USDA MAY ALLOW GENETICALLY MODIFIED TREES TO BE RELEASED INTO THE WILD

On August 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a petition by researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) seeking federal approval to release their genetically engineered (GE) Darling 58 (D58) American chestnut tree into U.S. forests. Researchers claim the transgenic D58 tree will resist the fungal blight that, coupled with rampant overlogging, decimated the American chestnut population in the early 20th century. In fact, the GE American chestnut is a Trojan horse meant to open the doors to commercial GE trees designed for industrial plantations.

The D58 would be the first GE forest tree approved in the U.S. and the first GMO intended to spread in the wild. (GE canola plants were discovered in the wild in 2010 but that was unplanned.) “This is a project to rapidly domesticate a wild species through genetic engineering and accelerated breeding, and then to put it back into ecosystems to form self-perpetuating populations—an intentional evolutionary intervention that has never been attempted before with any species,” explain scientists at the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), which are nonprofits based in Washington, D.C.

Keep reading

Florida releases genetically modified mosquitoes in hopes to reduce spread of disease

Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released for the first time in the United States, taking flight in the Florida Keys in a pilot program intended to reduce the spread of deadly diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and the Zika virus. 

  After an odyssey spanning more than a decade to secure regulatory approval, British-based biotechnology firm Oxitec, along with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD)launched the project in hope of reducing the Aedes aegypti species that spread the diseases. 

  While Oxitec and local authorities have high hopes for the program, local residents and environmental groups worry that not enough is known about the long-term effects of the new technology. 

  Nevertheless, the Environmental Protection Agency granted an experimental use permit (EUP) to Oxitec on May 1. 

  A half-dozen boxes containing the OX5034 mosquito created by Oxitec have been deployed in the Florida Keys, an archipelago stretching 120 miles (195 km) off the southern tip of the state. 

Keep reading

FDA approves new genetically modified pig for allergy-free medical and food products

The US Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has approved a genetically modified pig whose body doesn’t make a component that can trigger allergies in people.The pigs should produce meat that is safe to eat, and organs and tissues safe for transplants and for the other biomedical uses for people allergic to the compound — a sugar found on the surface of animal cells known as alpha-gal, the FDA said.

It might help people who have an allergy to alpha-gal– an allergy sometimes triggered by a tick bite.”Today’s first ever approval of an animal biotechnology product for both food and as a potential source for biomedical use represents a tremendous milestone for scientific innovation,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.The pigs, licensed to Revivicor Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, are called GalSafe pigs. Revivicor is a spinoff from PPL Therapeutics, which produced the first mammal cloned from an adult mammal: Dolly the sheep, in 1996.Products made from their bodies can be safely used by people with alpha-gal syndrome, FDA officials told a media briefing. These might include the blood thinner heparin, made from pig intestines, as well as tissue or organ transplants.A company called Xenotherapeutics has three patients enrolled in a Phase 1 safety trial of using skin from GalSafe pigs for skin grafts to treat burn victims with alpha-gal allergies. The company is working to enroll three more in the trial at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Keep reading

“COVID Vaccines” and “Genetically Modified Humans”

Biotechnology can be classified as the cloning of animals with identical genetic composition or genetic engineering (via recombinant DNA technology and gene editing) to produce genetically modified animals or microorganisms. Cloning helps to conserve species and breeds, particularly those with excellent biological and economical traits. Recombinant DNA technology combines genetic materials from multiple sources into single cells to generate proteins. (Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology)

Genetically-modified organisms can be patented and owned. Monsanto owns the GMO seeds. Once DNA vaccines are used on humans — and it has never been done before — humans could possibly be “owned”. We could in theory be “patented”.

None of this has been discussed at length, and very little about this is known publicly.

No randomized placebo-controlled trials have been conducted. Vaccine manufacturers are exempt from these and many other safeguards.

In 2010, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) admitted that this type of technology can be used to “enhance and subvert” humans at a genetic level.

Hydrogel nanotechnology is injected beneath the skin. It can interface with cell phones and Artificial Intelligence to monitor basically everything within the body, including anxieties, emotions, ovulations, vitamins etc. etc.

Once implanted, the technology spreads throughout the body. Scientists do not know how this affects our DNA.

Recombinant RNA and DNA technology will, argues Dr. Madej, cause permanent and unknown genetic changes in a person’s body.

Will it create a new species and destroy an old one?

Keep reading