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BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS FOR 2002

Insect Resistance Management Grower Survey for Bt Field Corn 2002 Growing Season National Corn Growers December 2002

Monsanto Receives Final Regulatory Clearance For Bollgard II Cotton Technology  

ST. LOUIS (December 23, 2002) - Monsanto announced today that it has received full U.S. regulatory clearance for its Bollgard II insect-protected cotton technology. This announcement means that U.S. cotton producers will have access to cotton seed containing this technology for the 2003 planting season.

INSECT RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE PROGRAM National Corn Growers - Nov. 2002. The IRM Compliance Assurance Program has been approved by the EPA and is effective immediately. * All Bt corn growers must follow the same IRM requirements and will be subjected to consistent compliance standards regardless of the registrants and/or seed companies with whom they choose to do business. * Growers who do not comply with the IRM requirements in two consecutive years will be denied access to Bt corn the third year. Although the Compliance Assurance Program is intended to allow for flexibility in the specific methods that are employed by the individual registrants, each company must: 1) provide a mechanism for evaluating the extent of IRM compliance among Bt corn growers, and 2) provide a mechanism for responding to instances of noncompliance in a manner that brings noncompliant growers back into compliance with the IRM requirements.

ProdiGene Under Investigation for Possible Biotech Permit Violations by Roger Bernard, From Pro Farmer, 11/14/2002: During a compliance inspection in October 2002, APHIS found potential permit violations by ProdiGene at a site in Nebraska that had been used for small-scale field testing of genetically engineered corn in 2001. APHIS discovered tasseled volunteer corn plants growing in a soybean field that stands on the site of the 2001 field test. The presence of these plants is a violation of permit conditions. After finding the plants, APHIS instructed ProdiGene to remove the volunteer corn plants from the field, despite the fact that the corn plants did not have viable seed. However, the soybeans were harvested before all of the tasseled corn was removed. 

U.S. Investigating Biotech Contamination Case By ANDREW POLLACK, New York Times, November 14, In this case, ProdiGene, a company based in College Station, Tex., had grown corn containing some substance that it would not identify on a small test plot, less than an acre, in Nebraska last year. This year, the field was planted with soybeans, but some corn stalks still appeared from seed left over in the ground, which is not uncommon. About 500 bushels of soybeans were contaminated with some of this corn, Ms. Smith said. Those soybeans, however, were brought to a grain elevator and mixed with 500,000 bushels of soybeans.

Crop - Mixing Probe Looks at ProdiGene  Filed at 11:36 a.m. ET, November 14, 2002WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is investigating whether a biotechnology company broke federal rules by mixing genetically modified crops with soybeans in Iowa and Nebraska. The Agriculture Department announced late Wednesday that ProdiGene Inc., of College Station, Texas, violated federal rules in September when it failed to completely remove corn kernels remaining from a biotech corn crop planted in Iowa last year. Federal officials had ordered the company to burn the 155 acres of corn. ProdiGene is a company that produces plant-made pharmaceuticals and industrial products. The government has strict guidelines for planting and removing such crops to make sure those products do not mix with the food supply or mingle with neighboring crops.

Corn Near Gene-Altered Site to Be Destroyed WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (Bloomberg News) — Federal regulators said today that they had ordered the destruction of an Iowa cornfield surrounding a test site for gene-altered crops. The incident involving ProdiGene Inc. is the second in two days in which regulators said there was a risk of gene-altered crops contaminating the food supply. On Tuesday, regulators quarantined a Nebraska grain elevator after finding stalks and leaves from ProdiGene's gene-altered corn mixed with soybeans. That batch will also be destroyed. 

Biotech Industry Adopts Precaution Altered Plants Banned Near Major Food Crops, By Justin Gillis, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, October 22, 2002; Page E01: Spurred by growing fear that drugs or chemicals made in gene-altered plants will taint the food supply, the North American biotechnology industry is adopting a broad moratorium on planting certain types of crops in major food-producing regions. The voluntary ban, which goes beyond any proposed government regulation, is designed to prevent the spread of exotic genes into field crops likely to be used for food or animal feed. Its most immediate impact will be to bar companies from planting certain types of gene-altered corn in the Midwest farm belt or from planting some types of the rape plant (from which canola oil is produced) on the Canadian prairie, but the ban could eventually apply to numerous crops and regions.

