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WEEKLY WATCH number 94 (14/10/2004)

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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In Italy, battle rages between Bush and Blair's ally -Italy's pro-GM, pro-war premier, Silvio Berlusconi - and a broad coalition of government, consumer and farmer representatives. This follows Berlusconi's attempt to open the door to GM crops. (EUROPE)

Berlusconi's reckless refusal to accept GM safeguards can be seen for what it is in the wake of Hawaii's disastrous GM papaya contamination scandal, which has led the state's Democratic Party to pass a tough new resolution calling for restrictions on GM crops; and Argentina's story of human suffering and ecological devastation following its conversion to GM soy monoculture continues. (THE AMERICAS).

It's now the final chance to support those in Brazil trying to stop GM soy devastating their country. You can send your protest to Lula via this link - it only takes a minute:
http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5

GM supporters claim that because a minority of Brazilian farmers are illegally growing GM soy, the Government must of necessity legalise GMOs. So why aren't they urging the Colombian Government to legalise coca production and the Afghans to approve opium growing?!

Don't miss our FOOD SAFETY section for the latest reminders from scientists of the dangers of GMOs and how the safety testing of GM foods just hasn't been done.

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

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CONTENTS
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FOOD SAFETY
EUROPE
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
NEW CAMPAIGN
LOBBYWATCH - UK
DONATIONS

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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
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"Consumers get no benefit and they take all the risk.'' - Dr Judy Carmen, Public Health Association of Australia
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4524

"These products are dangerous in their unpredictability, especially considering their prolonged use. We don't know their eventual effects on the human body" - Vladimir Kuznetsov, head of the scientific council of the Russian Academy of Sciences
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4525

"As a biologist that uses biotechnology as one of the many tools in my basic research, I believe (as most biologists do when we speak inside the lab) that the use of genetic modification in agriculture and the invasion of nature by these organisms is at least hugely irresponsible and dangerous, since there is no way to control the further effects, once the GM organisms have been released" - Molecular biologist, Lilian Joensen
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4499

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FOOD SAFETY
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+ DR ARPAD PUSZTAI ON "ANTIBIOTICS IN GM PLANTS ARE A NON-ISSUE"
We previously circulated the comments of the medical biotechnologist, Dr Michael Antoniou, on the Medical News Today article, "Research shows antibiotics in genetically modified plants are a non issue". Dr Antoniou noted that the article not only contained numerous errors and questionable claims but conveniently ignored evidence that failed to fit its reassuring thesis.

Below are Dr Arpad Pusztai's comments on the article. Dr Pusztai points directly to the vacuous nature of the claims in the article. The actual research that would resolve this issue, Dr Pusztai points out, has simply not been done. So to claim, as the article does, that "research" shows that antibiotic resistance in people consuming food from GM plants containing antibiotic resistance genes is a "non-issue", is, in the words of Dr Pusztai, "really stupid!"

The primary source of the widely disseminated article appears to be one "W. De Greef". De Greef has no especial expertise in the sciences of nutrition, toxicology or medicine, but he is the former Global Head of Regulatory Affairs for GM at Syngenta! This is not mentioned in the article.

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

Dr Arpad Pusztai comments:

This is really stupid! How can one expect to decide about such a contentious and important issue when no experiment has been done that was designed to answer this question? The only experiment with any relevance to this was the Newcastle experiment [undertaken by researchers at the University of Newcastle, commissioned by the UK's Food Standards Agency - FSA] but even in this the FSA selected a GM food that contained no antibiotic resistance marker gene. How could the researchers then find the take-up of the antibiotic resistance marker gene by the gut bacteria when the GM plant given to the volunteers contained no such thing? Excellent design, isn't it? I in fact questioned the researchers about their selection of GM soya for the experiment to which the answer was that they could not use any other GM food because none are available in the UK that contain the antibiotic resistance marker gene?!

As others have already pointed this out, [the antibiotic against which many GM plants are engineered to carry a resistant gene] kanamycin is still being used by the medical profession and there are also some indications that if bacteria are made resistant to one antibiotic they can pick up others more easily.

Indeed, the Newcastle experiment, if it proved nothing else, did prove that our gut bacteria already contain GM gene constructs and this is in a country where labeling is done and most people try to avoid GM foods! I suggest that the biotech companies ought to be compelled to do such experiments in the USA and with other GM foods and, as a background study, generally test the gut microbes of the US population for genetic constructs containing antibiotic resistance marker genes and their resistance to antibiotics as well.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4510

+ WORLD HEALTH ORG URGES FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH
Here's as plain an admission as you could get that food safety research on GM food simply has not been done. The World Health Organisation on 12 October suggested Thailand conduct further research on GMOs so that an early action plan can be implemented to cope with possible health risks posed by transgenic food.

"At this point, we have no evidence to say that it is dangerous to consume food products that contain GMOs, but at the same time we also don't know its negative side. So, we have to say that we do not know the adverse health effects of GM food," WHO assistant director-general Kerstin Leitner said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4519

+ RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS WARN PUTIN OF GM FOOD THREAT
Russian scientists have warned about the dangers of GM products in a letter to President Putin. Importing GM foods is jeopardizing both Russia's health and agriculture, they claim.

Alexander Baranov, president of the National Association for Genetic Security, explained that GM products are putting the health of the nation in serious danger. The letter to Vladimir Putin, signed by more than 30 key public, political, and scientific figures, reads:

"This address is imposed by the growing vulnerability of Russia's biological security. There is a process of substituting environmentally friendly foods, which are typical for Russia, with imported genetically modified products. Russia is becoming a site for testing foreign biotechnology."

Among other precautions, the letter advises a ban on GM products in baby food, a

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