from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

A new report on pharma trials around the world makes for eye-opening reading (NEW REPORT ON PHARMA TRIALS). New research shows how Bt maize is harming a European butterfly (RESEARCH).

A very fishy smell emanates from India, where it's emerged that postmortem reports on the sheep that died after grazing on Bt cotton fields have been tampered with in an effort to shift the blame for the deaths onto pesticides and even phantom chillis!

Claire
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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NEW REPORT ON PHARMA TRIALS
RESEARCH
LOBBYWATCH
THE AMERICAS
ASIA
EUROPE
BLAIR'S BIOTECH BRITAIN
AFRICA
GM MEDICINES
CORPORATE CRIMES
BIOFUELS
FREE TRADE
TAKE ACTION!

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NEW REPORT ON PHARMA TRIALS
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+ PHARMA FIELD TRIALS AROUND THE WORLD

The recent furore over pharma field trials in France, involving the production of monoclonal antibodies, is put into perspective by a new report on pharma field trials around the world. This report also shows that the French field trials involving monoclonal antibodies actually got underway a year ago. Genetically engineered monoclonal antibodies were involved in the catastrophic GM drug trial in London - see GM MEDICINES below.

The report is best read online for all the tables, figures, references etc. and can be found at: http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=83&page=1

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RESEARCH
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+ BT POLLEN DAMAGES EUROPEAN BUTTERFLY - NEW STUDY
A new study on the effects of pollen from the GM maize Bt176 on the European common swallowtail butterfly shows that less than 5 grains of this Bt pollen has a negative impact on the butterfly's life history.

The study, led by Andreas Lang of the Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture, found that uptake of Bt maize pollen led to swallowtail larvae consuming less plant material, having a lower body weight, and taking longer to develop. Larvae that consumed Bt maize pollen also had a lower body weight as adult females and smaller forewings as adult males.

Although this is a lab study and field conditions can be different, the pollen densities in this study are in accordance with maize pollen densities found on swallowtail host plants in the field. In fact, the field densities can be much higher, notably during the pollen shedding period of maize fields. The pollen shedding time also usually spans a much longer period than the 48 hours of this study. This might suggest that the actual impact of the Bt maize pollen on butterflies might be considerably greater.

The researchers conclude that possible effects of Bt maize on European butterflies and moths must be evaluated more rigorously before Bt maize cultivation expands. It's alarming that this GM maize was approved for commercialization in 1997 and we're now looking at the results of this simple lab study showing its negative effects 9 years on!

Dr Brian John of GM Free Cymru comments: "It is now incontrovertible that all plantings of Bt maize varieties (e.g. MON810 and Bt176) in Europe are harmful and thus illegal under Directive 2001/18. How much more evidence do the "experts" at DEFRA, ACRE, ACNFP, EFSA, etc. actually need?"

Details of this and other studies from Australia and Hungary showing Bt maize and cotton's toxic effects are at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6826

+ MOVING BEYOND RIP-MIX-N-BURN GENETIC ENGINEERING
The most promising advances in agricultural biotechnology, says Brandon Keim - the Director of Communications of the Council for Responsible Genetics, tend to be the most subtle ones - techniques that steer away from transgenic hacking and focus instead on increasing our understanding of plant genetics. Recent research from the University of Arizona's Bio5 Institute provides a case in point.

In a study published in the July 20 issue of Nature, the U of A researchers looked at a phenomenon known as "paramutation," which underlines the tricky fact that, though the DNA is identical, genes in offspring sometimes function quite differently than genes in parents.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6841

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ BIOTECH INDUSTRY LOSES GM PLOT
"A recent Eurobarometer poll on biotechnology found a 21% drop in trust of environmental groups on biotech issues since 2002," claims GM lobbyist Peter Wynne Davies of Agricultural Biotech Europe in Brussels.

But Fouad Hamdan of Friends of the Earth Europe says Wynne Davies has missed the point: "the Eurobarometer poll that he quotes reiterated quite clearly the lack of public support across the European Union for GM foods.

"... the survey shows that public support for GM in many EU countries is now below that reported in 1996. Support in Germany is now only 30% compared with 56% in 1996. Whether the public has reached this opinion through their trust in environmental groups is irrelevant. As the poll states, 'Europeans think that GM food should not be encouraged. GM food is widely seen as not being useful, as morally unacceptable and as a risk for society'. That's the real story." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6835

+ LOBBYISTS IN NGOs CLOTHING
Defending the governing