from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

This week we have some seriously disturbing research results on GM soy from Russia (NEW RESEARCH). And Terminator patents have been granted in Europe and Canada (TERMINATOR).

The bad news is balanced by a towering achievement in South Africa, which has been persuaded to cease GM imports until a study on the economic effects can be completed (AFRICA).

And there are lots of interesting reports on the hype and the problems with GM in India (ASIA and LOBBYWATCH).

Finally, the kiwis surely speak for us all when 74.5% of them tell pollsters that they want their food production to stay GM-free; 79% want zero tolerance of GM contamination of seeds; and 77% want zero tolerance of GM contamination of crops in the field. (AUSTRALASIA)

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

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CONTENTS
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NEW RESEARCH
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
EUROPE
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
LOBBYWATCH
GM WHITE ELEPHANT OF THE WEEK

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NEW RESEARCH
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+ ABNORMALLY HIGH DEATH RATE IN PROGENY OF RATS FED GM SOY, SAYS RUSSIAN STUDY
Abnormally high death rates and growth retardation have been found in the progeny of female rats who had GM soy added to their food, a Russian study led by Dr Irina Ermakova of the Russian Academy of Sciences has found. Thirty-six per cent of rats born to GM-fed mothers weighed less than 20 grams - evidence of their extremely weak condition.

With the rats fed GM soy, a massive 55.6% of their progeny were dead within three weeks, compared with 9% of the progeny of rats fed non-GM soy and 6.8% of the progeny of the control group, which was fed a diet without any added soy.

Dr Ermakova commented, "The morphology and biochemical structures of rats are very similar to those of humans, and this makes the results we obtained very disturbing."

Visit http://www.regnum.ru/english/526651.html to see the data laid out in a table. Also at this URL is an astonishing picture comparing same-age rats from the GM soy group and the control group. The GM soy rat is a fraction of the size of the control rat.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5861
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5866

+ TRANSGENE FOUND IN BLOOD, LIVER, SPLEEN AND KIDNEY OF GM-FED PIGS
Fragments of the Cry1A(b) transgene, present in Bt crops, have been detected in blood, liver, spleen and kidney of piglets raised with GM feed, according to a paper by Raffaele Mazza et al in Transgenic Research. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5866

COMMENT BY PROF JOE CUMMINS:
... the method of isolating the cellular DNA, though very effective, did not tell whether or not the transgenic DNA fragments were joined to chromosomal DNA or whether they were free in the cells or their nuclei.

Earlier studies from Germany showed that bacterial viral DNA fragments from food were inserted into the chromasomal DNA molecules of mammals. Further work is needed to detect transgenic DNA integrated into the cells' chromosomes.

Finally, the report claimed that health risks from isolated DNA have never been detected but that conclusion is wrong!

Isolated bacterial DNA or DNA fragments injected, inhaled or eaten are known to promote inflammation and autoimmunity through the CpG [a molecule that stimulates immune system to fight disease] stimulation of innate immunity. There are hundreds of publications dealing with that effect.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5867

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ASIA
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+ BT COTTON HIT BY MORE PROBLEMS IN INDIA
Not for the first time, wilt is affecting Bt cotton in India. In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a fact-finding team has been studying a large area of wilt on Bt cotton.

This follows the case of a large area of Bt cotton being affected by an unusual disease caused by Tobacco Streak Virus, which normally affects sunflower and groundnut crops and is not known to attack cotton crops.

The report says this suggests an "increased vulnerability of transgenic plants to new diseases".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5868

Kavitha Kuruganti of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh points out that a disease called Para-Wilt was reported in previous years as a problem by scientists, mostly with Monsanto's MECH 184 Bt cotton. At that time there was an attempt to attribute the problem to the particular hybrid in question. But this year wilt is being found on different Bt cotton hybrids, which means further scientific investigation into the real source of this problem is urgently required.

Kavitha says that "earlier in the week, there was a large public hearing [jan sunwai] in Dhar district supported by people's movements where scores of farmers testified in front of a large audience consisting of farmers, activists, biotech experts, government and company representatives about the failure being witnessed there in Dhar district. For the companies, however, it seems to be business-as-usual." With nobody fixing liability on them, Kavitha says, they are ignoring the problems and simply carrying on with their notorious marketing gimmicks.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5876

+ BT HYPE IN INDIA
An article in India's Economic and Political Weekly contains a reminder of the remarkable justifications given by India's official expe