GMO Rice Approved While Other GMO Grasses Cannot Be Contained

On May 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) became the third major regulatory agency this year to approve Golden Rice for consumption – the same rice that the FDA just said offers no nutritional benefits:

The FDA has determined that no health claims can be made for Golden Rice, the genetically engineered (GE) rice meant to contain beta-carotene. The amount of the nutrient it contains is so low that it fails to qualify for a nutrient claim – and it rapidly degrades in storage.  Most GE crops currently on the market are engineered to withstand herbicide exposure, but Golden Rice has been the poster-child for the biotech industry, engineered to provide improved nutrition. Wild plants at the side of the field, now largely gone due to increased pesticide use, traditionally provided beta-carotene in developing countries.” – Cornucopia

The company says the most important approvals, the Philippines and Bangladesh, are yet to come. These countries are where the rice is said to have the greatest potential for positive impact.

Golden Rice has been genetically modified to help prevent blindness in undernourished children. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has been working since 2006 to develop a strain of rice that produces beta-carotene, an orange or red plant pigment found in carrots, sweet potatoes, and cantaloupe. The human body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A. One serving of Golden Rice is said to supply half the recommended daily intake of vitamin A. The company hopes to release the genetically modified rice for production in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia where hundreds of millions of people are poverty-stricken and suffering from malnutrition with vitamin-A deficiencies. A lack of vitamin A can cause blindness and early death.

Golden Rice has been the source of much controversy, stemming from its status as a genetically modified (GM) crop.

Golden Rice has been around for a long time. It’s different from other types of rice because its DNA has been altered so that the plant produces Vitamin A, as opposed to the many other GMOs that are being produced in an effort to sell more RoundUp.

Now that the U.S. has become the fourth nation to approve golden rice, others may follow. The U.S. is part of an international body that forms recommendations about food safety that other countries can adopt if they lack their own version of the FDA. Though three other nations have approved golden rice, they might have a tough time winning over the 186 other countries that have a say in international food standards — all of which have been silent on the crop.

Related: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

Unapproved GMO Creeping Bentgrass Loose In Oregan

A variety of creeping bentgrass sold by Scotts (owned by Bayer, formerly Monsanto)  and engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup, has been found in Idaho. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which vets most new genetically engineered products, had not approved the plant’s release. But in 2010, landowners discovered it growing in great mats throughout the irrigation system that stretches like a spider web across Malheur County.

Creeping bentgrass thrives in canals and ditches, where it collects sediment and impedes water flow, and it has proved difficult to control. No one believes the bentgrass can be fully eradicated. Many fear it could contaminate non-GMO crops and invade natural areas.  Scotts has tried to rein in its escapee, with some recent success. But in a series of decisions over the last several years, the USDA has relieved Scotts of future responsibility in return for the company’s promise not to market the grass.

Related: Monsanto’s Name To Be Retired – Bayer Aims To Erase Sordid History

Canada’s Rogue GMO Wheat Problem

Genetically modified RoundUp-ready wheat was discovered last summer in Alberta, Canada, near a rural road after it was sprayed with herbicide and did not die. GMO wheat has not been approved anywhere for commercial production. Wheat is big money to Canada, and the country is one of the world’s largest wheat exporters. Canadian government officials said they did a lot of testing and said the genetically modified wheat is not present in the grain or seed supply.

The government is going to provide information to allow our trading partners to make informed, science-based decisions to continue trading in Canadian wheat.” – Kathleen Donohue, executive director of market access at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Related: CRISPR Edited Cells May Cause Cancer According to Two Studies

Even though officials say the wheat wasn’t in a farmer’s field or the food chain, Japan promptly closed its markets to all Canadian wheat right after they heard the news. South Korea followed suit. South Korea is a much smaller market, but it’s considered an important emerging one.

Last year, Japan bought $203 million worth of wheat from Alberta. Japan was the second-most lucrative market for Alberta wheat in the last two years, and in 2016, Japan was actually their biggest customer, buying even more wheat than the Americans.

Personally, I just see it as an overreaction because there is no health risk even it was in the commercial system. There’s no safety risk whatsoever.” – Kevin Bender, Alberta Wheat Commission chair

Japan imports about 1.5 million tonnes of wheat a year and is known to buy some of the highest-quality grain at premium prices, according to Cereals Canada president Cam Dahl. He also stated:

I am confident that we have the answers that Korea is looking for just as I’m very confident that we have the answers that Japan is looking for.”

But even if Canada were somehow able to reign in all traces of wheat and completely get a handle on the outbreak and assure Japan that there is nothing to fear, it’s still not likely to be able to hop right back into the market. It took 10 years to get trade barriers lifted after the Japanese banned Canadian beef when cows in Alberta were discovered with mad cow disease.

