by Jim Thomas (HuffPost) Would you put these items on your shopping list? Gene-silenced apples that don’t rot; synthetic vanilla made with genetically engineered yeast; canola, DNA edited to resist pesticides. These are just a few of the new genetically engineered products already making their way to a store near you. We call them GMOs 2.0 — and they may even be misleadingly labeled as “natural.” How will you know if you’re eating synthetic GMO [More]
Are GMOs 2.0 in your food and cosmetics? Gene-silenced apples that never look old, synthetic stevia created with genetically engineered algae — these are just some of the new generation of GMOs companies are sneaking into food and consumer products. This new guide helps consumers avoid the new wave of GMOs and find truly natural and sustainable options. The 12-page guide is available for free below, and printed copies can be ordered in bulk for [More]
Events during IUCN World Conservation Congress September 1-10, 2016 in Oahu, Hawai’i Gene drives are a new biotechnology development that allows humans the unprecedented capability to profoundly alter or even drive to extinction entire populations or even whole species of organisms. Are they a valued tool for conservation or are they more likely to fail, make matters worse, fall into the hands of those who seek profit-making at all cost, or be used for military [More]
This is a new briefing from the Civil Society Working Group on Gene Drives which includes Biofuelwatch, Econexus, ETC Group, Friends of the Earth US, Hawai’i SEED and Navdanya. It can be downloaded as a pdf here (en español). Imagine that by releasing a single fly into the wild you could genetically alter all the flies on the planet—causing them all to turn yellow, carry a toxin, or go extinct. This is the terrifyingly powerful [More]
The 2nd SynBioWatch newsletter is now available online – you can read it here. You can sign up for future editions by entering your email address in the right-hand sidebar of this website.
New GMOs, an undemocratic authorization process for imports of GMO plants, glyphosate, patents on Life… all of these issues feature prominently in today’s news and political agendas, and because of this, the European Greens/EFA group is reviving its GMO website! In it you will be able to find press releases, articles, videos, brochures and resources on these topics. To help explain these new GMOs and gene-editing techniques, and to better understand the risks they pose, [More]
ETC Group have produced a fantastic comic book that explains the issues around synthetic biology, and its attempts to engineer life. You can download the comic book here for free. The comic accompanies a short film which you can watch here.
Download the GM 2.0 Fact Sheet Friends of the Earth Australia have produced a great fact sheet that highlights the issues around the current campaign to see new GM techniques treated and regulated in the same way as more conventional GM. It sets out how regulators are currently failing the public on this issue, and details campaign demands, such as a moratorium on the commercialisation of these new techniques, until the regulatory system for is [More]
A Biofuelwatch investigation of a Californian company that has been at the forefront of genetically engineering algae. It set out to produce vast quantities of biofuels with them – but is only producing small quantities of algal oil, mainly for anti-wrinkle skin care instead. Download the briefing Solazyme is a Californian company founded in 2003 with the aim of producing large quantities of algal oil for biofuels, cosmetics, nutrition, and other purposes. In the US, [More]
Joint briefing by Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth United States: Beware False Promises: Algal Oils and Other Products of Synthetic Biology Aren’t About to Save the Orangutan…. But Carry Serious New Risk “Algal oil” and “oily yeast” have been aggressively promoted as promising alternatives to palm oil and potential saviours of orangutans. At the forefront of this promotion is the California-based biotech company Solazyme. They make no mention of synthetic biology—which is an extreme [More]