From: Debbie Neustadt

My pet peeves of the seven deadly sins is huberus, pride in ones
intelligence.  This list is a list of huberus behavior by corporations
and regulators. The organization mentioned at the beginning of the list
is an excellant organization and a partner with the Sierra Club on rules
on organic agriculuture and biotech in agriculture.

Rural Advancement Foundation International - RAFI
Geno-type December 15 2000   www.rafi.org

CALENDAR OF CALAMITIES - 2000

Biotech's "Generation One" - Travails of a Misspent Youth
The RAFI Revue  ("tongue-in-cheek") of the scientific, political and
media
disasters that struck the Agbiotech industry since the BioSafety
Protocol
was adopted in January.

January, 2000
 Soiled reputation: As delegations readied for the Montreal biosafety
meeting, US and Venezuelan researchers confirmed that the Bt toxin in
transgenic maize could (contrary to industry expectations) escape into
the
soil killing larvae up to 25 days after the break-out.(1)

February, 2000
 Hard to resist:   Canadian scientists acknowledged that Monsanto's
Roundup, Cyanamid's Pursuit, and Aventis's Liberty herbicides lost their

effectiveness against  weeds only 2 to 3 years after an Alberta farmer
planted the companies' GM canola seeds. (2)

March, 2000
Vowel language:  A long-suppressed U.S. Government  memo dating to 1993
revealed an experiment in which 4 of 20 female rodents fed the FlavrSavr
(a
GM tomato now owned by Monsanto) suffered gross stomach lesions.(3)

"Play possum" penis plot: New Zealand scientists proposed to develop GM
carrots engineered to sterilize possums when eaten. Possums are
threatening
the country's crops.(4)  Scientists pooh-poohed concern that the carrots

might have the same effect on people, and insisted  the carrots could be

kept separate from the human food chain if necessary.

The "Which Blair Project":   Tony Blair reversed his position of a year
earlier ("the Prime Minister is very strongly minded that these [GM]
products are safe.") and told readers of The Independent that "there is
no
doubt that there is potential for harm from GM food."(5)  Further flip
flops are widely predicted.

April, 2000
Weevil wars:  It was found that GM cotton that "volunteered" in GM
soybean
fields may be bringing the dreaded cotton boll weevil back into the USA
as
a major pest.(6)

A-maize-ing  pace:, American maize growers were shunning GM seeds
because
their 1998/99 exports to Europe had dropped to 137,000 tonnes from 2
million tonnes one year earlier.(7) The announcement came on the heels
of
media reports that major potato processors and fast-food chains were
warning growers to avoid GM potatoes.

May, 2000
"Safe"  wherever they are? GM seeds were routinely - though accidentally

shipped to Europe by U.S. and Canadian seed companies who couldn't seem
to
keep their conventional seeds separate from their GM lines.(8) In the
following days, the sloppy inventory management problem spread
throughout
Western Europe as country after country found their fields contaminated
with illegal and unwanted GM crops. (New Zealanders were assured that
such
stock management problems could never occur with carrots.)

"Safe"  whoever they are: Monsanto advised U.S. officials that it had
detected an unidentified strand of DNA making "mystery guest"
appearances
in its GM soybeans, Monsanto assured officials that the unknown DNA was
perfectly safe (and was not a virus playing "possum").

German Bee Bellies: A researcher in Saxony found that a gene had
transferred from genetically engineered rapeseed to bacteria and fungi
discovered in the gut of honeybees.  Industry had previously claimed
such a
transfer was highly unlikely or impossible.

June, 2000
Spider man: A "jumping gene" being used in genetic engineering has
crossed
the species barrier at least seven times, including one jump between
flies
and humans.  If organisms modified using this footloose gene are
released,
there is risk of further unexpected jumps.(9)  (New Zealanders were
assured
the gene would not be used in developing transgenic carrots).

 "Safe"  whatever they are: The New Zealand Government admitted that
there
were at least 100 illicit GM crop experiments underway in the
country.(10)
After checking on half the experiments, the Government announced that
(as
with Monsanto) everything was okay (and that none of the experiments
could
possibly involve either possums or carrots).

July, 2000
No safe refuge: Non-GM maize "refuges" planted by farmers near their GM
maize fields in order to slow resistance to the bacterial toxin in the
GM
fields just don't work.   The vulnerable insects in the refuge plots
refuse
to breed with the resistant insects from the larger GM fields. (Possums,

however, are understood to find the corporate designed plots to be ideal

breeding grounds.)

Wander-lust?  A large-scale study of the UK's oilseed rape crop and
indigenous weedy relatives proved that crosses can occur and that traits

such as GM herbicide-tolerance could leap to weeds. (11)

August, 2000
The real Golden Rice: A U.S. university study of "sticky" rice varieties
in
China and the Philippines showed that planting a number of diverse
varieties increased yields by 89% while reducing disease by 98%.  Their
conclusion: diversity outperforms genetically uniform GM varieties.(14)

 Better flee butterfly! - Researchers in Iowa (USA) confirmed a
controversial Cornell study proving that GM maize is a threat to Monarch

butterflies.  Industry had disputed the earlier Cornell findings.(15)

 Possum labels? - Bowing to public pressure, both New Zealand and
Australia
announced they would require labeling for almost all GM foods. This
brought
the two countries close to Europe and further isolated Canada and the
USA
who still oppose labeling. (16)

September, 2000
Taco bulls:  A GM maize variety ("Starlink") banned in the USA for human

consumption (because of fears of allergic reactions) but permitted as a
livestock feed, showed up in taco shells served at Taco Bell
restaurants.
The Aventis variety raised new concerns about industry's and
government's
capacity to regulate and manage GM products.

