WikiLeaks: US targets EU over GM crops

The US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any Euroxpean Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, newly released WikiLeaks cables show. In response to moves by France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety in late 2007, the ambassador, Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of former US president George Bush, asked Washington to penalise the EU and particularly countries which did not support the use of GM crops. "Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. "The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices," said Stapleton, who with Bush co-owned the Dallas/Fort Worth-based Texas Rangers baseball team in the 1990s. In other newly released cables, US diplomats around the world are found to have pushed GM crops as a strategic government and commercial imperative. Because many Catholic bishops in developing countries have been vehemently opposed to the controversial crops, the US applied particular pressure to the pope's advisers. Cables from the US embassy in the Vatican show that the US believes the pope is broadly supportive of the crops after sustained lobbying of senior Holy See advisers, but regrets that he has not yet stated his support. The US state department special adviser on biotechnology as well as government biotech advisers based in Kenya lobbied Vatican insiders to persuade the pope to declare his backing. "… met with [US monsignor] Fr Michael Osborn of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, offering a chance to push the Vatican on biotech issues, and an opportunity for post to analyse the current state of play on biotech in the Vatican generally," says one cable in 2008. "Opportunities exist to press the issue with the Vatican, and in turn to influence a wide segment of the population in Europe and the developing world," says another. But in a setback, the US embassy found that its closest ally on GM, Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the powerful Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the man who mostly represents the pope at the United Nations, had withdrawn his support for the US. "A Martino deputy told us recently that the cardinal had co-operated with embassy Vatican on biotech over the past two years in part to compensate for his vocal disapproval of the Iraq war and its aftermath – to keep relations with the USG [US government] smooth. According to our source, Martino no longer feels the need to take this approach," says the cable. In addition, the cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto. "In response to recent urgent requests by [Spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain's science-based agricultural biotechnology position through high-level US government intervention." It also emerges that Spain and the US have worked closely together to persuade the EU not to strengthen biotechnology laws. In one cable, the embassy in Madrid writes: "If Spain falls, the rest of Europe will follow." The cables show that not only did the Spanish government ask the US to keep pressure on Brussels but that the US knew in advance how Spain would vote, even before the Spanish biotech commission had reported. • This article was amended on 21 January 2011. The original sited the Texas Rangers team in St Louis. This has been corrected.

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The right to know what you are eating

BY: Gary Hirshberg and Eric Schlosser

An unprecedented agricultural experiment is being conducted at America's dinner tables. While none of the processed food we ate 20 years ago contained genetically engineered ingredients, now 75 percent of it does - even though the long-term human health and environmental impacts are unknown. The Food and Drug Administration doesn't require labeling of genetically engineered foods. But as the current drive to get labeling on the ballot in California confirms, consumers want to know whether our food contains these revolutionary new things.
In 1992, the FDA ruled that genetically engineered foods didn't need independent safety tests or labeling requirements before being introduced. But one of its own scientists disagreed, warning there were "profound differences" with genetically engineered foods. Genetically engineered seed manufacturers were allowed to sell their products without telling consumers. A 2006 survey found that 74 percent of Americans had no idea that genetically engineered foods were already being sold.
Biotech companies have fought labeling, claiming genetically engineered crops are "substantially the same" and produce larger yields - both unproven claims. But genetically engineered crops have led to the increased use of pesticides, often sold by the same companies that make genetically engineered seeds.
About 94 percent of U.S. grown soybeans are genetically engineered and contain a gene that protects them against glyphosate, now the nation's most widely used pesticide. But glyphosate is becoming ineffective as "superweeds" become resistant to it, forcing farmers to use even stronger herbicides. Widespread adoption of genetically engineered corn has also led to pesticide resistance.
Almost all the research on the safety of genetically engineered foods has been conducted by the companies that sell them. The potential harm to developing fetuses is of concern. A study of pregnant women found genetically engineered corn toxins in 93 percent of the women and 80 percent of their unborn children. All of their umbilical cords had glyphosate residues. Biotech companies say genetically engineered crops aren't different - but defend their patent rights by arguing they're unique and that anybody who grows them without permission should be prosecuted. These companies want it both ways.
Genetically engineered crops are different. They often contain genetic material from different species. Some survive large doses of pesticide, others produce their own pesticide, and many do both. That's why they must be labeled. A label allows people to choose. It lets the free market, not industry lobbyists, determine the fate of genetically engineered foods. If genetically engineered foods are so great, companies that sell them should be proud to label them.
Fifty countries, including the European Union, require genetically engineered food labeling.
A recent poll found 93 percent of Americans think genetically engineered foods should be labeled. This month, 384,000 people signed a Just Label It ( www.justlabelit.org) petition urging the FDA to mandate genetically engineered food labeling nationally. The FDA justifies its refusal to label on an agency rule that requires labeling only if a food tastes or smells different or has a different nutritional value. The FDA should change that policy - or make an exception for genetically engineered foods, as it did for irradiated foods.
The FDA doesn't let pharmaceutical companies test new drugs on people without their informed consent. Consumers should have the same right to know when it comes to what they eat. But even the narrow dictates of that FDA rule shouldn't block the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Everything about how they were introduced and spread nationwide, without our knowledge or consent, leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Gary Hirshberg is the president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Yogurt. Eric Schlosser is the author of "Fast Food Nation" and co-producer of the documentary "Food, Inc."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/The-right-to-know-what-you-are-eating-2289668.php#ixzz2GkPQyvKO

