15 April 2015 / Research carried out by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN Germany) has identified an important gap in the risk assessment of glyphosate carried out by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). There are already several scientific publications showing that glyphosate can cause oxidative stress to cells, which is a possible cause of cancer. Nevertheless, the BfR did not take this into account in their risk assessment.
Gene expression and content of insecticidal toxins cannot be reliably predicted
Friday, 10 April 2015
Scientists from Switzerland and Norway have now published the results of an investigation into genetically engineered maize MON810, which produces an insecticidal protein, a so-called Bt toxin (Trtikova et al., 2015). In the investigation, two varieties of maize MON810 were grown in climate chambers and subjected to defined stress conditions i.e. cold/wet and hot/dry. According to the authors, this is the first study to report on whether there is a relationship between transgene expression and protein production in Bt maize under changing environmental conditions.
2 April 2015 / According to new government data, glyphosate use in the US has increased over the years 2002 to 2012 from 49,000 tons to 128,000 tons annually. Now, the US Environmental Protection Agency has responded and wants to enforce limits that industry and farmers must adhere to when using the herbicide. This was reported by Reuters.
Project leader tries to hide real problems with contamination from genetically engineered plants
26 March 2015 / In a media release from 19 March, experts involved in the EU project, PRICE, state that the outcome of the project shows current EU regulations to be sufficiently robust to avoid major problems with contamination from genetically engineered plants. They especially refer to field trials with genetically engineered maize in Spain. Not mentioned are findings from investigations in Portugal, where bakery products were found to be contaminated with genetically engineered maize, in some cases to quite a high level.
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