GMO News

Move over synbio stevia; there are new GMO sweeteners in town

The stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana) features leaves that contain sweetness compounds known as rebaudiosides, or Rebs for short. Each Reb has a slightly different flavor profile. When extracted from the stevia leaf, they combine to create a sweetener that has a slightly bitter, and often unpopular, aftertaste. Various brands of synthetic biology (synbio) stevia have been […]

Lawsuit challenges narrow and unclear GMO food labeling rules

Center for Food Safety (CFS) and a coalition of food labeling nonprofits and retailers filed an appeal last week with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging a previous ruling that allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue using the misleading terminology “bioengineered” and avoid labeling the majority of genetically engineered (GMO) foods. In the lower court […]

California lawmakers try to halt approval of GM mosquitoes

California’s state legislature is vigorously swatting away approval of Oxitec’s genetically modified mosquito—approved for release in Tulare County by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency but awaiting the OK from the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Based on unknown impacts such a move could unleash upon humans and other species, the lawmakers are pushing the Department to […]

New testing method for GMO crops developed

Researchers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh have presented a new method to determine whether safety testing of genetically modified crops is needed. Published in Science in September, the article reported that “genomics could be used to scan new crop varieties for unexpected DNA changes,” similar to the way biomedical sciences scan human genomes […]

India’s Supreme Court halts release of GM mustard pending further investigation

In early November, the Supreme Court of India put a stay on a GEAC decision of October 18 that was used by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on October 25 to allow environmental release of GM mustard in five states. The herbicide-tolerant mustard won’t be released, pending further consideration on November 10. Ms. Aruna […]