GM Soybeans with Health Boosters

Genetically engineered soybean oil could be an effective alternative to fish oil as a source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers have reported increased levels of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in red blood cells. These findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.

A few plants, particularly soybeans, produce oils that contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)- another type of omega-3 fatty acid. The human body converts ALA to stearidonic acid (SDA), but this is a very inefficient process. The body converts SDA to EPA far more effectively, resulting in more EPA per gram consumed.

The researchers bypassed conversion of ALA-to-SDA in the human body by doing so in the soybean plant. They developed the new soybean variety by inserting one gene from another plant and one from a fungus to allow the soybean plant to produce SDA. The result is soybean oil enriched in SDA, which when consumed allows the body to produce more EPA than if it started with ALA.

Normally fish oil contains two forms of heart-healthy, long-chain omega-3s, EPA and DHA. Eating fish containing these omega-3 fatty acids has been associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The soybean variety used by researchers has been developed by Monsanto, the agricultural biotechnology company. The company has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant its new oil GRAS (generally recognize as safe) status, a classification that means the agency regards the chemical or substance safe when added to foods.

Guide to GM-free food products

The 2010 Truefood Guide released by Greenpeace recently, which rates over one thousand of Australia’s top food and beverage brands for the presence of GM ingredients, claims four leading food brands-- Nestlé, Foster’s, Schweppes and Lindt-- are turning their back on genetically modified (GM) ingredients – for the Australian market.

The Biological Farmers’ Association claims these four brands have undertaken to keep their Australian brands free from GM ingredients, joining other prominent Australian brands like Milo, Uncle Toby’s cereal, VB and Peters Ice Cream.

The Association claimed that due to loose labelling laws in Australia most foods aren’t required to declare GM ingredients on labelling, and consumers end up unwittingly consuming GMOs.  BFA said that the move by four major brands to go GMO- free is indicative that consumer concern about GMOs is not lessening and the True Food Guide comes in handy for consumers.

GM rice in Bangladesh by 2012

Bangladesh will grow the genetically modified (GM) rice variety known as golden rice by 2012. The rice variety, rich in vitamin 'A', will help meet the deficiency of this particular vitamin, lack of which causes childhood blindness and weakens the immune system. The Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in an article posted on its web site recently said the golden rice would be grown in Bangladesh and the Philippines by 2012.

The test production of the variety developed by genetically modifying BRRI-29 - a high-yielding variety of rice, being produced in the country for long with significant success will begin in a confined laboratory by 2009 end. IRRI has already done trial production of the golden rice in many countries.

GE cows with therapeutic properties

AgResearch plans to alter the make-up of cows, sheep and goats to produce medicinal super-milk by mixing human and animal DNA. The Crown research institute is pushing ahead with the plans, despite being embroiled in a court battle with GE-Free New Zealand over similar proposals. The Environmental Risk Management Authority is calling for submissions on the AgResearch application, which involves creating goats, sheep and cows at Ruakara in Hamilton.

A High Court ruling in June has prevented AgResearch from pursuing four similar applications that also sought to conduct the research with a view to developing health products. The research agency will fight the case, filed by GE-Free NZ, at the Court of Appeal in January 2010.

AgResearch wanted to develop genetically engineered animals, which would be contained outside its premises, to produce milk products with therapeutic qualities. It would use human DNA, made synthetically and available commercially from the United States, to first create test-tube animals in a laboratory. The researchers hoped that the animals would then be able to produce milk and therapeutic proteins.

In its application, AgResearch said the cancer drug Herceptin was an example of a therapeutic protein that could be produced more efficiently through research. If granted, the application would put New Zealand at the forefront of an industry and could attract the international market.

Approval procedure for genetically engineered maize LY038 stopped for safety reasons?

After the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) raised safety concerns related to the Renessens (a Monsanto and Cargill international joint venture) GM variety of maize, the company withdrew its application for market authorisation of GM maize- LY038. Though the decision was taken in April 2009, it was made public recently.

The EFSA raised some crucial points relating to a possible impact on human health and the Authority in its communication to the company, even requested repeating animal feeding trials with rats. Significantly, the EFSA has never asked for such a procedure before.

In the feeding trials rats had shown some significant changes in blood parameters as well as in their urine. But this study was rejected by the EFSA for major methodological deficiencies. Several other EU member states had also raised health risk related issues. In 2005 experts from New Zealand expressed serious concerns for human health if the maize were ever to enter the food chain.

However in its letter to the EFSA, the company gave economic reasons for its decision to withdraw its application. There was no mention of safety concerns. Significantly, the product is already authorised in US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Decreasing rice variety in China

China had 46,000 rice varieties in the 1950s, but this plummeted to just 1,000 in 2006, according to a Chinese study published in November issue of journal BioScience. This dramatic decrease in rice varieties raises fears about the country's food security and biodiversity.

The research used a variety of environmental indicators like forest coverage and water quality to examine China's progress since parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed in 2002 to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. According to the study, China's grasslands have declined by 15,000 square km per year over the past 30 years.

Water quality in marine ecosystems though has improved by more than four per cent per year from 2001 to 2007. The area of China's forests has increased from 13 per cent to 18 per cent in 2003, and forest growing stock — the volume of trees in an area that have more than a certain diameter at chest height — has increased by over 40 per cent.