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Tomato’s Genome Sequence Finally Cracked!

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Though science has still not replied to the eternal question of whether tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, it has stepped closer to answering it. The full genome sequence of tomato has been discovered by an international team of scientists, working across nationalities. Not only has the team cracked the genetic code of cultivated tomato but also that of the wild variety. It is being hoped that this development would help farmers grow tastier and more nutritious varieties of tomatoes in the future.

1) The Genetic Code

The full genome sequence of tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been named “Heinz 1706” and it has been published in the science journal “Nature.” Describing the details of the genetic code, the scientists said that all the 35,000 genes of tomato are well displayed in this sequence along with their functional parts, orientation, types, and relative positions. The researchers found that the tomatoes were made up of about 35,000 genes, arranged on 12 chromosomes and each of those genes is responsible for any characteristic that tomato shows. The “Nature” article describes the genetic results, “The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution.” Apart from the domesticated or cultivated tomato, the researchers have also been able to crack the genetic sequence of its wild relative Solanum pimpinellifolium. James Giovannoni, who works at the “Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University," shows his excitement through words, “For any characteristic of the tomato, whether it’s taste, natural pest resistance or nutritional content, we’ve captured virtually all those genes.” Giovannoni further adds, “Tomato genetics underlies the potential for improved taste every home gardener knows and every supermarket shopper desires and the genome sequence will help solve this and many other issues in tomato production and quality.”

2) The Significance

In the US alone, tomatoes are worth $2 billion pie of the market share and Britain dabbles in $980 million worth of tomato business a year. In the rest of the world too, tomatoes are an inherent part of daily diet in all forms. Therefore, their consumption depends, to a large extent, on their quality. It is no wonder then that the scientists are excited about the possibilities arising out of knowing tomato’s genetic code. One of the main benefits would be for the researchers to identify links between tomato genes and the characteristics like taste, shape, color and nutrition level shown by various tomatoes. The scientists will also be able to pinpoint the specific environmental factors that enhance or affect the overall health of tomato crops. Graham Seymour, a member of the scientific team working on this project, and a professor of biotechnology at the “Nottingham University”, explains, “Tomatoes are one of the most important fruit crops in the world, both in terms of the volume that we eat and the vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals that both fresh and processed tomato products provide to our diets.”

3) The Team

It was an international collaboration between more than a dozen countries that was named the “Tomato Genomics Consortium” and was entrusted with the responsibility to identify the genetic sequence of this popular fruit/vegetable of the world. The researchers, who were members of this Consortium, belonged to various nationalities, such as Argentina, Germany, China, France, India, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Japan, United Kingdom, and the US.

4) The Future

It took the international Consortium many years and millions of dollars to find out the first genome sequence in case of tomato. However, the scientists are hopeful that further studies in this direction would yield results at a much less cost because they will have initial findings to work with. Besides, buoyed by the tomato findings, scientists are also ready to work on fruits like strawberries, apples, bananas, etc to identify their genome sequence and work for their improvement too. As Giovannoni explains, “Now we can start asking a lot more interesting questions about fruit biology, disease resistance, root development and nutritional qualities.”

