Up to 20,000 Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Released in Australian Towns

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post

Do you remember how some scientists, researchers, and individuals like Bill Gates were trying to release genetically modified mosquitoes into the environment? Well, that endeavor isn’t quite over. Two towns in Northern Australia have recently been gifted with 10-20 thousand genetically engineered mosquitoes – almost completely replacing mosquitoes naturally occurring in the outdoors.

Different Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes?

Although the mosquitoes released are still GM, they aren’t exactly the same as the more well-known mosquitoes developed my Oxitec. Oxitec is a British company responsible for the creation of the genetically engineered mosquitoes containing a gene designed to kill themselves unless given an antibiotic known as tetracycline. The company created this internally manipulated insect to help control agricultural pests and reduce insect-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria.

Scientist Who Studied Disease Transmission From Mosquitoes Commits “Suicide”

Police: USF biologist dies in an apparent suicide by cyanide

Jessica Vander Velde
St Peteresburg Times

TEMPLE TERRACE — A University of South Florida molecular biologist died Monday night in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police said.

Chitra Chauhan, 33, of Tampa was pronounced dead at University Community Hospital about 10:30 p.m., Temple Terrace police reported.

The discovery of the toxic substance also prompted evacuation of 75 to 100 guests at the Extended Stay America hotel on Morris Bridge Road, where Chauhan had taken a room.


Chauhan was a post-doctoral researcher in the Global Health department in the College of Public Health.

She has a 3-year-old child with her husband, Bharath Balu, who is also a researcher in the department.

A note was found at the scene. Police did not disclose the contents. According to a medical examiner's report, Chauhan had made prior attempts.

Police got two 911 calls Monday night. One came from Chauhan's husband, who said she called home to tell him she had taken cyanide, the report stated. Another call came after Chauhan stumbled out of her hotel room and told a couple in the hall.

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Mutant Mosquitoes Released by Scientists, Environmentalists Say Experiment May Backfire

Maria Cheng
Associated Press

LONDON — Scientists have released genetically modified mosquitoes in an experiment to fight dengue fever in the Cayman Islands, British experts said Thursday.

It is the first time genetically altered mosquitoes have been set loose in the wild, after years of laboratory experiments and hypothetical calculations. But while scientists believe the trial could lead to a breakthrough in stopping the disease, critics argue the mutant mosquitoes might wreak havoc on the environment.

"This test in the Cayman Islands could be a big step forward," said Andrew Read, a professor of biology and entomology at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the project. "Anything that could selectively remove insects transmitting really nasty diseases would be very helpful," he said.


Dengue is a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease that can cause fever, muscle and joint pain, and hemorrhagic bleeding. More than 2.5 billion people are at risk and the World Health Organization estimates there are at least 50 million cases every year. There is no treatment or vaccine.

Unlike malaria, which is also spread by mosquitoes, dengue outbreaks are unpredictable and bed nets are of limited use because dengue-spreading mosquitoes also bite during the day.

Researchers at Oxitec Limited, an Oxford-based company, created sterile male mosquitoes by manipulating the insects' DNA. Scientists in the Cayman Islands released 3 million mutant male mosquitoes to mate with wild female mosquitoes of the same species. That meant they wouldn't be able to produce any offspring and lower the population. Only female mosquitoes bite humans and spread diseases.

From May to October, scientists released batches of genetically mutated male mosquitoes in cages three times a week in a 40-acre (16-hectare) area. By August, mosquito numbers in that region dropped by 80 percent compared with a neighboring area where no sterile male mosquitoes were released.

Luke Alphey, Oxitec's chief scientific officer, said with such a small area, it would have been very difficult to detect a drop in dengue cases. But their modeling estimates suggested an 80 percent reduction in mosquitoes should result in fewer dengue infections.

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China quarantine bureau rejects U.S. GMO corn cargo

Niu Shuping and Tom Miles
Reuters

China's quarantine bureau confirmed on Tuesday it had discovered traces of an unapproved genetically modified organism (GMO) in a U.S. corn cargo and had refused it entry into China.

"A genetically-modified element which is not approved by the Agriculture Ministry has been identified in the cargo and according to the relevant State Council regulation, the cargo will be returned," an official with the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau told Reuters, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

The official declined to identify the buyer of the cargo, but said the unapproved GMO strain was MON89034.

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Bill Gates Funds Approval of GM Mosquitoes to Combat Dengue

Photo: Swiss Radio

Activist Post

There has been much debate about the pending FDA approval of genetically modified salmon that grows to maturity twice as fast as a natural salmon.  Its many detractors have labeled it "Frankenfish" and say it will spoil the natural marine environment, as well as being potentially harmful for human consumption. While that debate continues, it looks like another genetically modified live organism may be approved for release into the ecosystem: GM mosquitoes.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced plans to combat Dengue fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses with genetically modified mosquitoes designed to make them sterile or simply kill them off, as reported on the U.N news service IRIN:

Scientists fighting mosquito-borne diseases are racing to obtain approval to release genetically modified insects designed to stop the spread of dengue, a potentially fatal virus.

