www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The global biotech industry trade show, which wrapped up last week in
Chicago, featured the world's largest genetically modified indoor cornfield,
compliments of Monsanto. lt attracted celebrity speakers, including former
President Bill Clinton, former NBA star Magic Johnson and actor Bernie Mac,
April 2006.


And it hammered home the message that biotechnology, which essentially
looks for innovative ways to manipulate nature, can save our overpopulated
world from disease, starvation and pollution.

Here's a look at what BIO 2006 didn't include in its massive 470-page
program. Maybe next year?

A breakfast plenary featuring Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser.

Monsanto sued Schmeiser for patent infringement after genetically modified
canola seeds mysteriously cropped up in his fields. Schmeiser argued the GM
seeds arrived and rooted by accident, most likely blowing in from
neighboring fields.

Eventually, the Supreme Court of Canada found the 75-year-old guilty of
violating the patent rights ofthe powerful multinational corporation. But
Schmeiser, now a leading biotech critic, didn't have to pay Monsanto because
he did not profit from the canola. "Once you introduce genetically modified
organisms (GMOs), there's no falling back," Schmeiser said last week during
the rival Bi0ETHICS 2006 conference at Columbia College, an event held to
raise awareness of the dangers of genetically modified foods. "You can't
contain or coexist with GMOs. You can't control wind, movement by animals.
They destroy natural crops.

Schmeiser also criticized Monsanto's patented "terminator seeds," which are
engineered to die every year. Farmers become siaves to Monsanto because they
are forced to buy new seeds on an annual basis, the antithesis of
sustainable development, Schmeiser said.

A debate over whether genetically modified food should be labeled. By some
estimates, 70 percent of the food on grocery store shelves may contain
biotech ingredients, but only 25 percent of Americans think they've eaten
genetically modified food. Wake up!

Biotech ingredients most often are found in cornstarch and soybean oil, but
milk is bioengineered if the cows have been given recombinant bovine growth
hormone (rBGH)? made only by Monsanto ? to increase milk output. On the
market since 1994, rBGH milk is added to cream, cheese, yogurts and baked
goods.

The Food and Drug Administration, which doesn't require GMO labeling, says
artificial growth hormones are safe, but they're banned in Europe and
Canada. The concern is over studies that have shown injections of rBGH can
increase another hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 or IGF-1 in
cow's milk. High rates of IGF-1 are Iinked with increased rates of colon,
breast and prostate cancer. Europe, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand
require the labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered
ingredients.

lndustry maintains that labeling would unnecessarily scare people away from
GMO food, which is considered safe, even though no long-term studies have
been done. But labeling is important because it means people would have a
choice. The only real way to avoid GMO food is to buy organic or grow your
own, provided you're not downwind from a Monsanto field.

Given that organic products now can be found at Wal-Mart, it's safe to say
consumers want a choice.

A screening of The GMO Trilogy.

The depressing three-disc set includes the hour documentary "Unnatural
Selection," which takes viewers to regions that have been negatively
affected by the promotion of genetically modified agriculture, and "Hidden
Dangers in Kids' Meals."

The third piece, an audio CD, is an hour presentation by Jeffrey Smith,
author of "Seeds of Deception" (Yes! Books, $17.95) and producer of the
trilogy.

If you make it through all three, you'll probably feel enraged at Monsanto,
alarmed over the state of the food supply and worried that the $80 billion
biotech industry has already left the station. 1 sure was. But that's why
it's essential viewing for attendees at BIO 2007.

The BIO 2006 conference relentlessly pushed the notion that biotech is the
answer to everything. The rival Bi0ETHICS event warned that biotech is the
root of all evil. The truth lurks somewhere in between.
[cmo.argus.ch]

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