Tomato has many health benefits, especially when eaten raw. Now armed with the genetic information, it is going to be much easier for the scientists to provide significant inputs to the farmers to grow better varieties of tomatoes as well as other fruits and vegetables. As for that cup of salsa, it is gonna get better now!

Image Courtesy: malcolmallison.lamula.pe, ifood.tv

Read more at http://www.ifood.tv/blog/tomato-s-genome-sequence-finally-cracked#0p0AgEfPPI8EqMFi.99

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Tomato Genome Decoded: Researchers To Publish Fruit's DNA Sequence In Full

By: Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer
Published: 05/30/2012 01:07 PM EDT on LiveScience
For years scientists have slaved away, trying to piece together the genes that make up the ripe, red goodness that is the tomato. They have finally published the fleshy fruit's genome in full.
The genome of any species is the DNA code that is stored as a blueprint inside every cell of every individual of that species. The DNA letters, called base pairs, are organized into genes, which are translated into proteins, the building blocks and machinery of every cell.
Decoding these genes can help researchers understand the different types of proteins found in organisms, and how these proteins make that species different from every other species. These kinds of insights from the genome could help crop researchers improve the yield, nutritional content, disease resistance, taste and color of tomatoes, they say.
"For any characteristic of the tomato, whether it's taste, natural pest resistance or nutritional content, we've captured virtually all those genes," study researcher James Giovannoni, of Cornell University, said in a statement. "Tomato genetics underlies the potential for improved taste every home gardener knows and every supermarket shopper desires and the genome sequence will help solve this and many other issues in tomato production and quality."
Generic and wild genomes
The researchers sequenced the genome of the tomato species Solanum lycopersicum, of the variety "Heinz 1706," as their type tomato. These tomatoes possess some 35,000 genes arranged on 12 chromosomes (large arrangements of hundreds of genes packed into one strand), the researchers said.

The researchers also sequenced the garden tomato's wild ancestor, Solanum Pimpinellifolium.
Knowing the sequence of one tomato can help seed companies and plant breeders get a grasp on what makes different varieties, like heirloom tomatoes, different from the generic grocery tomato.
Because the variability between two varieties is pretty small, it's easier to use the Heinz 1706 genome as a guide, and pinpoint the differences that lead to changes in color, taste, texture, size and shapethat distinguish one variety from another.
Tomato vs. potato
The genome is also important in learning why the tomato is so different from its genetic relatives in the nightshade family of flowering plants, which includes the potato, pepper and even coffee. Scientists want to know what genes have changed that gives each of these species their distinct flavor and look.
"Now we can start asking a lot more interesting questions about fruit biology, disease resistance, root development and nutritional qualities," Giovannoni said.
Tomatoes represent a $2 billion market in the United States alone. The USDA estimates that Americans consume, on average, more than 72 pounds (33 kilograms) of tomato products annually. Researchers have even developed a robot tomato harvester to go into space (or just use here on Earth).

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The tomato decoded: holds more genes than humans

The tomato has always been a complex fruit. Or is it a vegetable? Either way. Tomato, tomahto, right?
The tomato, which is considered a fruit by botanists and a vegetable to the US government, has been demystified by a consortium of plant geneticists from 14 countries who spent nine years decoding the tomato genome with the hopes of breeding better, tastier fruits.
Specifically, the scientists sequenced the genomes of both Heinz 1706, a variety used to make ketchup, and the tomato’s closest wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium, which is grown in Peru, according to The New York Times.
The researchers reported that tomatoes possess some 35,000 genes arranged on 12 chromosomes. "For any characteristic of the tomato, whether it's taste, natural pest resistance or nutritional content, we've captured virtually all those genes," James Giovannoni, a scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, told Phys.org

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Genomics to improve farming

By Ijaz Ahmad Rao

Biotechnology is having an increasingly important impact on various sectors and disciplines. Combined with genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, biotechnology can greatly aid our ability to confront the challenges of production, management, and sustainability of agriculture and economic development.

