-Caveat Lector- [HardGreenHerald] # 7 "Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." --Dr. Seuss, 'The Lorax' --A RadTimes production-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --------------- --Scientists Create GM Killer --First biotech insect to be released in U.S. --Americas eco-arsonists put heat on the FBI --Hunters, trappers protest --Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 1, No. 3 --Italian set to begin cloning babies =================================================================== Scientists Create GM Killer Moth To Control Pests - Trials Begin By James Meek Science Correspondent The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk 3-5-01 Scientists are preparing to start trials of the world's first genetically modified insect, an unnatural born killer moth that will fly over cotton fields, passing a deadly gene on to its pestilent kin as an alternative to pesticide. Although the GM moth will be released in Arizona, the technology used to create the killer gene has been developed by a British team led by Luke Alphey, of Oxford University. The scientists believe that the chances of the killer gene spreading beyond the species it is intended to harm, the pink bollworm, is very small, and would do no harm if it did. But the US department of agriculture still has to give consent for the first part of the trial, which would involve a tightly controlled release of moths with another gene inserted to track any possible cross-species transfer. Scientists need to target the bollworm larvae, which feed on cotton plants, before developing into moths. The idea is to take insect eggs in the lab and insert into their DNA a gene from a fruit fly which would normally damage their metabolism so badly that they would die. In the lab, however, the larvae survive, because they are dosed with an antidote to the effects of the killer gene. They will grow into adult moths, which are naturally immune to the effects of the gene, and will then be released over the cotton fields in huge numbers. Unaware that by mating they are both creating and assassinating the next generation, the GM moths will mate with wild moths and each other. The female moths will lay their eggs as normal. But their offspring will have inherited the killer gene. In the wild, the larvae will find no antidote and will die. In the initial trial, which could take place next year, 3,600 moths will be given a jellyfish gene that glows under special light instead of the killer gene. This will show what happens to GM insects when they encounter their wild counterparts and other species. =================================================================== First biotech insect to be released in U.S. <www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/03/08/biotech.insect.ap/index.html> March 8, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) -- By tinkering with genes, scientists have made tomatoes that stay fresher longer, crops that are immune to weedkillers and fish that grow faster. Now, a genetically engineered insect is emerging from the lab. The first field trial of a biotech insect -- a pink bollworm moth that contains a jellyfish gene -- is planned for this summer. The gene gives the moth larvae a fluorescence that allows scientists to more easily track them and monitor their behavior. If the experiment involving a major pest to cotton growers goes as planned, scientists are ready with their next step: testing a biotech version, called the "Terminator" by farmers, that is sterile, but sexually active; it is designed to mate with wild relatives and eliminate their offspring. Some 3,600 moths with the jellyfish genes are to be set free under screened cages in a government-owned cotton field near Phoenix. The next step would be to add genes that make the moths sterile. "We're being very, very careful about what we're doing," said Robert Staten, an Agriculture Department scientist who will run the field trial. The experiment is being conducted and regulated by department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service because of its authority for controlling plant pests. Staten expects the agency to grant approval this spring for the release. "We're going to take as conservative an approach as we can and still move forward," he said. Some biotech critics are alarmed while some scientists who support the technology say the government is not prepared to properly regulate biotech insects. Under development, for example, are disease-preventing mosquitoes that could deliver vaccines to the people they bite or carry their own antibiotics. "When you're talking about insects you're talking about extremely promiscuous organisms that will mutate and breed quite uncontrollably," said Charles Margulis, an anti-biotech activist with the environmental group Greenpeace. He said there is no guarantee that an insect designed to be sterile will turn out that way. The pink bollworm moth infects about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of cotton in the Southwest. Farmers currently have three options to control them: spraying a lot of insecticide; planting an expensive variety of genetically engineered cotton that makes its own insecticide; or by releasing moths sterilized by irradiation. Irradiated moths are less effective in areas with heavy infestation because the treatment damages the insects so much that they are slow to mate. The genetically engineered moth is designed to have the same sexual prowess as its wild cousins. "He'd be fully sexually aggressive and go out and meet and breed. He'd be the first guy in the bars at night," said John Benson, a farmer in California's Imperial Valley and a member of the California Cotton Pest Control Board, which has funded the research through producer fees. "We see this as the one sure way to get eradication," he said. It takes 60 irradiated moths for every wild one to make sure there are enough to mate and eliminate the chance of offspring. With the biotech moths, a 5-1 ratio is sufficient, said Thomas Miller, a University of California-Riverside entomologist who developed the moth. The biotech moths would be cheaper for farmers to use than the gene-altered cotton, Miller said. The biotech cotton, although highly effective, costs farmers up to $30 an acre (0.4 hectare) more than conventional cotton. Some biotech critics are concerned that overuse of the gene-altered cotton, known as Bt for the insecticide it contains, will lead to an increase in insect resistance to Bt sprays, which are used on fruit and vegetable crops. Use of a biotech moth to control pink bollworm infestations makes that resistance less likely to develop, said Charles Benbrook, an agricultural consultant to environmental groups. This