INSECT RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT
COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE PROGRAM

Adherence by growers to the Insect Resistance Management (IRM) requirements mandated by EPA is an important factor for preventing the development of resistance to Bt by key corn insect pests such as the European corn borer. Preserving the effectiveness of this technology will allow U.S. corn growers to continue to enjoy its economic and environmental benefits. Consequently, promoting compliance with IRM requirements is of great importance to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bt corn registrants, and growers alike.

Therefore, the registrants of Bt corn products (Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto Company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., and Syngenta Seeds, Inc.) registered by EPA in October 2001, working through the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC), are implementing a multifaceted strategy for promoting grower compliance with the IRM requirements and preserving the effectiveness of Bt corn, consistent with the terms and conditions of registration for those products. Bt corn growers have been following the IRM requirements since 1999. Highlights of the program include:

• The IRM Compliance Assurance Program has been approved by the EPA and is effective immediately.
• All Bt corn growers must follow the same IRM requirements and will be subjected to consistent compliance standards regardless of the registrants and/or seed companies with whom they choose to do business.
• Growers who do not comply with the IRM requirements in two consecutive years will be denied access to Bt corn the third year.
  Although the Compliance Assurance Program is intended to allow for flexibility in the specific methods that are employed by the individual registrants, each company must: 1) provide a mechanism for evaluating the extent of IRM compliance among Bt corn growers, and 2) provide a mechanism for responding to instances of noncompliance in a manner that brings noncompliant growers back into compliance with the IRM requirements.

FAO TO SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES: CONSIDER CAREFULLY BEFORE REJECTING FOOD AID
The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that south African countries facing drought should carefully consider current scientific knowledge before rejecting food aid containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In a press conference at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Director General Jacques Diouf said 13 million people were estimated to be in need of food assistance in the coming months to avoid widespread starvation in the region.

CCST REPORT ON GMF BENEFITS AND RISKS AVAILABLE ON-LINE The California Council on Science and Technology has made available on-line its report on the benefits and risks of genetically modified foods (GMF). The report provides a concise review of the scientific literature on the benefits and risks of food biotechnology for the State of California Food Biotechnology Task Force and its Advisory Committee. The document, which focuses on food biotechnology issues based on sound science and modern farming technologies, was published in late July 2002.

HYPOALLERGENIC SOYBEANS DEVELOPED
Allergenicity is one of the main arguments against genetically modified (GM) crops but ironically, researchers have used biotechnology to develop hypoallergenic or less allergy causing soybeans. The researchers are Eliot Herman an Agricultural Research Service plant physiologist, along with Rick Helm, Tony Kinney and Rudolf Jung. Research suggests that a single protein called Gly m Bd 3s0K/P34 causes the allergic reaction. The P34 protein causes 65% or more of allergic reactions in soy-sensitive individuals. The researchers found that all domestic varieties and wild soybeans had it. They then resorted to biotechnology to shut off the gene that makes the allergenic protein in the crop's seed. However, more tests are needed to prove that they are hypoallergenic before commercialization. The crops also have to be tested on seed production, yield, pest resistance, oil and protein composition and other criteria important to soy farmers and processors.

GM CROPS PROFITABLE AND GREEN, SAYS US REPORT
A report, endorsed by major US farmer lobbying groups, takes issue with what it sees as common assumptions about impacts of GM crops, arguing that farmers and the environment have benefited from their introduction. It contrasts sharply with views expressed in a recent report by the UK organic group Soil Association.

US PROPOSES NEW SYSTEMS REGARDING GM CROPS
The US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced proposed federal actions to update field test requirements for biotech-derived plants and to establish early food safety assessments for new proteins produced by such plants.

BT TECHNOLOGY ASSESSED

The American Society of Microbiology has come up with a study entitled "100 years of Bacillus thuringiensis: A Critical Scientific Assessment". The report is a summary of conclusions reached by 25 scientists with experience in various aspects of Bt, plant biology, entomology, microbiology and ecology.

