| | 14/February/25
| | Editor's note: We apologise for the auto-correct-generated typo in yesterday's Daily Digest item, the title of which should have read "GM trees promoted as potential future solution to citrus greening disease – but is the (non-GM) solution already out there?" Auto-correct, in its wisdom, changed the title to "circus greening disease", and your editor didn't notice. This joins an entertaining list of auto-correct-generated bloopers in the GMOs and pesticides arena, including substituting "transgender" for "transgene" and "shipmate pathway" for "shikimate pathway". Just in case you were put off by the item's title because you are not interested in diseases affecting circuses, we're reposting the news item in question at the foot of this Daily Digest. v-Fluence's taking down its profiling database does not absolve it of crimes – Indian ecologist Indian ecologist and seed conservator Debal Deb, who was one of many experts secretly profiled by the US-based firm v-Fluence in its database of GMO and pesticide critics, says that the recent announcement of the company closing down the network is an “important development”. However, he also raised apprehensions about the harm already done. “The issue is that no one knows what and how much harm these corporate agents have already perpetrated to the lives and careers of the scientists and environmental activists. A public announcement of dismantling a website does not absolve the decades-long crime of appropriation of citizens’ personal data, nor atone for the intangible damages to the individuals,” said Deb. The Wire Court upholds $1.2 million verdict in Roundup trial that ruled weedkiller caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma A Missouri appeals court has rejected Monsanto’s bid to overturn a $1.2 million verdict in a Roundup lawsuit, in which a jury found the controversial weedkiller caused a Missouri man to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The verdict came in response to claims brought by John Durnell, who indicated at trial that he began using Roundup in 1966. As a direct result of the exposure, he claimed that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma several years later, and a state court jury agreed. In October 2023, a St Louis jury awarded Durnell $1.25 million in damages, finding that Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, failed to adequately warn consumers about the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma risks from Roundup. Monsanto argued on appeal that the failure to warn claims should be preempted by federal law, indicating it could not change the warning labels on Roundup without approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, the appeals court upheld the verdict for Durnell and dismissed Monsanto’s arguments. About Lawsuits GM trees promoted as potential future solution to citrus greening disease – but is the (non-GM) solution already out there? Researchers at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed genetically engineered trees that create a protein that forms holes in the gut of psyllids, insects viewed as pests, and kills them (it's unclear whether the GM trees contain Bt toxins, which also make holes in insects' guts, or some other GM technology). The psyllids infect the trees with bacteria that strangle the root system, resulting in citrus greening disease. The disease has devastated Florida's citrus production. The GM insecticidal tree "solution" – if it works – is expected to take 10-15 years to become available. However, GMWatch comments that a non-GM solution may already be out there. Frank Dean, product development manager at Performance Nutrition®, a division of the company LidoChem, Inc., has developed a simpler, safer, and more publicly acceptable cure for the disease. He also says it has been proven to work. It doesn’t involve antibiotic sprays, GMOs, or any significant cost to the grower. Yet it seems that the solution is being ignored by the US government and the universities alike. More about it here. GMWatch comment on article in WUSF We hope you’ve found this newsletter interesting. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you! __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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