Bio/Technology/Diversity Week, Volume 3, Number 11 (1994)

Bio/Technology/Diversity Week Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy May 27, 1994 Volume 3, Number 11 Code Number: NL94033 File Size: Text - 22K _____________________________________________ HEADLINES _____________________________________________ - rBGH NEWS OF THE WEEK Agri-Mark, the largest dairy cooperative in the Northeast, has asked the federal government to intervene and stop dairy prices from continuing their downward trend. - FLAVR SAVR APPROVED Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Flavr Savr tomato for commercial sale. The tomato is a genetically engineered product of the biotechnology company Calgene. - EUROPEAN GROUP TO EXAMINE ETHICS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING, GENE THERAPY A group that advises the European Commission, the cabinet equivalent in the European Union (EU), will examine the ethical issues related to biotechnology including genetic engineering and gene therapy - CANADIAN LIBERAL PARTY SOFTENS STANCE ON DRUG PATENT LAW Canada's Liberal party recently passed a watered down resolution on drug patenting .... - APHIS RULES NO EIS NECESSARY FOR SIX MODIFIED CROPS Earlier this month, the Federal Register reported that the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) ruled no significant reason existed to complete an environmental impact statement (EIS) on six genetically engineered crop varieties. - ABRAC TO CONTINUE The USDA will again appoint an Agricultural Biotechnology Research Advisory Committee (ABRAC). - BIOTECH WINE A scientist at New York state agricultural experiment station is experimenting with genetically engineered grape varieties in an effort to bring biotech to the vineyard. - USDA SAYS BEWARE OF NEW STRAIN OF POTATO BLIGHT The USDA is warning of a new variety of potato blight, which is resistant to chemicals. - SENATE PASSES PVPA REFORM The Senate this week passed an amendment to the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA), which eliminates the farmer's exemption to sell limited amounts of proprietary seed. - BOTANISTS MEET TO FIND CANCER, AIDS CURE IN PLANTS This week, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas held a three-day workshop about saving "the declining plant life of one of the most important places for plant diversity on our planet." Botanists from around the world gathered discuss an inventory of plants in the Philippines, where they believe potential cures for cancer and AIDS remain undiscovered but in danger of extinction. - LANDOWNER INCENTIVES NEEDED TO PROTECT HABITATS The Wilderness Society is calling on the federal government to provide landowners with incentives such as tax breaks to protect habitat. - MEDICINAL PLANTS EQUAL THERAPEUTIC DRUGS A recent article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN examines the benefits of medicinal plants used by native peoples throughout the world. - Calendar of Event