summer's experiment with the biotech moths will be conducted in three cages, each about 12-feet wide by 24-feet long. The cotton field in which they are placed is surrounded by a 6-foot chain link fence to deter vandals. There is little chance of the moths escaping "barring a major weather catastrophe," according to the application for the release. As a precaution, the moths containing the jellyfish genes will be irradiated to ensure that even if they do escape they can't reproduce. The gene-altered moths will then be studied to see if there is any unusual behavior. =================================================================== America's eco-arsonists put heat on the FBI <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4146609,00.html> Underground activists in US-wide arson attacks on 'pillagers of planet' Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Tuesday March 6, 2001 The Guardian Their message is explicit: "You build it, we burn it." They have caused more than $45m (£31m) of damage in attacks across the United States. They say they were inspired by British environmental campaigners and are regarded by the FBI as belonging to one of the fastest-growing terrorist groupings in the US. This week they claimed responsibility for an attack in California. They are members of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and a previously unknown group called the Coalition to Save the Preserves (CSP), which has carried out arson attacks in Arizona. The two groups describe each other as "kindred spirits" and both use variations on the "build it, burn it" slogan. As the authorities seek information on the ELF and CSP, journalists and environmental campaigners who have been contacted by the groups have been followed, had their homes raided and served with injunctions and subpoenas. In the three years since its foundation, the ELF has become probably the most active underground group in the US, attracting the attention of the authorities from coast to coast. Its members' success in avoiding capture and carrying out spectacular attacks on property has increased the pressure on the FBI to make arrests. This week the ELF claimed responsibility for a warehouse fire in Visalia, California in February. Its communique said the target was chosen because it "contained massive quantities of transgenic cotton seed in storage. But now, this seed will no longer exist to contaminate the environment, enrich a sick corporation, or contribute to its warped research programmes." In January the group said that it smashed the windows of two buildings nearing completion in Louisville, Kentucky, and warned that "the once beautiful farmlands of eastern Jefferson county, Kentucky are being destroyed by earth rapers .. This was the first, be it minor, direct action. It will be a long fought battle and more actions are planned in the future." The CSP has claimed responsibility for 11 arson attacks on homes on the edge of a desert preserve outside Phoenix, Arizona, causing around $5m of damage and leaving a note which read: "U Build It We Burn It - Again." In Long Island the message, this time from the ELF, is the same. After the torching of a housing development, a statement read: "The actions of those who orchestrated the construction are absolutely intolerable, so we are now declaring an unbounded war on urban sprawl." Last month the ELF said it burned down a lumber company's offices in Glendale, Oregon. It has recently made clear its intention to escalate the battle and widen its targets to "capitalism and industry". The increasing frequency of the attacks and the fact that they are being carried out across the country has alarmed the FBI, not least because the organisation, which operates with small independent cells, has been difficult to penetrate. However, some arrests have been made. Frank Ambrose, an environmentalist in Bloomington, Indiana, is due to be appear in court in April in connection with "timber spiking" - sticking nails in trees to damage loggers' chain saws. He denies the charges. Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the Long Island attacks. In Portland, Oregon, environmentalists have been served with subpoenas to testify about the work of the ELF and the Animal Liberation Front. Craig Rosebraugh, a spokesman for the North American Earth Liberation Front press office, explained yesterday why he believed that the organisation was able to carry out its attacks. "I think the individuals involved have a certain level of intelligence. There is no physical membership, no physical base, no hierarchy. It's an anonymous group that operates in underground cells and that makes it very difficult for the FBI to infiltrate," he said. He said the group owed its origins to the direct action taken by environmentalists in Britain. US activists have been particularly impressed by the struggle against the Newbury bypass, which delayed the road building while gaining public support. Mr Rosebraugh, who writes about the group in Earth First magazine, said his home had been raided and property seized. He also said he had been followed and called on to testify before a federal grand jury about the group's activities. He said the ELF was acting "out of self-defence - to preserve our air, our water and our soil .. As people see the destruction of our environment, they see what ELF is doing as a positive reaction." James Hibberd, who has covered the arson attacks for the weekly Phoenix New Times in Arizona, has been put under pressure to assist the police after being contacted by the man who described himself as a member of a CSP cell. The county attorney went to court to make Mr Hibberd produce a tape recording supposedly made of the man's voice during his telephone call, so that police could try to match it with voice prints of a suspect. Mr Hibberd refused, citing state laws which allow a journalist to protect a source. The man told Mr Hibberd that he was a management professional and family man with a "healthy income". He said he had no previous convictions and that the idea of the arson attacks came to him as he was mountain biking. 