Fury as EU approves GM potato

Critics claim plant could spread antibiotic-resistant diseases to humans

By Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Independent.co.uk

BASF’s genetically modified Amflora potato, which has just been approved by the European Commission, contains genes that are resistant to antibiotics

The introduction of a genetically modified potato in Europe risks the development of human diseases that fail to respond to antibiotics, it was claimed last night.

German chemical giant BASF this week won approval from the European Commission for commercial growing of a starchy potato with a gene that could resist antibiotics – useful in the fight against illnesses such as tuberculosis.

Farms in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic may plant the potato for industrial use, with part of the tuber fed to cattle, according to BASF, which fought a 13-year battle to win approval for Amflora. But other EU member states, including Italy and Austria and anti-GM campaigners angrily attacked the move, claiming it could result in a health disaster.

During the regulatory tussle over the potato, the EU’s pharmaceutical regulator had expressed concern about its potential to interfere with the efficacy of antibiotics on infections that develop multiple resistance to other antibiotics, a growing problem in human and veterinary medicine. Amflora contains a gene that produces an enzyme which generally confers resistance to several antibiotics, including kanamycin, neomycin, butirosin, and gentamicin.

The antibiotics could become “extremely important” to treat otherwise multi-resistant infections and tuberculosis, the European Medicines Authority (EMA) warned. Drug resistance is part of the explanation for the resurgence of TB, which infects eight million people worldwide every year.

“In the absence of an effective therapy, infectious Multiple Drug Resistant TB patients will continue to spread the disease, producing new infections with MDR-TB strains,” an EMA spokesman said. “Until we introduce a new drug with demonstrated activity against MDR strains, this aspect of the TB epidemic could explode at an exponential level.”

After member states become deadlocked on the potato’s approval, the European Commission approved it for use in industries such as paper production, saying it would save energy, water and chemicals. Once the starch has been removed, the skins can be fed to animals, whose meat would not have to be labelled as GM.

The EC, whose decision was backed by the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa), said there was no good reason for withholding approval. Health and consumer policy commissioner John Dalli said: “Responsible innovation will be my guiding principle when dealing with innovative technologies.”

“Stringent” controls would ensure none of the tubers were left in the ground, ensuring altered genes did not escape into the environment. Opponents fear bacteria inside the guts of animals fed the GM potato – which can cause human diseases – may develop resistance to antibiotics.

Some member states were furious. “Not only are we against this decision, but we want to underscore that we will not allow the questioning of member states’ sovereignty on this matter,” said Italy’s Agriculture Minister, Luca Zaia. Austria said it would ban cultivation of the potato within its borders, while France said it would ask an expert panel for further research.

Campaigners accused Brussels of failing to follow the precautionary principle. Friends of the Earth’s Heike Moldenhauer said: “The commissioner whose job is to protect consumers has, in one of his first decisions, ignored public opinion and safety concerns to please the world’s biggest chemical company.”

Campaigners suspect Brussels is in favour of the widespread planting of GM crops despite opposition by some member states. Yesterday it also announced its intention to allow states more leeway in backing GM organisms.

Texas Supplied Newborn Blood Samples to Forensic Database

First commercial 3-D bio-printer makes human tissue and organs

rdmag.com
Thursday, December 10, 2009

Invetech, an innovator in new product development and custom automation for the biomedical, industrial and consumer markets, today announced that it has delivered the world’s first production model 3D bio-printer to Organovo, developers of the proprietary NovoGen bioprinting technology. Organovo will supply the units to research institutions investigating human tissue repair and organ replacement.

Dr. Fred Davis, president of Invetech, which has offices in San Diego and Melbourne, said, “Building human organs cell-by-cell was considered science fiction not that long ago. Through this clever combination of technology and science we have helped Organovo develop an instrument that will improve people’s lives, making the regenerative medicine that Organovo provides accessible to people around the world.”

Keith Murphy, CEO of Organovo, based in San Diego, said the units represent a breakthrough because they provide for the first time a flexible technology platform for organizations working on many different types of tissue construction and organ replacement.

”Scientists and engineers can use the 3-D bio printers to enable placing cells of almost any type into a desired pattern in 3-D,” said Murphy. “Researchers can place liver cells on a preformed scaffold, support kidney cells with a co-printed scaffold, or form adjacent layers of epithelial and stromal soft tissue that grow into a mature tooth. Ultimately the idea would be for surgeons to have tissue on demand for various uses, and the best way to do that is get a number of bio-printers into the hands of researchers and give them the ability to make three dimensional tissues on demand.”

