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Haiti, Essential Oils & Synthetic Biology

Submitted by Trudi Zundel on

Potential Impacts on Haiti’s Farming Communities
Synthetic biology is being used to develop a manufacturing platform for the production of so-called “natural” flavors & fragrances including essential oils that are sourced from plants in Haiti. Synthetic biology companies aim to produce high-value, low-volume flavor/fragrance compounds in engineered microbes as a market alternative to costly botanical imports or chemically-derived
Related Issues: 
Farmers' Rights & Food Sovereignty
Synthetic Biology
Related Fora: 
Biodiversity: CBD, SBSTTA, IPBES

The Monsanto–Bayer tie-up is just one of seven; Mega-Mergers and Big Data Domination Threaten Seeds, Food Security

Submitted by Joana Chelo on

Policymakers could still block the agribiz mergers; peasants and farmers will continue the fight for seeds and rights

Wednesday’s confirmation that Monsanto and Bayer have agreed to a $66 billion merger is just the latest of four M&A announcements, but at least three more game-changing mergers are in play (and flying under the radar).  The acquisition activity is no longer just about seeds and pesticides but about global control of agricultural inputs and world food security.  Anti-competition regulators should block these mergers everywhere, and particularly in the emerging markets of the Global South, as the new mega companies will greatly expand their power and outcompete national enterprises.  Four

30 Environmental Leaders say 'No!' to Gene Drives in Conservation

Submitted by Anonymous on

Genetic “Extinction” Technology Rejected by International Group of Scientists, Conservationists and Environmental Advocates

OAHU, HAWAI'I — As thousands of government representatives and conservationists convene in Oahu this week for the 2016 World Conservation Congress, international conservation and environmental leaders are raising awareness about the potentially dangerous use of gene drives — a controversial new synthetic biology technology intended to deliberately cause targeted species to become extinct.

Monsanto in retreat: movement from the grassroots

Submitted by Silvia Ribeiro on

Monsanto in retreat: movement from the grassroots
English

Since August 1st, the news is spreading that Monsanto had to abandon the construction of one of the biggest factories in the world for producing transgenic seed that was to be installed in Córdoba, Argentina, in the municipality of Malvinas Argentinas. From there they had planned to distribute seeds to Latin America and beyond. This is an occurrence of enormous importance, that the company has not wanted to admit publicly, because the reason for their exit is the persistent popular resistance from neighbourhoods, youths and mothers, who have blocked the factory since 2013.

Nobel laureates serving Monsanto and Syngenta

Submitted by Silvia Ribeiro on

By Silvia Ribeiro*

It is not often that so many prominent scientists reveal their ignorance on a topic in such a short space. This was the case for the public letter that a hundred Nobel laureates published on June 30th defending genetically modified organisms (GMOs), particularly the so-called “Golden Rice,” and attacking Greenpeace for its critical stance on these crops. The letter is so full of high-sounding adjectives and epithets, false claims and poor arguments that it seems more like a propaganda tirade from transgenic companies than scientists presenting a position.

The National Academies’ Gene Drive study has ignored important and obvious issues

Submitted by Jim Thomas on

The National Academies’ Gene Drive study has ignored important and obvious issues
English

Jim Thomas

‘Gene drives’ seem to be the ultimate high-leverage technology. Yesterday’s report from the US National Academies begun the job of describing what is at stake, but it missed some important questions.

Jim Thomas is programme director at the ETC Group

Stop The Gene Bomb! ETC Group Comment on NAS Report on Gene Drives

Submitted by Joëlle Deschambault on

First study on gene drive governance avoids the explosive issues: Militarization, Commercialization, Food Security. ETC Group urges that gene drive patents and governance be handed to the United Nations.

Coming in at over 200 pages, today’s National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, 'Gene Drives on the Horizon’ is weighty but disappointing. It fails to properly address three of the most pressing issues raised by the controversial new technology of CRISPR-CAS9 gene drives. Dubbed, the ‘mutagenic chain reaction’ by its inventors, RNA-guided gene drives are a high-leverage synthetic biology technology invented only last year.

Craig Venter Lays an Easter Egg

Submitted by Joëlle Deschambault on

Six Years in the Making, “Synthia” is Resurrected

Synthetic Biology, according to its proponents, is moving at five times the pace of Moore’s law – basically doubling its capabilities and halving its costs every four months. Except that brash billionaire Craig Venter, often dubbed Bioscience’s Bad Boy, is no Gordon Moore. Venter has just announced that his team has produced Synthia 3.0 – the simplest human-made and self-replicating lifeform ever. Synthia 1.0 was announced – after years of delays – in 2010 and its second coming in this new form has been awaited ever since. Synthia 2.0 slipped by without notice – apparently not much to talk about – but this new version is being hailed by at least some synthetic biology scientists as a breakthrough.