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Derailed Train Leaks 230,000 Gallons of Crude Into Iowa River

Thirty-two cars of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed. Fourteen of those cars leaked crude oil into the Rock River in Doon, Iowa. The cause of the derailment is unknown, but Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and other officials believe that the heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday which led to flooding is at least in part to blame. Flooding from the river has risen over the tracks.

The train has leaked 230,000 gallons of crude oil into the river.

Rock Valley felt prepared this time around, when the city faced its second flood in four years. Then, crude oil was added into the mix.” – The Des Moines Register

The river feeds Rock Valley’s water system. The city shut off its water wells within a few hours of the accident. Officials say they will drain and clean the wells and use a rural water system until tests show that the river water is safe again. The oil spill may also contaminate drinking water 150 miles downstream in Omaha and Nebraska. The Rock River merges with the Big Sioux River, which then feeds into the Missouri.

While none of the initial responses mentioned it, last week’s flooding and the resulting derailment could be related to climate change. A pre-Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment of climate change impacts in the Midwest found that precipitation and storms were projected to increase this century, and precipitation in some areas had already increased by 20 percent.” – EcoWatch

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FDA Approves Marijuana-based Prescription Drug

The US Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the country’s first marijuana-based prescription medication June 25. The drug is called Epidiolex. This drug is a plant-derived oral solution of cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD. CBD is a chemical component of marijuana and it does not cause intoxication; it does not get you high.

The FDA has just approved it for use with patients aged two and older who suffer from epilepsies known as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. This is the first time FDA has approved a drug derived from cannabis and it is the first time the FDA has approved a drug to treat Dravet syndrome.

The next hurdle is getting the US Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify CBD, which like all cannabis, is currently classified as a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD and marijuana because they are said to have high abuse potential, no medical use, and severe safety concerns. Schedule I drug use, including medical use, is against federal law. GW Pharmaceuticals, the creator of Epidiolex, won’t be able to market the drug unless the DEA reclassifies CBD.

GW expects that the DEA will reschedule CBD within 90 days. In a statement, GW CEO Justin Gover said:

Today’s approval of EPIDIOLEX is a historic milestone, offering patients and their families the first and only FDA-approved CBD medicine to treat two severe, childhood-onset epilepsies. This approval is the culmination of GW’s many years of partnership with patients, their families, and physicians in the epilepsy community to develop a much needed, novel medicine. These patients deserve and will soon have access to a cannabinoid medicine that has been thoroughly studied in clinical trials, manufactured to assure quality and consistency, and available by prescription under a physician’s care.”

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Canada has Legalized Marijuana

When Trudeau’s Liberal Party was elected in 2015 he ran on a promise to legalize marijuana. Canada is about to realize that promise. The South American nation of Uruguay was the first and only to fully legalize cannabis. Uruguay legalized marijuana in 2013, and now Canada will be the second nation to do so, and the first wealthy nation to do it. The Senate approved Bill C-45, also known as the Cannabis Act, on June 18th.

We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Canada’s current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug.” – Canada’s Liberal Party

The new law will go into effect on October 17, 2018. The bill legalizes marijuana possession, growing cannabis, and selling it to adults. The federal government will still enforce remaining criminal sanctions like selling to minors and the licensing of cannabis production, and provincial governments will oversee sales, distribution, and other related regulations. This means that provinces will be able to impose stricter rules, like raising the minimum age.

Nine states in the US so far have legalized marijuana for recreational use and 29 states allow cannabis for medicinal use.

The United Nations’ international drug treaties explicitly ban legalizing marijuana, so will be in violation of international law. The US is still considered to be in accordance with the treaties because federal law still prohibits cannabis.

Canada’s decision to end cannabis criminalization should come as no surprise. Canadian marijuana policy has been at odds with the United States’ policies for decades. Canadians allowed commercial cultivation of industrial hemp, species of marijuana that possesses zero psychoactivity, two decades ago. Canada also controls a federally licensed medical cannabis production and distribution program, a program that has been in place since 2001. In the U.S. federal law makes no legal distinction between marijuana and hemp.

Like in Canada, voters in the U.S. also endorse cannabis legalization. According to polling data reported last week, 68 percent of registered voters “support the legalization of marijuana.” That is the highest percentage ever recorded in a nationwide, scientific survey. The support is mostly non-partisan. The poll showed that 77 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents, and 57 percent of Republicans want federal legalization.

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CRISPR Edited Cells May Cause Cancer According to Two Studies

Gene editing changes an organism’s DNA. The technology allows genetic material inside a cell to be added, removed, or altered at specific locations within the genome.  Many different gene editing technologies have been developed, including CRISPR-Cas9, short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9.” This gene editing method has generated tons of excitement in the scientific community because it was believed to be faster, less expensive, and much more accurate than other existing genome editing methods.