However, such moves have made environmentalists nervous as a science long used in agriculture is applied to public health.

These mosquitoes are engineered with an extra gene or inserted bacterium or have had a gene altered so that either their offspring are sterile and unable to spread dengue, or simply die.

"People generally do not like the unknown and are alarmist. Because there has never been a [field] release of GM [genetically modified] mosquitoes, critics are free to imagine what can possibly go wrong," said UK-based entomologist and professor at Imperial College London, John Mumford.

He is also the principal investigator for the World Health Organization (WHO)-funded regulatory group, Mosqguide, founded to develop best practices for deploying genetically modified mosquitoes to fight mosquito-borne diseases, primarily dengue and malaria. 

For half a century, scientists have released billions of engineered insects - for example, fruit flies - to save plants, but to date there has not been a field release of insects engineered to save humans. 

The Malaysia-headquartered NGO Pesticide Action Network-Asia and the Pacific opposed a since-granted request to release modified mosquitoes on the grounds that "it may have environmental or health consequences as well as carry risks arising from horizontal gene transfer", wrote executive director, Sarojeni V. Rengam, who stressed the "possibility of new health risks to humans and animals....the insect may become more virulent, aggressive, or its bite might have different effects on the host." 

The most shocking section of this release is that for the last 50 years scientists have releasedbillions of engineered insects into the ecosystem.  There has been very little public debate about whether we should be meddling with nature by introducing billions of new organisms.  It's understandable in regards to mosquitoes, as most people find them to be a nuisance if not a health menace; therefore, despite a lack of knowledge, most people will read this and say "good, get rid of them."

It seems that if scientists have been able to successfully modify insects genetically for the past half-decade, then at least some of those species were originally designed to be a disease-carrying weapon.  In fact, many have reported that recent dengue outbreaks can be directly traced to U.S. Army experiments coordinated by the CIA.  In most cases of government funding for scientific research, there is usually a military origin.  The technology is even being used as another manufactured terrorist threat. 

The U.N. proudly reports:

Australian researchers from the University of Queensland, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have received regulatory approval to begin in December to release mosquitoes infected with a bacterium that prevents the dengue virus from multiplying, as has the Malaysian Ministry of Health.

Given the absolute certainty that global organizations such as the World Health Organization are utterly corrupt with their phony pandemics indicating elite alliances and lack of true concern for human health, it is time that we all become skeptics regarding their efforts.  And when proveneugenicists like Bill Gates are involved in the funding of such technology, it should be clear by now to oppose such meddling with nature in order to help "save" humans.



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Genetically Modified Foods and the Monsanto Initiative

S. Paul Forrest
Activist Post

Deception, manipulation, propaganda and profit: These words have become the basis of the American corporate and political landscape without any seeming concern or guilt over their promulgation.  One company in particular, which seems to be the iconographic example of this is Monsanto or so go the claims today by the “conspiracy crowd” in reaction to the Genetically Modified (GM) food technology and its apparent governmental backing. 

In order to understand the purpose of GM foods and the reasons stated for its implementation, the powers that be will tell us we need only look at the current global environment and the necessity of solutions to provide an adequate food supply to those in need in the global community.  Farmable land and access to water, energy, and biological resources are not as plentiful in many countries as they are in many parts of America.  These shortages equate to low crop yield which means certain death and starvation to many people around the world each year. 


Unfortunately, the facts surrounding these assertions are accurate.  According to the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “1.02 billion people are undernourished, a sizable increase from its 2006 estimate of 854 million people” indicating a combination of insufficient food, low incomes, and inadequate distribution of food.  This is the largest number of hungry humans ever recorded in history.  Likewise, reports from numerous other international organizations and reputable scientific researchers confirm the existence of these serious food supply problems.  In the face of these realities, the U.S. Government will have us believe it that we NEED GM foods to meet the demands of a modern world.

Arguments for the research into and implementation of GM foods claim to support the initiatives to combat these problems.  Proponents tell us that GMO foods bring higher crop yields, allow farmers to use less pesticides and fertilizers thereby decreasing environmental impact and they allow the growth of crops in harsh environments.  Though these all seem like ideal solutions to our present, global dilemma, opponents tell us that these claims do not agree with much of the scientific research on the issue and are only creating an increased danger to consumers.  It seems that the biggest concern stemming from the GM process is generated mainly by ignorance of the process and the mounting threats that independent researchers say it poses to public health.