'Terrorist threat' The FBI in Phoenix confirmed this week that they were investigating at least 10 separate arson attacks. An FBI spokeswoman in Portland said that the ELF had now claimed responsibility for more than 20 attacks. She said the group had been declared a "terrorist threat" by the FBI and department of justice. The ELF keeps in touch with its supporters via its earthliberationfront.com website, which currently shows a photo of a burning building on its home page. It also includes advice on what to do "if an [FBI] agent knocks". In the latest Earth First, a member of the ELF denies that the activists are terrorists. "We condemn all forms of terrorism. We are trying to cost the rich sprawl corporations enough money so they stop destroying the planet and the health, well-being and existence of humankind." =================================================================== Hunters, trappers protest <http://www.adn.com/metro/story/0%2C2633%2C246478%2C00.html> CONSTITUTION: Dyson offers shield for 'part of our heritage.' By Martha Bellisle Anchorage Daily News (Published March 8, 2001) Juneau - Hunters, fishermen and trappers are a vulnerable minority under siege by increasingly strong and wealthy anti-hunting groups, a House panel heard Wednesday, and deserve the strongest legal armor the state can give: constitutional protection. "Hunting, fishing and trapping are part of our heritage," said Rep. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River and sponsor of a constitutional amendment that states that these activities "shall be forever preserved for the people and shall be managed by law for the public good." "We've seen a constant threat to those uses," Jesse VanderZanden, executive director of the Alaska Outdoor Council, told the House Resources Committee. Rod Arno, a big-game guide and hunter from Palmer, added: "It's evident that we have an organized group, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, that is advocating for our demise. As hunters, fishermen and trappers, we need the support and protection that other minorities are afforded." Paul Joslin, director of the wildlife alliance, did not participate in the hearing, He said afterward his group is not pushing to eliminate hunting. "Our position is that, according to our constitution, the wildlife is for all of us. We need to protect wildlife for all uses, including viewing, photography," he said. The attorney general's office warned that adding such broad new language to the constitution could cause unanticipated problems with wildlife management. "One person's public good may be another person's public ill," said Steve White, an assistant attorney general. White quoted from a report by a legal committee of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, assigned to review similar constitutional changes made or proposed in other states. That group concluded that wildlife should be managed and regulated for everyone's good. "From the perspective of both the resource management agency as well as the hunter, making hunting a constitutional right may fundamentally alter and drastically interfere with wildlife management as currently practiced," the report said. Wayne Regelin, director of the Department of Fish and Game's wildlife division, said making hunting a constitutional right may open the door to those claiming they have the right to hunt and that the department has no legal right to close a season. Sue Schrader, spokeswoman for Alaska Conservation Voters, didn't testify but said in an interview later that her group's greatest concerns with House Joint Resolution 12 are implications and potential legal problems no one has thought of yet. "We don't know what types of legal challenges could be brought," she said. "Do we really want to put our constitution at risk?" Hunters, fishermen and trappers are a minority in Alaska and appear to be on the decline. For instance: the state sold 23,156 resident hunting licenses in 1991, but only 20,623 in 2000. Resident combination sport fishing/hunting licenses dropped from 44,711 to 41,382. Resident fishing/hunting/trapping licenses declined from 6,230 to 5,331. During the same period, nonresident hunting licenses jumped from 5,758 to 11,184 in 2000. Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, a committee member, questioned how the measure would affect another part of the constitution that requires wildlife be managed for the maximum "sustained yield." Kerttula offered a change, which was approved, to say that hunting, fishing and trapping be managed "in accordance with the sustained yield principle." The committee then passed the measure on to the House Judiciary Committee. ----------- Reporter Martha Bellisle can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and 907-586-1531. =================================================================== Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 1, No. 3 8 March 2001 ACT NOW TO STOP THE US STAR WARS PROGRAM Send a Star Wars e-card to your friends and colleagues from: http://act.greenpeace.org/ecs/c?i=4 This e-card will include a link to the Star Wars action alert. The Rainbow Warrior is approaching the remote Pacific atoll of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands where we will confront the US military and oppose a scheduled Star Wars test. Incoming US President George W. Bush is moving rapidly ahead with a "Star Wars" program to spend billions of dollars building a system to shoot down missiles with yet more missiles. If this program continues, it will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and may start a new nuclear arms race. So far, 1291 people have sent letters to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 1052 people have sent letters to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and 960 people have sent letters to Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. This is a good start, but not nearly enough to send a strong message to these leaders. We need your help. If you have not yet sent letters to all three of these leaders, please do it now, by visiting our Cyberactivist Centre at: http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/983102960 FLOTILLA CONFRONTS PLUTONIUM SHIPMENT IN TASMAN SEA On 6 March, a flotilla of seven ships in the Tasman Sea confronted the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, vessels carrying a shipment of weapons-usable plutonium fuel, or MOX (mixed oxide), bound for western Japan. The flotilla radioed the plutonium vessels in English, French and Japanese. The plutonium vessels changed course to evade the flotilla. You can read the latest news at: http://www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/transport/mox00/ The shipment started its 30,000 km voyage in Cherbourg, France on 19 January. Please help us oppose these plutonium shipments by sending a letter to your local Japanese embassy at http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/ams/e?a=MOX&s=s02 HELP CLEANUP BAYER The giant German chemical company Bayer is best known for its Aspirin headache remedy. But double standards in Germany and Brazil are now giving the company an environmental headache. Earlier this year, a Greenpeace investigation showed that Bayer is contaminating the environment in Brazil with toxic persistent pollutants such as PCBs and heavy metals such as mercury. