GMO Research
Abstract: Cell-cycle dysregulation is a hallmark of tumor cells and human cancers. Failure in the cell-cycle checkpoints leads to genomic instability and subsequent development of cancers from the initial affected cell. A worldwide used product Roundup 3plus, based on glyphosate as the active herbicide, was suggested to be of human health concern since it induced …
Text: Genetically engineered (GE) crops have been a contentious issue from the start, with heated debate between supporters and detractors. Much of this exchange has taken place behind the scenes, inside regulatory bureaucracies. Recently, however, the debate about transgenic crops has re‐emerged into the public spotlight, driven by a convergence of environmental and economic concerns. …
Abstract: One of the most divisive debates in modern agriculture concerns the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In Europe, the policy debate over GMOs has been met with a persistent attempt to retreat into “sound science” as a potential unifying force. However, environmental risk assessment as an aid to regulatory decision-making is inherently entangled …
Text: Breastfeeding is universally agreed to be vital for the health and well-being of infants and young children. But very often, public and private policies and practices, including those of governments, institutions and employers, stack the odds against breastfeeding and in favour of formula feeds. Following the recommendation shown above, adopted in September by the …
Abstract: Any organisation or institution charged with the objective of regulating the deliberate environmental release of genetically modified organisms so as to ‘protect the environment’ will face the difficult task of decision making in the face of a debate where the meaning of ‘the environment’ and what it takes to ‘protect it’ are contested. While …
Abstract: The commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops is being accompanied by a debate with scientific, social, ethical, legal and metaphysical dimensions. In the face of this complex debate, governments need to regulate GM crops in a way that minimises negative impacts on biological and social environments. This paper is a critical examination of Australias …
Abstract: The federal regulatory system for biotechnology, and genetically engineered (GE) animals in particular, is in critical need of modification. Relying on a creative interpretation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assumed sole responsibility for the regulation of GE animals, despite the agency’s lack …
Abstract: This paper discusses the ethical and regulatory issues raised by “intragenics” – organisms that have been genetically modified using gene technologies, but that do not contain DNA from another species. Considering the rapid development of knowledge about gene regulation and genomics, we anticipate rapid advances in intragenic methods. Of regulatory systems developed to govern …
Abstract: This Article will focus on how the United States can reform the current regulatory system for agricultural biotechnology given the significant political, economic, and social challenges the regulations governing this industry pose. The proposed reform will emphasize four key objectives to be achieved through legislative mandates. First, the Coordinated Framework was built upon dated …
Text: Biotechnology is big business.1 As such, the use of biotechnology to engineer plants, and the regulation of the resulting food crops, involves economic and trade issues, as well as science and health issues.2 Through modern biotechnology, selected individual genes are transferred from one organism into another, sometimes between nonrelated species, using recombinant DNA (rDNA) …
Abstract: Our previous studies have demonstrated that stable microRNAs (miRNAs) in mammalian serum and plasma are actively secreted from tissues and cells and can serve as a novel class of biomarkers for diseases, and act as signaling molecules in intercellular communication. Here, we report the surprising finding that exogenous plant miRNAs are present in the …
Abstract: A recent proposal to reform the EU’s policy on the use of genetically modified crops looks good at first sight, but there are dangers for science lurking in the background. Keywords: genetically modified crops, scientism, regulation, GM crops, GMOs, risk assessment Citation: Wickson, F. and Wynne, B., 2012. The anglerfish deception: The light of …
Abstract: A realist discourse of risk currently dominates regulatory decision making for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This paper challenges the appropriateness of this for regulating the environmental impact of GMOs. Discussing psychometric research, cultural theory and the development of typologies of uncertainty, I argue that there is an emerging theoretical shift away from a singular …
Keywords: Insects, Pink Bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, Fruit Fly, Aedes Aegypti (A. aegypti), Allergic Response, Dengue Fever, Transgenic, Sterility Citation: Reeves, R.G., Denton, J.A., Santucci, F., Bryk, J. and Reed, F.A., 2012. Scientific standards and the regulation of genetically modified insects. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(1), p.e1502.
Abstract: The controversy over genetically engineered (GE) food during the southern Africa drought in 2002/03 raised questions concerning the safety of GE foods and the basis for the safety assurances issued by national and international agencies. In the case of foods grown in the US, these assurances must be interpreted in relation to the Food …
Abstract: Context – Among the 134 million hectares of genetically modified plants growing worldwide in 2009, more than 99.9 % are described as pesticide plants (Clive 2009). Around 80 % are tolerant to Roundup, a glyphosate based herbicide. Its use on GMOs is thus amplified, and this phenomenon shed a new light on the problem …
Abstract: Changing the nature, kind and quantity of particular regulatory-RNA molecules through genetic engineering can create biosafety risks. While some genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are intended to produce new regulatory-RNA molecules, these may also arise in other GMOs not intended to express them. To characterise, assess and then mitigate the potential adverse effects arising from …
Abstract: We describe the US regulatory system for GE foods, and with specific examples, point out serious deficiencies in both regulatory oversight and corporate testing procedures. It is clear that the US regulatory process must be made mandatory, as well as more stringent and transparent. Any legal obstacles standing in the way of a thorough, …
Abstract: The discovery of traces of unapproved genetically modified rice in United States exports has once again put the spotlight on biotech companies’ failure to fully contain field trials and on governments’ inability to keep the food supply free of unapproved traits. Keywords: Liberty Link rice, GM rice, Contamination Citation: Vermij, P., 2006. Liberty Link …
Text: In disputes over genetically modified crops, the demand for “sound science” pre-empts debate on uncertainties about potential harm. The controversy over genetically modified organisms in Europe and the United States reveals fundamental differences that have led to trans-Atlantic trade conflicts. There have been national differences and shifts in the criteria for scientific evidence that regulators require. Genetically modified organisms have become a test case for the conflicting slogans of sound science versus the precautionary principle. The U.S. framework for genetically modified organisms has been termed risk-based regulation or science-based regulation, an approach that claims to base decisions on scientific evidence. The concept of sound science has been used to assign a weak burden of evidence for safety and a strong burden of evidence for risk, thus facilitating commercial approval. Although the term sound science is heard in Europe too, it co-exists with the precautionary principle, which generally acknowledges uncertainty or ignorance warranting more scientific information prior to decisions. Officially linked to regulation of genetically modified organisms, the precautionary principle has been widely invoked as grounds for delaying approval of many genetically modified crops. Using this more cautious approach, European regulators have cited new evidence of risk or uncertainty, or have requested more evidence of safety. Some proponents of these crops maintain that precautionary regulation is misguided on several grounds: that it imposes an unrealistic burden of proof for safety, it discriminates against genetically modified crops, and it ignores the lower risk of such products compared with the agrochemical risks of cultivating their nonmodified counterparts. In their view, precautionary controls are a proxy for issues that have nothing to do with risk, for example trade policy, agricultural production methods, or irrational fears. In short, regulatory delays are attributed to political rather than scientific reasons. That diagnosis begs some questions. How can sound science be distinguished from unsound science? When research provides new evidence of risk or uncertainty, does the earlier science become unsound, retrospectively? Alternatively, is the new evidence to be discredited as unsound? Can there be an apolitical way of basing decisions upon science? Starting from such questions, this essay analyzes how risk regulation frames the cause-and-effect uncertainties about potential harm from genetically modified crops. Insect-protected corn serves as a case study to illustrate the environmental issues surrounding genetically modified crops in the United States and Europe… Citation: Levidow, L. and Carr, S., 2000, October. Sound science or ideology? In Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 15(3), pp. 44. University of Tennessee, Energy, Environment and Resources Center.