It can enhance crops yield and quality, develop stress-tolerant crop varieties, improve nutritional content of foods and neutralise effect of food contaminants, and find new ways to face threats to bio-security.

These issues were discussed at a recent international symposium on “Genomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics: Recent Trends in Biotechnology” held by the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MMG), University of The Punjab, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, National Biotechnology Commission, Core Group in Biological Sciences.

More than 190 delegates, some from Europe, participated in the symposium whose main objective was to provide new ways to use animal, plants and microbes, in order to improve quality of environment and economic sustainability of a country, to commercialise indigenous technologies and to help bridge the gap between global scientific communities in terms of existing and expanding frontiers of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics.

Environmental and political considerations have created a growing demand for plants-derived bio-fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel. It is appropriate that Pakistan should support research efforts in genomics and proteomics. It has enormous potential in agricultural both in cropping and livestock sectors. There is a need to fill actual productivity and potential productivity gap by adopting appropriate strategies and modern technologies to meet such problems as low resource use efficiency in agriculture, land degradation, water-logging and salinity, low organic matter, and low level of technology.

Despite continued progress in genetic improvement, optimal levels of crop productivity or desirable nutritional balance has not yet been achieved. Seed metabolism must be modified substantially to produce food-feed as well as industrial and medical products to satisfy future evolving societal demands. Such modifications need integration seamlessly into the complex but poorly understood processes of seed metabolism and development. Genomics offer new opportunities to address seed performance and productivity, to develop nutritionally desirable seeds, and to achieve industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

Collaborations between genomic researchers and plant breeders are crucial to enhance crops yield. With the help of tools of modern biotechnology and methods of genomics and proteomics, our future challenges of food, feed and energy sectors can be addressed. This new knowledge will change the future of breeding for improved strains of all domesticated species of crops, livestock, fish, and trees either through transgenomics or genomics-based conventional breeding.

“The first plant genome that has been completely sequenced is a small model species, Arabidopsis thaliana. The genomic sequencing of economically important crops is also being undertaken”. The most advanced are the several public and private gene sequencing projects on rice, all of which are now in the public domain. A maize genome-sequencing project is also in progress. Rice, maize and other cereals share a large number of common genes.

Several other genome sequencing projects of at least 130 different plant species are in progress. The plant genetic resources are the vital components of plant biodiversity, precious heritage of mankind, therefore they need to be collected and conserved before they are lost for ever.

There are about 6,000 plant species in Pakistan; out of these only 1,010 species are identified as having medicinal value. Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) established a “gene bank” at the Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources (IABGR) and the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), which contains more than 30,000 genes and DNA of different plant species. The germplasm of major cereals, minor cereals, food legumes, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, fiber crops, fodder and forages and medicinal plants are available from this ‘gene bank” for scientists and researcher for the development of new varieties. More recently PARC has established with NARC a new institute the National Institute for Genomics and Advance Biotechnology (NIGAB); which will conduct research on structural and functional genomic of both plants and animals.

In Pakistan, there are hundreds of scientists working at more than 29 centres conducting biotech research in different areas. These institutions have, to their credit, a number of major achievements in modern biotechnology. A few of them have developed plant expression vectors for the introduction of foreign genes into crops like Bt pesticidal genes used in cotton and rice against bollworm, rice leaf-folder, top leaf bore in sugarcane.

The use of new techniques for understanding and modifying the genetically modified organisms (GMO) has led to understanding the role of proteins through proteomics and metabolomics in order to have better knowledge of multi proteins expressed in a particular plant in specific environmental condition. These developments have been accompanied by public concerns as to the power of the new technologies and the safety and ethics of their use for improving human health, agriculture and the environment.

Scientists are trying to explore how genetics and environmental factors work together to cause human diseases which can be helpful in the prevention and treatment of many illnesses and as well as individualise the therapeutical strategies. There are extensive efforts under way to identify the genetic and environmental basis of common diseases like cancer, asthma and diabetes. The present challenge is how emerging scientific discoveries, such as those in the rapidly evolving fields of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, amongst others, can be translated into safe applications leading to new varieties of crops, drugs and products.
Courtesy: The DAWN

 

Source: http://www.pakissan.com/english/advisory/biotechnology/genomics.to.improve.farming.shtml

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