GM/Biotech Crops Report – January 2020

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GM/Biotech Crops Monthly Report January 2020

EU Approves eight GM crops

The European Commission has renewed the approval of 3 GM crops and approved 5 new GM crops for food and feed use but not for cultivation which means that EU farmers cannot reap the benefits of these crops. If they are deemed safe to eat and feed to animals and are mostly treated with existing pesticides that are already used in other crops why are they not safe to grow?

The approved crops are:
• MHZGGOJG – maize with tolerance of glufosinate and glyphosate
• MON89034 x 1507 x NK603 x DAS-40278-9 – maize with Lepidopteran insect resistance and tolerance of glufosinate, glyphosate and 2,4-D
• MON89034 x 1507 x MON88017 x 59122 x DAS-40278-9 – maize with Lepidopteran and Coleopteran resistance and tolerance of glufosinate, glyphosate and 2,4-D
• Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x 1507 x 5307 x GA21 – maize with multiple insect resistance and tolerance of glufosinate and glyphosate
• MON89788 – soybean with tolerance of glyphosate renewal
• A2704-12 – soybean with tolerance of glufosinate renewal
• LLCotton25 – cotton with tolerance of glufosinate renewal
• T45 – Liberty Link oilseed rape with tolerance of glufosinate

See here for more details

	Blight-resistant potatoes The Sainsbury Laboratory has successfully completed trials with its blight-resistant GM potato based on a modified Maris piper that also has improved tuber quality. More. Pic: CropShot
Leaf rust resistance in barley Rust often overcomes varietal resistance after a few seasons but barley never gets wheat rust. A team led by the King Abdullah University of Science has identified the genes responsible for stopping wheat rust infecting barley and plan to use this knowledge to develop barley varieties that are resistant to all rusts. More
	De-saturase chemistry A team at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in America while investigating plant de-saturase enzymes have created a triple mutant version of the enzyme which they hope to use to manufacture organic molecules used in lubricants, cosmetics and in making plastics. More. Pic: Kango
Semi-dwarf rice Scientists at the Chinese National Rice Research Institute have used CRISPR-Cas9 editing to produce dwarf versions of elite varieties of rice with a corresponding reduction in the risk of the crop lodging. More.
	Rothamsted predicts higher-yielding wheat for Europe A study of European wheat yields by Rothamsted suggests that yields in some parts of Europe could be improved by as much as 90% which would go a long way to feeding the extra population predicted for the coming decades. More. Pic: Sleepy Claus
Plant anti-biotics for disease control Bacteriocin is naturally produced by some soil bacteria and a team at Glasgow University has engineered some crop plants to also produce this anti-biotic in their leaves. This has resulted in the plants being resistant to bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas syringae (Ps). Globally P. syringae is thought to cause around $50 billion in crop losses so I hope they get some of the royalties. More.

THE LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE  GM/BIOTECH DATABASE ARE:

• MHZGGOJG – maize with tolerance of glufosinate and glyphosate approved for food and feed use in Europe
• MON89034 x 1507 x NK603 x DAS-40278-9 – maize with Lepidopteran insect resistance and tolerance of glufosinate, glyphosate and 2,4-D approved for food and feed use in Europe
• MON89034 x 1507 x MON88017 x 59122 x DAS-40278-9 – maize with Lepidopteran and Coleopteran resistance and tolerance of glufosinate, glyphosate and 2,4-D approved for food and feed use in Europe
• Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x 1507 x 5307 x GA21 – maize with multiple insect resistance and tolerance of glufosinate and glyphosate approved for food and feed use in Europe
• T45 – Liberty Link oilseed rape with tolerance of glufosinate approved for food and feed use in Europe
• Golden rice – rice with enhanced vitamin A content approved for food, feed and processing use in the Philippines
• AAT709A – cow pea with pod borer resistance approved for commercial use in Nigeria

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