Human Health and the Environment: Zika Virus and GM Mosquitoes as Business

Submitted by Silvia Ribeiro on

Human Health and the Environment: Zika Virus and GM Mosquitoes as Business
English

The data on which is based the declaration of international emergency for the Zika virus are striking for the lack of evidence to motivate such a pompous statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the face of a mild illness, with very little evidence of connection with more serious ailments and without scientific proof.

Extreme Biotech meets Extreme Energy

Submitted by Joëlle Deschambault on

an ETC Group and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Report

As the synthetic biology industry and the extreme extraction industry move towards deeper collaboration, the climate and biosafety risks and threats from both will become more entangled.

Related Issues: 
Synthetic Biology
Climate & Geoengineering
The Bioeconomy
Related Fora: 
Biodiversity: CBD, SBSTTA, IPBES
Climate: UNFCCC, IPCC

Video Animation on Synthetic Biology in 5 languages

French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole

ETC Group and Heinrich Böll Foundation are releasing new language versions of a ten minute animated introduction to Synthetic Biology. Titled “What is Synthetic Biology ? : Engineering life and livelihoods” this short explainer cartoon, drawn by award-winning Canadian animator Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre and produced by documentary filmmaker Jocelyne Clarke was previously only available in English but is now available in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.

A Bad Bet on Synthetic Biology

Submitted by ETC Group on

Cargill's Eversweet is competing with farmers and misleading consumers

Las Vegas seems to be an apt place to launch a risky corporate gamble that could destroy the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers. Earlier this month, the international food conglomerate Cargill chose the city’s famous Strip to introduce what it hopes will be its next blockbuster product: EverSweet, a sweetener made of “the same sweet components in the stevia plant.”
And yet, despite Cargill’s heavy reliance on stevia in its promotional material, EverSweet does not contain a single leaf of the plant. Cargill’s new product is an example of synthetic biology, a form of genetic engineering that uses modified organisms to manufacture compounds that would never be produced naturally. What makes EverSweet taste sweet is not stevia; it is a compound produced by a bioengineered yeast.

Mega-Mergers in the Global Agricultural Inputs Sector: Threats to Food Security & Climate Resilience

Submitted by ETC Group on

Powerpoint Presentation and Webinar

Today, six corporations control global markets for industrial seeds/agrochemicals. They determine the priorities and future direction of agricultural research. What are implications of ag mega-mergers for food sovereignty and climate change? What can be done?

Related Issues: 
strengthening diversity
Seeds & Genetic Diversity
Farmers' Rights & Food Sovereignty
Corporate Concentration
Related Fora: 
Biodiversity: CBD, SBSTTA, IPBES
Food and Agriculture: FAO, CGIAR, CFS

Brazil Aims to Torpedo International Moratorium on Terminator Seeds

Submitted by Joëlle Deschambault on

Farmers’ Rights and Food Sovereignty Under Fire

At a time when just three corporations – Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta – control 55% of the world’s commercial seeds, industrial farming interests in the Brazilian Congress have introduced a bill that aims to overturn the country’s 10-year old ban on Terminator technology – seeds that have been genetically modified to render sterile seeds. The technology is designed to secure corporate profits by eliminating the age-old right of farmers to save and re-plant harvested seeds.

Monsanto/Syngenta: From Gene Giants to Agribehemoths

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

A proposed merger of seed and pesticide conglomerates portends a new level of monopoly over the first link in the global food chain
 
If allowed, a proposed merger between two global agribusiness giants could further consolidate the power of a handful of companies over the global food system through seeds, according to a report released by ETC Group today. The results of concentrating control over plant varieties in a few "Gene Giants," the authors say, could have dangerous consequences.
 

Announcing the Launch of GeoengineeringMonitor.org

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

Critical resource on geoengineering and resistance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, Feb 9 2015 — As the climate crisis deepens and political and economic leaders remain in a state of paralysis, geoengineering is increasingly being advanced as a potentially “necessary” action; if recent attempts at opinionmaking are to be believed, it has gone from unthinkable to fundable. And yet, public opinion and much of the scientific community considers geoengineering technologies to be risky and more likely to aggravate than resolve the climate crisis.

Geoengineering and Climate Change: Implications for Africa

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

Some governments are exploring geoengineering as a way to reduce or delay climate change.   Geoengineering could technically take climate decisions away from all but the richest countries. Computer models show that stratospheric interventions to reduce sunlight and lower temperatures may benefit some temperate zones but negatively impact Africa with important social and agricultural consequences.

Geoengineering and Climate Change: Implications for Asia

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

Some governments are exploring geoengineering as a way to reduce or delay climate change.   Geoengineering could technically take climate decisions away from all but the richest countries. Computer models show that stratospheric interventions to reduce sunlight and lower temperatures may benefit some temperate zones, but negatively impact Asia’s monsoons with important social and agricultural consequences.

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