  >18. New Scientist, "Shells off the Shelves", September 30 2000, 
p.5.Noelle 
>  >Mennella, PARIS, Nov 9 (Reuters) .
>  >19.MacKenzie, Debora, "Stray genes highlight superweed danger". New 
>  >Scientist, 21 October 2000, p.6.
>  >20. MacKenzie, Debora, "La folie francaise". New Scientist, 28 October 
>  >2000, p.6.
>  >21. RAFI attended the CGIAR meeting in Washington October 23-27 and 
>  >participated actively in opposing the draft "New IPR Guiding Principles".
>  >22. FAO, Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture, 
First 
>  >Session, Rome, 26-28 September 2000.
>  >23. Noelle Mennella, PARIS, Nov 9 (Reuters.
>  >24. Monsanto Press Release, Feb. 10, 2000.
>  
>