Tag Archives: Genetically modified organisms

Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF, in his welcome words) at the Media Training on Biosafety (themed: “Promoting Biosafety in Nigeria”) held in Benin City, Edo State on Friday, March 24 2017, laments that the many myths around modern agricultural biotechnology are being peddled regularly by the industry promoting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their team ...

Many may be wondering what informed the title of this piece particularly the term “genetic modification” or more appropriately “genetic engineering”. The choice is simple: to join the discussion and highlight what an earlier article captioned: “What they do not tell you about genetic modification (II)”, published by Dr. Kabril az-Zubair on page 33 of the Sunday Trust newspaper on 20th December, ...

Federal regulators last Thursday in the US approved a genetically engineered salmon as fit for consumption, making it the first genetically altered animal to be cleared for American supermarkets and dinner tables. The approval by the Food and Drug Administration caps a long struggle for AquaBounty Technologies, a small company that first approached the F.D.A. about approval in the 1990s. The agency made ...

The Federal Government’s determination to diversify the economy as a result of the challenges in the oil sector has set it to develop immutable strategies that would ensure the creation of no fewer than 25,000 jobs annually from the biotechnology sector. A statement by the Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), Mr. Rufus Ebegba, issued on Tuesday said modern ...

The war against genetically modified organisms is full of fearmongering, errors, and fraud, writes William Saletan in a recent edition of Slate (www.slate.com). Saletan, a politics, science and technology writer, insists that labelling them will not make mankind safer They Want You to Be Overwhelmed Is genetically engineered food dangerous? Many people seem to think it is. In the past ...

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a Pan African platform comprising civil society networks and farmer organisations working towards food sovereignty in Africa, has submitted an Open Letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Wendy White from Iowa State University and the Human Institutional Review Board of Iowa State University, expressing fierce opposition to the human ...

In keeping with our tradition of seeking ways to build common understanding on critical issues, no matter how complex, today we are considering “The Food We Want” and the need to have wholesome food. It is a great honour to examine this topic with you, members of The Young Environmentalists Network (TYEN). Being children from primary and secondary schools we ...

Nature has the right responses to changing climate and holds the ace to the survival of species on the planet. Humans simply have to be humble enough to accept that we do not understand everything about the intricacies of natural processes. The time has indeed come when the world has to accept that working with nature is immeasurably more beneficial ...

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), who recently took a look at the current National Biosafety Agency (Establishment) Bill of 2010, have warned that the Nigerian government did not take into account the concerns of local farmers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and critical stakeholders in its formulation. The bill is presently awaiting the President’s consent. At a forum held recently in Benin City, ...