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Genetically-modified foods have been historically treated with caution in the U.S. and subjected to heavy regulations in Europe. But a new Ernst & Young report reveals a 17 percent jump in biotechnology sales worldwide last year, with totals exceeding $54 billion. In particular, American purchases increased 19.2 percent, accounting for 80 percent of global sales. Months before Ernst & Young reported investment and sales highs in genetically-altered foods, TAE laid out the benefits of biotechnology in its March 2004 issue. In “How Much Should We Worry About Biotech?” Tony Gilland writes, “The whole character of these regulations is informed by...

On the site of a former hat factory in Danbury, Conn., a stand of genetically altered cottonwood trees sucks mercury from the contaminated soil. Across the continent in California, researchers use transgenic Indian mustard plants to soak up dangerously high selenium deposits caused by irrigation of the nation's bread basket. Still others are engineering trees to retain more carbon and thus combat global warming. The gene jockeys conducting these exotic experiments envision a future in which plants can be used as an inexpensive, safer and more effective way of disposing of pollution. "Trees are really made for this ... we...

Maryland is the "global hotspot for biotechnology," the state's secretary of business and economic development told a group visiting from India last month. "I made it up this morning," Aris Melissaratos acknowledged, shortly after the meeting in Montgomery County.

Earlier this month, “advocates of embryonic stem-cell research” from “academia, politics, health care, and medicine” met in Houston. Not to share the results of their research, but to plot strategy, specifically, how to beat the political opposition and “get the research money flowing.” As has been the case since the start of this debate, the preferred tactic is to promise the public the moon. Paul Mandabach, who helped convince California voters to spend billions on state-funded stem-cell research, summed it up: “As the realities of these cures become clear, the morality arguments will be lessened.” Set aside the inconvenient fact...

Candidates square off over biotech Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Public, private partners in a brave new world The Record asked the gubernatorial campaigns of Democrat Jon S. Corzine and Republican Douglas Forrester to respond to questions about public investment in biotechnology. acting Governor Codey is not seeking a full term and will leave office in January.The following comes from e-mail responses received from the campaigns.Do you support using state taxpayer money to finance embryonic stem-cell research?Corzine: "Jon Corzine supports the investment of public funds in embryonic stem-cell research partnerships with the private sector. The Edison Innovation Fund proposal that Corzine...

N.J.'s big-bucks experiment Sunday, June 19, 2005 Series archive: Betting on BiotechFirst of four partsWith little fanfare and no direct approval of the electorate, the state of New Jersey has spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting the biotech industry.Powerful forces are hard at work in Trenton, selling biotechnology as a way to simultaneously bolster the state economy and improve the health of citizens. Acting Governor Codey has been front and center, promoting a plan to spend $380 million more on research into embryonic stem cells.Much is at stake in a state where 200,000 jobs depend on the pharmaceutical industry...

PHILADELPHIA - Prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against five protesters in connection with a skirmish outside a biotechnology convention during which a police officer collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack. The most serious charges were to be filed against Guillaume Beaulieu, a 23-year-old Canadian who faces two counts of felony aggravated assault in Tuesday afternoon's confrontation, authorities said. Officer Paris Williams, 52, fell to the ground during the incident and was later pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital. Williams had an enlarged heart and the struggle with protesters "created a cardiac situation in which he collapsed and died,"...

PHILADELPHIA -- Violence between biotech protesters and police in Center City Philadelphia has turned tragic. A Philadelphia police officer has died after a scuffle in Center City on Tuesday. The officer, Paris Williams, 52, may have died from a heart attack but homicide is also investigating the case. He is a 19-year veteran. Williams collapsed near the end of a brawl between protesters and police that lasted for several minutes near 12th and Arch Streets. Some protesters were seen being taken away in handcuffs by police after the incident. The fallen officer was taken away in an ambulance. Police department...

HAVING showcased itself as the most attractive destination for development of low cost drugs for the world market, India has sought active partnership with the United States through enabling protocols and transfer of biological materials. A meeting of the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group went into the nitty-gritty of clinical trials, regulatory regimes, technology transfer, patent protection and potential for alliances. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, who led the delegation and also held separate talks with Acting Deputy Commerce Secretary David Sampson, told reporters later that the US reaction to the Indian proposals was "very positive". A major barrier...

Halting the March of Unreason reviewed by Henry I. Miller "Drunk as a lord" hardly applies to Lord Taverne of Pimlico, the sober, polymathic and persuasive author of "The March of Unreason" (Oxford University Press). Although not a scientist himself, Taverne, a Queen's Counsel (an especially learned barrister appointed to advise Her Britannic Majesty), former member of the British Parliament and currently member of the House of Lords, offers a spirited defense of science and its evidence-based approach to public policy. He argues that "in the practice of medicine, popular approaches to farming and food, policies to reduce hunger and...

