from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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It's been a week that makes you wonder if the world has gone mad.

The UK's National Academy of Science, The Royal Society, has hosted a pro-eugenics conference (LOBBYWATCH UK).

Canadian farmers are threatened with losing their right, which has been re-defined (by industry) as a 'privilege', to save seed of any kind. If Canadians allow this to happen, a precedent will have been set for the rest of the world (THE AMERICAS).

Brazil teeters on the brink of allowing GM crops to be legally grown in the country (THE AMERICAS). If you haven't already, please join the petitioning of Lula - it'll only take a moment.
http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5

The European Patent Office appears to be one of the few official bodies that's retained any sanity, revoking Monsanto's patent on an Indian farmer-developed chapati wheat (ASIA).

And one other bit of good news, Monsanto lost $42 million, or 16 cents per share, in the three-month period ending Aug. 31 2004. No wonder it's so desperate to push GM.

Claire [email protected]
http://www.lobbywatch.org / http://www.gmwatch.org

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CONTENTS
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LOBBYWATCH
ASIA
EUROPE
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
LOBBYWATCH UK
NEW LIFE FORMS
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
DONATIONS

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ WHO'S BEHIND MISLEADING ARTICLE ON ANTIBIOTICS IN GM PLANTS?
According to the medical biotechnologist, Dr Michael Antoniou, a Medical News Today article, "Research shows antibiotics in genetically modified plants are a non issue", contains numerous errors and questionable claims, as well as conveniently ignoring evidence that fails to fit its reassuring thesis.

Yet this article has popped up on a whole series of websites in the few days since publication - allindianews.com, science.bio.org, innateimmunity.net, bioportfolio.co.uk, seedquest.com, junkscience.com, monsanto.co.uk, etc.

The article's authorship is unspecified but the original source appears to have been the European Food Information Council. EFIC is coy about sponsorship, referring only in passing to "food and beverage" companies, but interestingly the strikingly similar IFIC - the International Food Information Council - has amongst its sponsors: BASF, Cargill, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=64

At the bottom of the Medical News Today article it says, "For more information, contact W. De Greef at ALSS". ALSS is Applied Life Science Strategies, whose highly minimalist website - http://www.alss.be - appears to be partly still under construction and partly made up of references to events which occurred 6-7 years ago!

The Managing Director of ALSS - a "consultancy working on issues related to the use of biotechnology in food production" - is Willy de Greef (i.e. the contact given at the end of the article). Until the end of 2002 de Greef was the Global Head of Regulatory Affairs - Biotechnology for GM giant Syngenta. As such he would have had to deal repeatedly with the regulatory hurdles arising out of concerns over the antibiotic resistance genes used in GM crops.

For the original article and Dr Antoniou's comments
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4494

+ HOBAN RESPONDS TO GMWATCH
Dr Tom Hoban, one of those listed as an expert to advise the media by CS Prakash's AgBioWorld campaign, has taken issue with our piece "The Professor who got cold feet - GM zealot's 'Change of Heart'".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4387

Our article contrasted the GM-sceptical opinions that Hoban put forward in a Pew Biotech Buzz article, with his earlier staunchly pro-GM views. A PR WATCH article describes how Hoban helped design the questions in a much-touted consumer survey for the International Food Information Council (IFIC - see item above). Besides trumpeting strong support for GM food, the nine-question survey indicates that consumer awareness of biotech food is low. It also claims there is little support for labelling GM foods.

The problem with the survey, however, is that the questions it asked are loaded with language designed to bias the answers.

Hoban now writes to GMWATCH disclaiming responsibility for the survey. See Hoban's full reply, and the PR WATCH article on the dodgy survey, at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4475

+ NETWORKS OF INFLUENCE: PR, LIES AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY
The abstract of a fascinating recent conference paper by Kean Birch, using data from GM Watch and elsewhere, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4481

Here's the intro:
In their book 'Deceit and Denial' Markowitz and Rosner (2002) illustrate how the US Manufacturing Chemist's Association sought to change the terms of the debate over the chemicals industry after World War 2 by highlighting how "feeding the world will depend on the use of chemicals". Five decades later the same sort of sentiment is used to justify the development of biotechnology. Did chemistry therefore fail?

Perhaps it is better to view both sets of claims as rhetorical, rather than scientific, statements which show how science and technology are far from neutral, as are the economic ramifications of their development.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4481

+ PRAK THE RAP MAKES THE GUARDIAN - WASH HIS MOUTH WITH LAVA SOAP!
The charming email GM WATCH received from rapper son of GM lobbyist C S Prakash ("i'm going to insult you fucking dick ass bit[c]h whor" etc.) has made it into the UK's Guardian newspaper, along with columnist John Vidal's comment: "Sweet child"!

GM WATCH subscriber Lilia Firefly had this to say: "I can't believe the expletives and threats of this juvenile. His mouth should be washed with lava soap! He writes like a TV sitter raised child. A future hoodlum getting his jollies threatening adults.... Is his Mother aware of this? I bet he takes Ritalin! I bet Prakash takes valium and viagra. I bet she takes lithium! The pathology of the parent is most evident in the offspring. One day this disrespectful boy will turn on him. Mark my word."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4485

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ASIA: http://www.gmwatch.org/asia.asp
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+ ASIA BECOMING A DUSTBIN FOR GM
An excellent article from the Pakistani press on this theme is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4476

Excerpt:
India, [trade analyst Devinder] Sharma says, has become a favoured destination for the biotechnology industry that is, otherwise, on the run from the US, European Union and Australia. In Europe, a 2002 survey showed 61 per cent of the private sector cancelled R&D as a result of moratorium actions.

With highly critical reports of regulatory mechanism coming in from respectable independent institutions, the trend in US is also towards still tougher regulations...

In India, on the other hand, genetic engineering experiments are being conducted on cotton, maize, mustard, sugar cane, sorghum, pigeonpea, chickpea, rice, tomato, brinjal, potato, banana, papaya, cauliflower, oilseeds, castor, soyabean and medicinal plants.

Experiments are also underway on several species of fish. In fact, says Sharma, such is the desperation that scientists are trying to insert Bt gene into any crop they can lay their hands on, not knowing whether this is desirable or not.

The mad rac