The 3-D bio-printers include an intuitive software interface that allows engineers to build a model of the tissue construct before the printer commences the physical constructions of the organs cell-by-cell using automated, laser-calibrated print heads.

To help them develop the 3D bio-printers, Organovo selected Invetech in May 2009 as their technology development partner. “We selected Invetech because of their capabilities for sophisticated engineering and automation, cultural fit as a long term partner and their consideration towards protecting Organovo’s bioprinting IP and maximizing our commercial return on the program. They have good processes for product development and project management, and it was apparent that project execution would be handled very well. Invetech really offered the best overall package.” said Mr. Murphy.

Invetech was asked to design and develop a highly integrated, extremely reliable and simple to use 3D bio-printer system which could then be transferred to manufacture and commercial sale. Because of its history with precision design, robotics and manufacturing products, Invetech was able to combine prior art with new ideas to come up with a development plan that met Organovo’s budget and design goals. The process advanced smoothly and on schedule with Invetech teams in Melbourne and its San Diego office, not far from the Organovo office.

The printer, developed by Invetech, fits inside a standard biosafety cabinet for sterile use. It includes two print heads, one for placing human cells, and the other for placing a hydrogel, scaffold, or support matrix. One of the most complex challenges in the development of the printer was being able to repeatedly position the capillary tip, attached to the print head, to within microns. This was essential to ensure that the cells are placed in exactly the right position. Invetech developed a computer controlled, laser-based calibration system to achieve the required repeatability.

Invetech plan to ship a number of 3D bio-printers to Organovo during 2010 and 2011 as a part of the instrument development program. Organovo will be placing the printers globally with researchers in centers of excellence for medical research

Invetech

Organovo

closer, now…

Just what we needed: DARPA’s radioactive cyborg insects

Via: IEEE:

This week at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), in Baltimore, Md., Cornell University engineers presented research that shows progress in powering cybernetic organisms with a radioactive fuel source.

Electrical engineering associate professor Amit Lal and graduate student Steven Tin presented a prototype microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) transmitter—an RF-emitting device powered by a radioactive source with a half-life of 12 years, meaning that it could operate autonomously for decades. The researchers think the new RFID transmitter, which produces a 5-milliwatt, 10-microsecond-long, 100-megahertz radio-frequency pulse, could lead to the widespread use of radioisotope power sources.

The work is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which also funds Lal and Tin’s work on another project, called Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS), whose aim is the creation of hybrid cybernetic organisms. In his presentation, Tin said that part of the goal of the radioisotope transmitter work is to power the insects that the group is developing for DARPA. The HI-MEMS program, which is approaching its fourth year, has already grown several kinds of insects—moths and beetles—with implanted control electronics. With such controls, they can be driven by a remote operator for ”stealth applications” and disaster response.

The insects themselves are powered by their own living tissue, but the onboard electronics (sensors and transmitters) require a separate power source. But the insects are too light to carry batteries, and logistical problems would prevent regular battery changes regardless. Therefore, Lal and his group at Cornell turned to radioactive isotopes to generate the necessary power.

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

He lost me when he starts going on about carbon credits and national security. I don’t know why everything has to be about national security these days. But regardless he has some fascinating ideas.  Very informative.

It began right here, at Ft. Dix

“It began right here, at Ft. Dix”  …. Where there just happens to be a bioweapons laboratory.

“Was X53A ever field tested?”

…

“It wasn’t!”

Martial Law Declared In Ukraine Over Mystery Epidemic

Arrest of objectors ordered as President says “We must change the entire system of government in Ukraine”

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, Nov 5, 2009

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko has all but declared martial law in the country as he announced yesterday that the National Security and Defense Council will become the supreme ruling authority in the wake of a mystery epidemic sweeping the country.

Yushchenko has made high ranking health ministers members of the NSDC, a government body consisting of the president himself, the chairman of parliament, the prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko (pictured), the head of the Security Service of Ukraine and other high ranking ministers.

Yushchenko told reporters Wednesday night that “the non-fulfillment of its decisions will be prosecuted,” adding “We need to change the system. We need to change the whole system of the state power organization in Ukraine. We have no time for remonstrance no time for waiting”.

