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China Pulls Plug On Genetically Modified Rice and Corn

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-on-my-plate dept.

sciencehabit writes China's Ministry of Agriculture has decided not to renew biosafety certificates that allowed research groups to grow genetically modified (GM) rice and corn. The permits, to grow two varieties of GM rice and one transgenic corn strain, expired on 17 August. The reasoning behind the move is not clear, and it has raised questions about the future of related research in China.

3 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. fear by Dorianny · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Public skepticism about GMO's has been growing in China and the government there is extremely concerned with anything that can enrage popular discontent. They know and are very fearful that a movement or protests against GMO's can quickly snowball and morph into anti-government protests. China is extremely mindful of protests because its reliance on global trade and the internet means that they way it can respond is much more limited. Another Tienanmen Square would be a complete disaster with severe repercussions for the government.

  2. Could be the pesticide lobby which has killed it by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    According to the info @ http://www.plosone.org/article...

    The GMO rice requires much less application of pesticide than the non GMO counterparts (2 applications versus 5)

    If the GMO rice is approved then the pesticide industry in China (both local / international vendors) will stand to lose a lot of sales

    It could be their lobby which had killed the GMO rice

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
  3. Re:Better to starve I guess? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You forgot two of the best-known ones: nicotine (tobacco) and capsasin (hot peppers).

    Plants are pretty much natural chemical weapons factories, as far as insects go. That's why swapping those "toxins" around isn't necessarily going to do any harm to humans, depending on the choice of toxin (nicotine would be a problem, but capsasin wouldn't be).

    There are also other GM techniques that would be of great benefit that have nothing to do with toxins, such as the attempt to generate a version of rice with the C4 photosynthetic system instead of the C3, which would increase yields significantly if successful.