Currently, two particular genetically altered foods are at the forefront of the controversy.  They are the appropriately named Franken Fish (genetically altered Salmon) and BT corn.  As far as I can tell, research has not yet been done to thoroughly examine the long term effects of these foods and that which has been done does not give much confidence for the consumption of these items.  So far, this research has only uncovered a string of objections for the importation of them into many countries from the United States.

To date several countries have banned the product based on their own research findings.  The European Union
has just recently done so adding to a rising front against the questionable product despite U.S. threats of trade barriers.  The United States, despite the mounting objections and research-based proof of their dangers to human health, is still refusing to ban the genetically manipulated products.  It seems curious that our government is not heeding the warnings of so many other nations.

Studies that are conclusive to the effects of GM foods cannot be found from US agencies to deem this technology safe.  The little research that has been done, independent of our government, has not pointed to a very healthy outcome.  In 2009, The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called for a Moratorium on GMO Foods.  They stated that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk’ … Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes ‘there is more than a casual association between GMO foods and adverse health effects’ and that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.’

Another alleged advantage to this modern wonder of biological meddling: that of higher crop yields to feed the population with less acreage has also come into question.  On this subject, the AAEMhas stated that “over time GMO harvest yields were lower than conventional yields and required over time, more not less, highly toxic herbicidal chemicals such as glyphosate…with the exception of Bt corn.’ However, the slight yield gain for Bt corn they report was ‘largely due to traditional breeding improvements,’ and not to GMO.”

Backing up this claim, researchers at the University of Nebraska conducted controlled studies comparing the Roundup Ready soybean with non-engineered soybeans and found consistent yield decreases with the GE beans of between 5 and 10%.  Likewise, claims that Round-up Ready crops will mean less herbicide in our ground water have been debunked.

To this effect, the Alliance For Bio-Integrity writes that “farmers who plant crops that are genetically engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup are now applying more of it to their fields”.   They have noted that “research conducted by the Denmark and Greenland Geological Research Institution has discovered that the Roundup used in Danish agriculture is unexpectedly polluting the ground water with its active ingredient glyphosate at five times the acceptable level”.   One could easily dismiss these findings as the result of older data and the testing of emerging product rather that the product in use but the evidence is just too abundant.

In addition to the debunking of initial claims to the benefits of this technology, the secrecy surrounding these precariously researched products seems to be only raising concerns rather than the additional crop it promises.  GMO has been in production for nearly 30 years but solid evidence of its innocuous nature is quite difficult to find.  It begs the question then: Why is GMO food being forced into our diet and why is our government so vehemently pushing it upon the global population even after it has been shown to not meet the standards by which they have promoted it?

There is a well documented ‘revolving door’ between Monsanto employees and officials from US Government regulatory bodies.  For example, the USDA secretary Ann Veneman is a former director of Calgene (swallowed by Monsanto and now part of Pharmacia).  Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court Justice who presided over the recent case to decide whether to allow some farmers to plant Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa seeds, was once a Monsanto Attorney.  These connections do not bode well for outcomes favoring the health of We the People.  Add that to the initiative to control the global market of sterile seeds and there emerges great motivation to deceive the global population.

Seemingly, as a reaction to the growing skepticism and scientific research into the adverse effects of GMO foods and the demand for these foods to be labeled so consumers can readily identify the product, our government made the following statement:

"There is No Right to Consume or Feed Children Any Particular Food; There is No Generalized Right to Bodily and Physical Health; There is No Fundamental Right to Freedom of Contract." ~ US Dept of Health & Human Services and US Food & Drug Administration, 2010.

This governmental stance on the voiced objections to GMO is not just addressed to we informed Americans, it also seems to serve as a premise by which the spread of GM Foods has become a global endeavor.  The United States, under several administrations including Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush(2) and Obama, has introduced Monsanto seed stocks into several countries including the most recently invested country of Iraq, the safety for which we have charged ourselves.

The Agribusiness Examiner has reported about this initiative, “The seeds farmers are now allowed to plant --- "protected" crop varieties brought into Iraq by transnational corporations in the name of agricultural reconstruction --- will be the property of the corporations.  While historically the Iraqi constitution prohibited private ownership of biological resources, the new U.S. imposed patent law introduces a system of monopoly rights over seeds.”

The greatest proof to the backing of GMO by American Government comes from the actions of the Bush Administration which “had been engaged in a running fight with a bloc of African countries who, on their own initiative, sought international rules to regulate GMOs through negotiation of aBiosafety Protocol.  The Biosafety Treaty was completed despite U.S. administration attempts to undercut it.  The treaty allows the sorts of policies Europe and many African countries and now major U.S. trade partners from China to Brazil are also enacting regarding the segregation and labeling of GMOs. By launching this attack, the Bush Administration had put the interests of its agribusiness supporters over many of the values it purports to seek for the world: democracy, accountability and openness.”  The Administration, spurred on by the biotech and agribusiness industries, viewed the moratorium, as well as any regulations on tracking the origin of GM products or labeling, as “barriers to trade.”

