Strategies and best practices for the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops need to be developed and implemented with the participation of farmers and other stakeholders. According to the principle of 'subsidiarity', decisions should be made by the lowest authority possible. When applying this concept to the case of GM crops, the affected society should determine their use and management in a reg...

Concerns regarding the commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) crops include naturalization, introgression to sexually compatible relatives and the transfer of beneficial traits to native and weedy species through hybridization. To date there have been few documented reports of escape leading some researchers to question the environmental risks of biotech products. In this study we co...

Genetic knowledge applicable to crop improvement has erupted over the past 60 years, and the techniques of introducing genes from one organism to another have enabled new varieties of crops not achievable by previously available methodologies of crop breeding. Research and particularly development of these GMO-crops to a point where they are useful for growers and consumers in most countries is...

Genetically engineered (GE) crops, multi-ingredient foods derived from one or more GE ingredients, and GE agricultural inputs are regulated in the United States under a "Coordinated Framework" that was literally cobbled together in the early 1990s. Via this Framework, responsibility is spread across three federal agencies for the assessment and management of potential risks arising from the pla...

There is a scientific consensus, even in Europe, that the GMO foods and crops currently on the market have brought no documented new risks either to human health or to the environment. Europe has decided to stifle the use of this new technology, not because of the presence of risks, but because of the absence so far of direct benefits to most Europeans. Farmers in Europe are few in number, and ...

The Advisory Committee of Releases into the Environment (ACRE) is an independent advisory committee composed of leading scientists and technical experts. Our main function is to give statutory advice to UK ministers and ministers in the Devolved Administrations on the risks to human health and the environment posed by the release and marketing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This repo...

This study was carried out to investigate the indigenous use and pharmacological activity of traditional medicinal plants of Mount Taibai, China. Pharmacological data were collected by conducting informal interviews with local experienced doctors practicing traditional Chinese medicine and via open-ended questionnaires on villagers. We conclude that the residents of Mt. Taibai possess rich phar...

he United States Code provides that “a live human-made micro-organism is patentable,” and further provides for issuance of patents to persons who invent or discover new or useful “manufacture” or “composition of matter;” microorganisms constitute “composition of matter” or “manufacture” within meaning of the code. Thus, since the landmark 1980 Supreme Court case Diamond v. Chakrabarty, thousand...