--SNIP-- Mr. Taverne argues compellingly that the conflict over gene-spliced crops is the most important battle of all between the forces of reason and unreason, both because of the consequences should the forces of darkness prevail, and also because their arguments are so perverse and so consistently and completely wrong. In fact, agricultural practices have been "unnatural" for 10,000 years, and with the exception of wild berries and wild mushrooms, virtually all the grains, fruits and vegetables in our diets are genetically modified. Many of our foods (including potatoes, tomatoes, oats, rice and corn) come from plants created by "wide...

Farmers growing genetically modified rice in field trials have reported crop yields up by 10 per cent, pesticide use down 80 per cent and fewer pesticide-related health problems. The results, published today, place China on the threshold of commercialising GM rice, the world's most important crop. China's decision could influence the future of GM crops in the rest of the world but it is taking longer to reach than many scientists expected. "It's as though China is watching Europe while the world watches China.," said Prof Mike Gale of the John Innes Centre, Norwich. Prof Michael Lipton of Sussex University...

A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at the Terra Madre conference, Turin, Italy, 23rd October 2004 Ladies and Gentlemen, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be with you today and to share in this vitally important discussion about the future of small scale agriculture and of artisan food producers throughout the world. The fact that no fewer than 5,000 food producers have gathered here today, under the “Slow Food” banner, is a small but significant challenge to the massed forces of globalization, the industrialization of agriculture and the homogenization of food - which seem somehow...

SAN DIEGO -- The California biotechnology industry recently gathered for its annual CALBIO conference. Participants were excited at the prospect of developing new medical miracles. But the ever-present potential of government interference hung over the proceedings like dark clouds on the horizon. Much is at stake. Nearly $50 billion was spent last year in pharmaceutical and biotech R&D. The big drugmakers devoted $38.8 billion to finding new cures. Biotech companies, in the main smaller and more dependent on investors willing to risk their money on unproven ventures, spent another $10.5 billion. The U.S. dominates the biopharmaceutical industry worldwide. America's big...

The biotech industry may be the greatest economic hope for the New York region — but that hope could be crushed by the liberalism for which the Northeast is known.... Each job in the industry creates another 5.7 jobs elsewhere in the economy, substantially above the average for all industries." California ranks first.... The results are higher than average wages and higher than average real output per worker, $72,600 and $157,300, respectively, in 2003. The Northeast is particularly well suited to capitalize upon the promise of biopharmaceuticals.... Worldwide, the United States dominates the industry — not because its citizens are...

Minuscule microscope testing hope The biochip has been funded with a £2.2m grant Scientists have developed a tiny microscope - the width of a human hair - which they say could "revolutionise" the examination of biological samples.Cardiff University researchers said the optical biochip could help doctors test for diseases and develop new drugs. The team is looking to integrate the biochip into medical technology, such as diagnostic equipment. The biochip, developed with a £2.2m grant, works by emitting tiny lasers which analyse a cell. Biological samples can be placed on the biochip - just visible to the human eye...

Britain may have "thrown the baby out with the bath water" because of its poor handling of the debate about GM crops, according to Lord Broers, the BBC Reith lecturer. Lord Broers, who will discuss risk and responsibility when he gives his final lecture next month, spoke out yesterday as experts warned that the country is falling far behind in plant science. This, they say, is a direct result of public hostility to GM food. The agrobiotech industry is now pulling out of Britain. Rather than discussions about the merits of each GM crop, say the scientists, the debate has...

WASHINGTON Anheuser-Busch says it won't buy rice from Missouri if the state allows genetically modified, drug-making crops to be grown. The St. Louis-based beer giant -- the nation's number-one buyer of rice -- says it's concerned about possible contamination. Other companies have also expressed concern about Ventria Biosciences' plans to grow 200 acres of rice engineered to produce human proteins that can make drugs. The idea is to lower drug-making costs by using plants to grow medications. Biotechnology firms are seeking federal approval for outdoor plantings. But other food companies, environmentalists and farmers fear cross-pollination could leak foreign genes into...

A trade group overseeing an effort to unlock corn's genetic code says more than 120 researchers have already used a Web database created to speed up development of biotech crops.The National Corn Growers Association said this week that the researchers, representing 35 academic institutions, accessed maize gene sequences catalogued in the database. "There are only little pieces of gene sequences available in the public domain," said Jo Messing, a professor of molecular biology at Rutgers University, who has used the database. "The private collection offers a lot of those missing pieces." The 8-month-old Web site pools research done on the...

A major study has confirmed growing genetically modified crops can harm wildlife. Government-commissioned scientists compared GM winter-sown oilseed rape with a conventional version of the crop, and found that fewer broad leaved weeds and their seeds were present in fields where the GM herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape was grown. Flowers of such weeds are important as food for insects, while the seeds are a major source of sustenance for farmland birds. The study, published yesterday, found fewer bees and butterflies in the GM crop compared with the conventional oilseed rape. More grass weeds and some soil insects were discovered in the...