CRISPR-Cas9 was a much-hyped gene editing tool that was going to be a breakthrough for medicine. A Newsweek title read, “…Could Stop Cancer, Diabetes and Bioterrorism.” But there’s a problem. Editing a cell’s genomes with CRISPR-Cas9 could have unintended consequences. According to two studies published in Nature Medicine, the CRISPR-Cas9 edited cells may seed tumors inside a patient. Those same cells that were intended to treat disease could be triggering cancer. Even though the stocks tanked upon the news, researches don’t want to sound the alarm bells. Bernhard Schmierer, a researcher with the Karolinska Institutet, said that CRISPR-Cas9 is a “powerful tool with staggering therapeutic potential,” before he went into possible risks,

Like all medical treatments however, CRISPR-Cas9-based therapies might have side effects, which the patients and caregivers should be aware of. Our study suggests that future work on the mechanisms that trigger p53 in response to CRISPR-Cas9 will be critical in improving the safety of CRISPR-Cas9-based therapies.”

Related: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

Dr. Emma Haapaniemi, a researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet and co-first author of the study stated,

By picking cells that have successfully repaired the damaged gene we intended to fix, we might inadvertently also pick cells without functional p53. If transplanted into a patient, as in gene therapy for inherited diseases, such cells could give rise to cancer, raising concerns for the safety of CRISPR-based gene therapies.”

P53 mutations are responsible for nearly half of ovarian cancers; 43 percent of colorectal cancers; 38 percent of lung cancers; nearly one-third of pancreatic, stomach, and liver cancers; and one-quarter of breast cancers, among others.” – STAT

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TransCanada Natural Gas Pipeline Exploded In West Virginia

A newly installed TransCanada natural gas pipeline exploded last Thursday morning in the remote Nixon Ridge area of Marshall County in West Virginia, sending a ball of fire shooting up into the sky. People as far away as Washington County reported seeing flames. WTOV-TV states that the explosion occurred in a TransCanada pipeline. No injuries have been reported.

It sounded like a freight train coming through, or a tornado, and the sky lit up bright orange, and then I got up and looked out the window and flames were shooting I don’t know how far into the sky.” – Tina Heath-Chaplin, of Moundsville

WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, reported that the explosion happened on June 7th shortly before 4:30 a.m.

Area police told CBS News “…if you can see it from your house, evacuate,” but reports showed that the flames could be seen from at least 20 miles away.

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TransCanada is the company behind the infamous Keystone pipeline. Shortly after the explosion, the company stated that the situation had been contained.

As soon as the issue was identified, emergency response procedures were enacted and the segment of impacted pipeline was isolated. The fire was fully extinguished by approximately 8:30 a.m.”

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https://www.facebook.com/ruby.mason.54/videos/1587635261364082/

This pipeline is the Leach XPress. It was put into service January 1, 2018. TransCanada emphasized that the pipeline was built very quickly, but also safely.

We’re looking forward to generations of safe operations. This is truly a best-in-class pipeline and we look forward to many years of safe, reliable, and efficient operation on behalf of our customers.” – ” Scott Castleman, manager of U.S. Gas Communications for TransCanada

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Keystone Pipeline Leak in South Dakota About Double Previous Estimate



Bayer Monsanto Merger Gets U.S. Approval, Conquering Last Regulatory Hurdle

Last Tuesday Bayer AG received U.S. antitrust approval to takeover Monsanto, clearing the last major regulatory hurdle for the 66 billion dollar deal to happen. The deal has received antitrust approval from most jurisdictions around the world. Bayer is still waiting for Mexico and Canada’s approval, but according to a recent statement, the company believes the deal will close by the June 14 deadline. If the deal is not completed by June 14 Monsanto could pull out or seek a higher price.

Approval from the U.S. Justice Department is contingent on the sale of $9 billion in Bayer assets to BASF. The sales of those assets include the Liberty herbicide brand as well as the company’s canola, soybean, and vegetable seed businesses. These products compete with current Monsanto products.

Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, says that this is the largest divestiture in U.S. antitrust enforcement history.

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Acquiring Monsanto is the latest move in a series of steps to transform the 154-year-old company. Bayer used to be a plastics business. Now they are considered a “life-science” company. Bayer will be equal parts health industry and agriculture industry.

When the deal goes through there will be three massive global corporations that control the world’s agriculture industry: DowDuPont, Syngenta AG, and Bayer-Monsanto.

The DOJ’s weak divestment requirements will do nothing to stop Bayer-Monsanto from controlling more and more of our food system. This merger will damage the bargaining power of family farmers, prevent farmers from accessing diverse seed varieties, and allow seed prices to rise.” – Tiffany Finck-Haynes, senior food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth via Bloomerg

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