January 2016

Source: ISB News Report
by Phill Jones

Victory for GE Crop Farmer
For the second time, Australian organic farmers failed to convince a court that their neighbor should be held liable for genetically engineered (GE) crop contamination. The case began in 2010 when Michael Baxter harvested his GE canola. Baxter's contractor swathed GE canola, and while the cut plants were drying, wind blew some of the GE canola onto Eagle Rest land.

GE Flies on Trial
In Western Australia, the fruit flies cost the horticulture industry millions of dollars every year in lost production and costs of controlling the flies. Pesticides offered one method of control. But growers turned to other techniques after organophosphates were banned from Australian orchards. The current popular method for controlling Medflies is the Sterile Insect Technique.

Defeat for Gene Patents
Despite years of precedent, the US Supreme Court decided that "genes and the information they encode are not patent eligible . . . simply because they have been isolated from the surrounding genetic material." Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court of Australia concluded that a valid patent may be granted for a claim that covers naturally-occurring nucleic acid that has been isolated from human cells. 

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Website: http://www.isb.vt.edu

Published: January 31, 2016