Golden fleeced:  The May surrender of the public sector's Golden Rice
technology to AstraZeneca due to fears that the Vitamin A enhanced GM
cereal contravened up to 105 intellectual property arrangements was
shown
to be false.  At most 11 patents could be implicated and all would
likely
be surrendered upon request.

"Safe" whatever part it is?  U.S. researchers warned of a loophole in
biosafety regulations for GM crops such as tomatoes and potatoes where
the
rule of "substantial equivalence" applies only to the edible portion of
the
plant and neglects changes that might occur in roots or leaves.  Failure
to
test for significant genetic alteration of the inedible parts could risk

the environment they warned. (17)

October, 2000
Power Ranger epi-needles: The Taco Bell scandal spread to Kellogg's corn

flakes as the giant cereal company closed down one plant for fear that
the
illicit GM StarLink maize had infected breakfast cereals. (StarLink was
approved for animal feed but not for human consumption.) In a panic, the

White House sent emissaries to Japan and Europe to try to calm concerns
that Aventis's "Starlink" had illegally entered their countries.
Consumers
joked that breakfast cereal makers would have to give away epi-needles
or
epi-pens (injections to treat anaphylactic shock) in cereal boxes
instead
of Power Rangers or StarWars toys, for fear of allergic reactions in
children.(18)

 Super sugarweeds: German researchers reported that a GM sugarbeet
designed
to resist one herbicide accidentally acquired resistance to a second
herbicide.  EU biosafety rules do not permit double-resistance because
of
the increased possibility of gene diffusion into weeds and the creation
of
superweeds.(19)

Possum patent policy: A policy change that would have allowed the
world's
largest agricultural research network devoted to Third World food
security
to patent genes and gene sequences was turned down when the Consultative

Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) met in Washington.
The
move would also have encouraged a shift toward GM crops. (21)

November, 2000
 Unethical monopolies:  The first meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture

Organization's Ethics Panel (a group of world-renowned agronomists and
ethicists) concluded that  GM crops are risky, Terminator technology is
immoral; and that patenting genes and other genetic material leads to
crop
genetic erosion and unacceptable monopoly. (22)

Biotech's billion dollar mistake: With the Aventis "Starlink" scandal
spreading to hundreds of food products and companies, the company
estimated
that its clean-up costs would be less than $1 billion.  Then the GM
maize
turned up in Japan and Korea(23)

December, 2000
 Montpellier's Monsanto rescue: The world's "biocrats" gathered in
France
to debate biosafety rules and rescue Monsanto. Never before have so many

gathered to debate biosafety for so few!  In essence, the $2.5 billion
GM
seed market involves 4 major industrial crops (soybean, maize, cotton
and
canola) grown in 3 countries (the US,
Argentina, and Canada accounted for 98% of the total GM area in 2000).
In
1999, Monsanto's GM seed traits accounted for over four-fifths of the
total
world area devoted to GM crops.(24)  Demand for GM seeds almost
flattened
in 2000 with an increase of only 8% after years of doubling and
redoubling.
Analysts predicted that, at
least until 2003, demand would remain flat or decline.  In other words,
the
purpose of Montpellier was to rescue Monsanto, the USA, Canada and
Argentina from their GM blunder! - Possums'  "pay"-TV: Australian
researchers may have found the answer to New Zealand's possum problems.
Reports earlier in the year that Aussie possums!
were dropping like flies from above-ground cable TV wiring has stirred
speculation in the island country that a similar emphasis on overhead
wires
could eliminate the need for GM carrots.

1. 'Toxic Leak', New Scientist, 4 December 1999, p. 7.
2. 'Resistance is useless', New Scientist, 19 February 2000, p. .21.
3. Edwards, Rob, 'Is it or isnÇt it?', New Scientist, 4 March 2000, p.
5.
4. Graham-Rowe, Duncan, 'Possums on the Pill', New Scientist, 4  March
2000, p. 18.
5. Editorial, 'Just give us the facts', New Scientist, 4 March 2000, p.
3.
6. Coghlan, Andy, 'Pocket of resistance', New Scientist, 15 April 2000,
p. 17.
7. 'Maize malaise', New Scientist, 15 April 2000, p. 17.
8. Coghlan, Andy,  'Sowing dissent', New Scientist, 27 May 2000, p. 4.
9. Edwards, Rob,  'Look before it leaps', New Scientist, 24 June 2000,
p. 5.
10. 'Red faces all round', New Scientist, 10 June 2000, p. 5.
11. Sample, Ian, "Modified crops could corrupt weedy cousins", New
Scientist, 15 July 2000, p.6.
12. New Scientist, "Young, nut Mad", July 8, 2000, p.5.
13. New Scientist, "CJD creeps up", 12 August 2000, .p.19.
14. New Scientist, "Triumph for Diversity", 19 August 2000, p.21
15. Kilman, Scott, "Modified Corn a Threat to Butterfly, Study Says",
Wall
Street Journal, August 22, 2000.
16. New Scientist, "Stick a Label on it", 5 August 2000, p.5.
17. Coghlan, Andy, "Killer Tomatoes", New Scientist, 23 September 2000,
p.9.
18. New Scientist, "Shells off the Shelves", September 30 2000,
p.5.Noelle
Mennella, PARIS, Nov 9 (Reuters) .
19.MacKenzie, Debora, "Stray genes highlight superweed danger". New
Scientist, 21 October 2000, p.6.
20. MacKenzie, Debora, "La folie francaise". New Scientist, 28 October
2000, p.6.
21. RAFI attended the CGIAR meeting in Washington October 23-27 and
participated actively in opposing the draft "New IPR Guiding
Principles".
22. FAO, Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture,
First
Session, Rome, 26-28 September 2000.
23. Noelle Mennella, PARIS, Nov 9 (Reuters.
24. Monsanto Press Release, Feb. 10, 2000.

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