X-Nico

unusual facts about genetically modified



Ocean pout

In June 2006 the Unilever company announced that it would use genetically modified yeast to grow antifreeze proteins based on a gene from the ocean pout, and use it to improve the consistency and storage properties of its ice cream brands.

Pallab Ghosh

Ghosh has covered subjects including the human genome project, cloning, stem cell research and genetically modified (GM) crops.

Peter Mond, 4th Baron Melchett

Himself the owner of an 890 acre (360 hectares) farm, Lord Melchett was arrested in 1999 when he was present at an environmental protest against a genetically modified crop trial, at which crops were destroyed by campaigners.


see also

Bitter Seeds

Micha Peled's documentary exposé on BT farming in India reveals the true impact of genetically modified cotton on India's farmers, with a suicide rate of over a quarter million Bt cotton farmers each year due to financial stress resulting from massive crop failure and the exorbitantly high price of Monsanto's proprietary BT seed.

Cleistogamy

However, preliminary results from Co-Extra, a current project within the EU research programme, show that although cleistogamy reduces gene flow, it is not at the moment a consistently reliable tool for biocontainment: due to a certain instability of the cleistogamous trait, some flowers may open and release genetically modified pollen.

Cucumaria echinata

It is known to produce a lectin that has the ability to block the development of Plasmodium, the causal agent of malaria, when it is expressed in genetically modified Anopheles mosquitoes.

Fallout 2

The player frees both his fellow villagers from Arroyo and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave control and subsequently destroys the Enclave's oil rig, killing the President of the United States Richardson as well as a genetically-modified Secret Service enforcer Frank Horrigan.

Galanthus nivalis

In 1998 Árpád Pusztai said in an interview on a World in Action programme that his group had observed damage to the intestines and immune systems of rats fed the genetically modified potatoes.

Genetically modified organism containment and escape

In 1997, Percy Schmeiser discovered that canola growing on his farm was genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup although he had not planted GM seed.

Japanese rice fish

They have been genetically modified to secrete various human hormones, express promoter sequences from other fish, and to make antimicrobial proteins and a protein that makes the medaka glow fluorescent green.

Laboratory Row

In 1999, on New Year Eve, the building was subject to an act of eco terrorism when the building was set on fire by the members of the Earth Liberation Front, causing more than $1 million of damage protesting research involving genetically modified crops being conducted at the university.

Sue Hartley

For the European Food Safety Authority and the European Commission, Prof. Hartley has advised on the ecological effect of organisms that have been genetically modified.

Tammy Lobato

She questioned whether the Victorian Chief Scientist, Sir Gustav Nossal, was independent enough to advise the Government of Victoria on the subject, and has been critical of Victorian Premier John Brumby for approving genetically modified canola plantations in Victoria.

Traceability of genetically modified organisms

The unique identifier has been integrated in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and in the European Union legislation on the labelling and traceability of genetically modified organisms (Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003).

Valle Verde, Quintana Roo

The village was the scene of a dispute in September 2003 between two groups one composed of activists from Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) wishing give away food to promote genetically modified crops and the other activists who were members of Friends of the Earth to discourage them.