Category: Issues

  • Synthetic Biology Shopper’s Guide: updated and in stores now!

    Synthetic Biology Shopper’s Guide: updated and in stores now!

    SynBioWatch, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth US and the Independent Natural Food and Retailers Association (INFRA), is launching an updated version of our Synthetic Biology Shopper’s Guide. The guide has been printed and is being distributed in over 350 locations of INFRA members across the USA in October. Download the Shopper’s Guide in […]

  • The Gene Drive Files: Disclosed Emails Reveal Military as top funder of dangerous new genetic manipulation technique

    The Gene Drive Files: Disclosed Emails Reveal Military as top funder of dangerous new genetic manipulation technique

    Gates Foundation paying $1.6 million to influence UN Expert Process

  • News Release: “Bleeding” veggie burger has “no basis for safety,” according to FDA

    News Release: “Bleeding” veggie burger has “no basis for safety,” according to FDA

    Documents show that makers of the “Impossible Burger” ignored FDA’s warnings about safety of burger’s key GMO ingredient Cross-posted from ETC Group.  August 8, 2017 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Creators of a fake-meat burger made with a high-profile genetically engineered ingredient may have landed their experimental industry in a sizzling food safety mess, casting doubt on […]

  • African Centre for Biodiversity releases briefings on risks of new GM technologies

    Cross-posted from African Centre for Biodiversity. Link: http://acbio.org.za/two-simplified-briefings-introducing-new-gm-technologies-and-biosafety-risks/ Last month, the African Centre for Biodiversity released two simplified briefings on plant breeding and gene editing. These reports introduce the novel techniques and their associated biosafety concerns, refuting the claim that crops developed with these methods represent technological progress in ‘precision’ and ‘safety’. Click here to download the Plant […]

  • Is “Food-Tech” the Future of Food?

    by Dana Perls, senior food and technology campaigner with Friends of the Earth US. Cross-posted from   https://medium.com/@foe_us/is-food-tech-the-future-of-food-49bd414cfb8b  Today in San Francisco at the Future Food-Tech conference, multinational food and agrichemical corporations, Silicon Valley investors, PR companies, big ag astroturf groups, and biotech startups are gathering to map out the future of our food system — and attract […]

  • Four Steps Forward, One Leap Back on Global Governance of Synthetic Biology

    UN Biodiversity Convention grapples with threats posed by extreme biotech industry CANCUN, MEXICO — This week, 196 countries meeting at the 2016 UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Conference of the Parties made progress on the global governance and oversight of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology (syn bio) has become one of the most fiercely debated topics […]

  • Greater regulation needed on synthetic biology at the COP 13

    Greater regulation needed on synthetic biology at the COP 13

    by Friends of the Earth International Friends of the Earth International and allies call for greater regulation on synthetic biology at the COP 13 Mariann Bassey Orovwuje (Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria) and member of the Friends of the Earth International delegation at the thirteenth Convention of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological […]

  • Coca-Cola, Clarins, DivSeek & Canada win Biopiracy Awards at the COP 13

    Coca-Cola, Clarins, DivSeek & Canada win Biopiracy Awards at the COP 13

    by Friends of the Earth International Coca-Cola, Clarins, DivSeek and the governments of Canada and Brasil,  were the winners of the 6th “Captain Hook Awards” ceremony that honored the five most important actors of the world of biopiracy this year and in which in which Friends of the Earth International participated. The show was organized […]

  • Victory! GE mosquitoes will not be let loose on Florida community

    by Friends of the Earth US Citizens/environment will not be impacted by novel experiment releasing millions of GE mosquitoes WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration announced that it will not move forward with the controversial release of millions of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the community of Key Haven in Monroe County, Florida. The […]

  • 160 Global Groups Call for Moratorium on New Genetic Extinction Technology at UN Convention

    160 Global Groups Call for Moratorium on New Genetic Extinction Technology at UN Convention

    CANCUN, MEXICO – This week, international conservation and environmental leaders are calling on governments at the 2016 UN Convention on Biodiversity to establish a moratorium on the controversial genetic extinction technology called gene drives. More resources on gene drives and campaigns at CBD COP13 Gene drives, developed through new gene-editing techniques- are designed to force […]