The President reiterated his statements in an official address to the Ukrainian people yesterday, in which he states “Failure to comply with [NSDC] orders will immediately result in application to the law enforcement authorities.”

“I instruct the Government and the Ministry of Health to immediately start preventive and promotional work in areas where there is no epidemic, targeting primarily the special risk groups,“ the address reads.

The address also announced orders for the arrest of public health officials who have allowed public gatherings to continue and failed to ban the movement of people, calling it “a display of criminal irresponsibility”.

“I have addressed the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with the request to institute criminal charges of negligence committed by first of all the Chief Sanitary Inspector, Kyiv City Sanitarian and the officials, who, despite having daily information on the epidemic situation in the country, neglected it in pursuit of political dividends and ambition,“ the statement reads.

A further report from Interfax Ukrainia Agency says the Ukrainian Health Minister Wasilij Kniazevicz has asked the country’s top prosecutor to open criminal proceedings against those who are opposed to the implementation of the mass flu vaccination campaign.

Yushchenko’s address also issued a ban on all flu medicines not recognized by the Ukrainian government or by the World Health Organization:

“I demand the Government to immediately cancel the existing order of registration of medical supplies, including vaccines.” the address reads.

The address also implores Ukrainian citizens who have shunned the officially approved vaccinations to reconsider:

“It is generally known that the only way to prevent any infection is vaccination,“ the address reads, “As the President I ask you, dear fellow citizens, to reconsider your attitude to vaccination and do it if necessary, but only, I emphasize it – only after consultation with the doctor.”

” People are dying. The epidemic is killing doctors. This is absolutely unprecedented and inconceivable in the XXI century.” the address continues.

“All the limits have been exceeded – even those under the Constitution that determine my actions as the President.” Yushchenko states.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

Yushchenko asserts that there are three types of influenza currently spreading throughout the country, two kinds of seasonal flu and the H1N1 strain.

The President states that this “may lead to the emergence of an even more aggressive new virus”.

However, WHO has said that the H1N1 virus in Ukraine appears “no different there than anywhere else” and that any surge there may be due to a more susceptible population.

Other mainstream reports suggest that British scientists are examining samples of the H1N1 strain from Ukraine to determine whether the virus has mutated.

As we reported earlier this week, conflicting reports suggest that the epidemic in Ukraine is down to an unidentified virus, with some indicating the virus constitutes a pneumonic plague.

According to the write up at Chechen news outlet Kavkaz Center, the Ukrainian News Agency Fraza, has reported “it has been confirmed 100% Pneumonic Plague in Ukraine” and that in order to quell panic only talk of swine flu has been sanctioned by the authorities. However, Kavkaz is a questionable source on this matter, given that Ukraine is a tactical and military ally of Russia.

Other reports have suggested that the epidemic is pure hype being played out as part of a political struggle between opposition politicians in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Tymoshenko has attempted to reverse the panic by announcing that there is no swine flu pandemic in the country at all, and that it is down to “media hysteria” and “politicians’ populist statements” in the run up to January elections.

As this article in The Scotsman highlights, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, once allies in the so called “Orange Revolution”, are now bitter rivals that are set to fight it out in next year’s elections.

“… there is growing suspicion in the country that the H1N1 virus has also succumbed to a bitter battle for political power that now poisons all aspects of political life and threatens to wreak serious damage on the former Soviet state.” Matthew Day writes.

Around 80 people have died in Ukraine from respiratory related illnesses, it has yet to be confirmed how many were as a result of H1N1 influenza.

Whatever is really going on in Ukraine, the news has sparked a flurry of reports from conspiracy based websites that are citing a warning made in August by a man called Joseph Moshe, who claimed to be a former Mossad microbiologist.

Moshe hit the headlines when he was arrested after a long standoff with police in LA because he had supposedly made threats against the White House.

Shortly after his arrest, hundreds of comments and reports began to circulate stating that Moshe had called into a radio show to warn people about a biological weapon that was being prepared by Baxter International’s Ukraine plant that would be spread via a flu vaccine and would cause a plague upon it’s release.

Moshe’s identity as a microbiologist does seem to be verifiable, and Baxter certainly does have a presence in the Ukraine, as this page with Baxter’s contact information for it’s Ukraine office confirms.

Whether Moshe’s claims have any basis in truth is up for debate, however, it now seems an incredible coincidence that he fingered Ukraine as the location for a specific outbreak.

Further reading: Has Baxter International released a biological weapon?