There is a string of research findings to support the growing global concern to the dangers of GM foods.  As an example, a study commissioned by the Austrian Ministry of Health, Family and Youth Affairs and The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management has found time related negative reproductive effects in mice fed GM maize.  Likewise, the Italian National Institute of Research on Food and Nutrition showed how GM corn caused significant immune system changes in mice, related to allergic and inflammatory responses.

Haiti has also refused the seed despite their dire need for help.  Japan, China, Germany…the list goes on and on.  The U.S. still refuses to take appropriate action even in light of these country’s objections to the product.  After all, when the GNP is at risk and a particular technology can offer an inventive solution to the need for renewed Global dominance, choosing a rational approach and making a conscientious decision would be foolish, indeed.

In preparation for writing this article, I researched a long list of sources trying to understand the process of GM foods and GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).  Before undertaking this research, I would laugh heartily when conspiracy theorists would begin talking of governmental secrecy, plots of the illuminati undoing the freedom of the world and at the idea of people digging bunkers to prepare for the impending World’s end.  With the level of deceit coming to the light with regard to Genetically Modified Foods, I am no longer so quick to laugh.

Unfortunately, I have decided that the naysayers of this technology are right when it comes to a bigger issues of public health, destruction of smaller, organic farms and the growing monopolistic controls of the food industry currently allowed by our Government and pursued by corporations like Monsanto.  It would seem that we have lost our voices and our choices in the hands of a government run by corporations that would serve their own interests before that of its citizens.  Organic foods and supplements are currently under attack by H.R. 3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and now, our commercially produced dairy, grain and meats are being manipulated without apparent concern for the health of the consumer.

A horrific feeling now comes over me when walking down the grocery aisle searching for food to feed my children.  As I look across the various selections, the same incessant questions keep echoing in my head:  Why are they doing this to my food and why are they not being honest about the affects of it?  I can only pray that this research has led to conclusions that are not true and my children will not be victims of the corporate greed and government deceit that is infecting our modern America.  As I patiently wait for the truth to surface and this current proliferation of destruction to end, I can only write and hope that people will continue awakening to the Monsanto Initiative and that eventually, those who are paid to protect us, will do so with concern for our safety rather than that of their own, personal enrichment.

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EU to back sale of meat and milk from cloned animal offspring

Sean Poulter
Daily Mail

The sale of meat and milk from the offspring of cloned farm animals is set to be backed by EU Commissioners despite mass consumer opposition.

A huge majority of the public is against clone animal farming, according to studies in Britain and across Europe.

Concerns surround the ethics of the process, the welfare of the animals and a lack of research on food safety. However, a leaked report to be discussed by the EU’s College of Commissioners today comes out in favour of food from the offspring of clones.

Alarmingly, it appears this food would not have to be labelled, leaving families completely in the dark about what they are putting in their mouths.

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U.S. evangelical push for GM foods, opposition called 'ignorant'

GM Watch

BBC World Service - One Planet: The Father of Genetic Engineering....First broadcast 10:32am, 7 Oct 2010

GMWatch comment: This programme, part of the BBC World Service’s One Planet series on the environment, interviews genetic engineer Dr Roger Beachy. Beachy's interview appears to be part of a new evangelical push on the part of the US government hyping GM crops as the solution to world hunger.

In the BBC interview, Beachy claims GM is being demonized but then proceeds to demonize organic production, as he has done before (even suggesting organic food may be dangerous to eat!)

Beachy characterizes people who oppose GM crops as anti-science or just plain ignorant. He also uses straw man arguments, dismissing scientifically valid concerns about the uncontrollability of GM contamination with a story about a man who (according to Beachy) had an irrational concern about potatoes being contaminated by GM corn or cotton.

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GE Salmon? Are you out of your minds?

Jeffrey M. Smith
Natural News

Has the FDA gone completely mad? Why are they trying to open the flood gates to genetically engineered (GE) salmon -- a move that will go down in history as one of the most asinine and dangerous ever made by our government? What’s it going to take for them to actually start protecting public health?


The FDA is reviewing data submitted by AquaBounty, the company that spliced a growth hormone gene into Atlantic salmon, forcing it to grow up to five times faster and reach market size in about 18 months instead of 3 years. But according to the evidence, their buff salmon might have higher levels of a cancer promoting hormone IGF-1, more antibiotics, and more of a potentially life-threatening allergen(s).

The FDA failed to learn their lesson with their idiotic approval of genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. It also has higher levels of IGF-1 and more antibiotics. Now it’s condemned by the American Public Health Association and the American Nurses Association, banned in most other countries, and has been banished by most US dairies. Even Wal-Mart won’t allow the stuff into their milk.

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