| | 02/February/23
| | GMO-using fake meat company Impossible Foods' EU patent revoked The European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked an EU patent held by Impossible Foods, maker of the Impossible Burger. In the US, Impossible's fake meat products are manufactured with GMO yeast-derived soy leghemoglobin, a controversial ingredient that makes the fake meat look as if it's bleeding, like undercooked real meat, and that we have argued may not be safe to eat. Following the EPO's decision, another fake meat company, Motif FoodWorks, has filed a suite of new petitions with the US Patent and Trademark Office challenging US patents held by Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins (such as that present in soy leghemoglobin) in meat alternatives, as it defends itself against Impossible's accusations of patent infringement, according to Food Navigator USA. GMWatch Unintended genomic outcomes in current and next generation GM techniques Classical genetic engineering and new genome editing techniques, especially the CRISPR/Cas technology, increase the possibilities for modifying the genetic material in organisms. But legitimate safety concerns arise from the unintended genetic modifications that have been reported as side-effects of such techniques. A recent paper systematically reviewed the scientific literature for studies that have investigated unintended genomic alterations in plants modified. It showed a range of impacts of such techniques in host genomes, varying from small nucleotide polymorphisms (DNA sequence variations that occur when a single nucleotide – adenine, thymine, cytosine, or guanine – in the genome sequence is altered and the particular alteration is present in at least 1% of the population) to large genomic variations. It also revealed a clear lack of detailed information on experimental designs in the publications examined. As unintended outcomes are directly correlated to the type of analytical method used to investigate DNA sequence alterations, most papers might underestimate these effects, due to lack of dedicated testing. Third World Network via GMWatch GM mustard in India: Thousands of years of cultural heritage under threat On 18 October 2022, India’s government approved the country’s first ever environmental release of a GM food crop, DMH11 mustard. The approval was issued for a limited period of four years, but the environmental release is considered to be a crucial step on the way to commercial release. Civil society groups, including Sarson Satyagraha ,and political parties have opposed the environmental release of GM mustard, warning of the risk of contaminating local mustard germplasm and affecting the genetic diversity of India, where mustards have been cultivated for nearly 6000 years. On 3 November 2022, the Supreme Court of India ordered a suspension of GM mustard’s environmental release. It also ordered the Indian government to ensure that "no hasty action is taken" pending the hearing of the application. However, newspapers report that some Indian Council of Agricultural Research locations in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have planted GM mustard. GRAIN We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you! __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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