The New Dark Age

Researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed genetically engineered trees that create a protein that forms holes in the gut of psyllids, insects viewed as pests, and kills them (it’s unclear whether the GM trees contain Bt toxins, which also make holes in insects’ guts, or some other GM technology). The psyllids infect the trees with bacteria that strangle the root system, resulting in citrus greening disease. The disease has devastated Florida’s citrus production.

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European countries must protect farmers, small- and medium-sized seed breeders, and the organic and GM-free sectors from threats to their business posed by the deregulation of new GMOs, warns Greenpeace and more than 200 other organisations, including GMWatch. In a joint statement published today, they push back against a compromise proposal to deregulate new GMOs tabled by Poland, taking the rotating role of president of the EU Council, which representatives from national governments will meet to discuss on 14 February. The Polish proposal covers GM crops and wild plants produced with new GM techniques (so-called ‘new genomic techniques’, NGTs), which can carry risks for both human health and the environment. The draft focuses on plant patents while ignoring other critical questions such as traceability, detection and identification, coexistence, and potential risks to nature and human health. The deregulation will increase the control that just a handful of companies have over seeds, disadvantaging small- and medium-sized breeders, thereby strengthening their corporate grip on farmers. GMWatch

A US-funded “social network” attacking pesticide and GMO critics has shut down after an investigation by Lighthouse Reports in collaboration with The Guardian and others. The St Louis, Missouri-based firm, v-Fluence, said it’s shuttering the service that featured personal details about more than 500 environmental advocates, scientists, politicians and others seen as opponents of pesticides and GMO crops (including GMWatch). Wendy Wagner, a law professor at the University of Texas, said there seemed little reason to maintain such a database other than for harassing opponents. London research professor Michael Antoniou — profiled on the portal with derogatory information about his personal life and family members — said, “The fact v-Fluence and the industries it serves resorted to these underhand methods shows they were unable to win on the level of the science.” The Guardian