Glyphosate: Industry blackmailing the EU

EU Commission apparently never seriously considered prohibiting the herbicide

24 May 2017 / The EU Commission has announced that it is planning to extend authorisation for glyphosate for a further ten years. The decision is based on the latest evaluation published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in March 2017, declaring glyphosate to be safe. However, it appears that banning the herbicide was never seriously considered. In fact, the EU Commission approved 14 new import authorisations for genetically engineered plants resistant to herbicides even while official discussions on the evaluation of glyphosate were still in progress.

25 years of the 'oncomouse' patent

The patent that paved the way for patents on mammals

19 May 2017 / In May 1992, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted the first patent on a mammal, the so-called “oncomouse” (EP0169672) patent. The mice were deliberately genetically engineered to be highly susceptible developing cancer within their lifespan. The patent was applied for by Harvard University in cooperation with the US company, DuPont. Many oppositions were filed against the patent. As a consequence, it was narrowed down but not revoked.

'Aliens' in Spain: Teosinte-maize hybrids are out in the fields

Risk of gene flow from transgenic maize needs urgent investigation
Monday, 8 May 2017

Analysis carried out by researchers at the ETH Zürich revealed that teosinte plants found in Spain cannot be grouped with any of the currently recognised teosinte taxa. Instead, these plants seem to be of mixed origin, most likely with teosinte and maize as parental plants. Experimental crosses indicate that there is ongoing hybridisation between teosinte growing in Spain and maize cultivated there.

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