NITROGEN-FIXATION GENE FOUND

One of the sought after traits in genetic engineering is the capability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients that plants need. Two studies have identified the protein that enables some plant roots to exchange nutrients with microbes. The original article was written by Sarah Cooney and appeared in the 27 June 2002 issue of Nature Science.

IMPACT OF PLANT BIOTECH FOR IMPROVING PEST MANAGEMENT June 2002

The widespread adoption of plant biotechnology in major commodity crops in the United States has resulted in significant yield increases, savings for growers and pesticide use reduction. This was a key finding of National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) in their study entitled "Plant Biotechnology: Current and Potential Impact for Improving Pest Management in U.S. Agriculture".

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY May 2002

An issue paper entitled "The Environmental Impact of Agricultural Biotechnology" was released by the Agricultural Biotechnology In Europe (ABE).

Comment Period on Corn Rootworm Protected Corn Now Through May 13, 2002

The USDA currently has a comment period open regarding the new transgenic corn rootworm corns. Comments are expected to impact both the timing and the focus of the approval process. Anyone with comments regarding this new technology can write a letter to:

Docket No. 00-078-1
Regulatory Analysis and Development
Policy and Program Development (PPD)
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service
Station 3C71
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238

Or you can comment by e-mail, by sending a message to:
regulations@aphis.usda.gov
On the Subject Line Put: Docket No. 00-078-1
Write comments in the body of your message (do not send attached files)
Be sure to include your name and address in the message.

Or you can send comments by way of a web site at: http://www.Corn-Comments.org 

Unapproved Canola Seed May Be on Farms, Makers Say 

By ANDREW POLLACK, New York Times, April 16, 2002: Monsanto and Aventis CropScience said yesterday that some genetically modified canola seeds that have not been approved in the United States might have found their way to farmers' fields. The two companies are now seeking regulatory approval of those seeds to avoid product recalls.

GM activists call for ban to protect poor farmers 

By Steve Connor, Science Editor, The Independent, UK, 08 April 2002: Environmentalists will press delegates at an international conference on biodiversity this week to ban a controversial form of genetic modification that deliberately sterilises crop seeds. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, held in The Hague, will be told that so-called "terminator genes" are immoral because they prevent the world's poorest farmers from saving some of their harvest for planting the following year. Seed companies say introducing terminator genes into some GM crops will ensure the seed does not spread in the wild, but it would also offer them obvious commercial benefits because farmers would have to buy fresh seed each year.

Journal Editors Disavow Article on Biotech Corn

By Marc Kaufman, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, April 4, 2002: The science journal Nature has concluded that a controversial article it published last year on the discovery of genetically engineered corn growing in Mexico was not well researched enough and should not have been published.

CIMMYT Responds to “Joint Statement” on Genetically Modified Maize in Mexico:February 22, 2002

Monarchs and Bt corn: A research update
Marlin Rice, Iowa State University (2/18/2002)

New Consumer Campaign Targeting Kraft Foods Launched in 170 Cities Today
WASHINGTON, Feb 6, 2002 (U.S. Newswire via COMTEX) -- Today consumer activists in over 170 cities around the United States, Canada, and Australia launched a new campaign that calls on Kraft Foods to remove untested, unlabeled genetically engineered ingredients from its products. Kraft Foods is the largest food and beverage company in the US and a subsidiary of Philip Morris company. The Genetically Engineered Food Alert coalition demonstrated at grocery stores around the country in an effort to draw attention to the public health and environmental concerns associated with genetically engineered foods and to inform consumers that Kraft Food's genetically engineered products are neither adequately safety tested nor labeled.

FURTHER TESTS AT CIMMYT FIND NO PRESENCE OF PROMOTER ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSGENES IN MEXICAN LANDRACES IN GENE BANK OR FROM RECENT FIELD COLLECTIONS
Feb. 7, 2002 The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico cannot confirm previous reports of GM contamination in native Mexican corn

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BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS FOR 2001

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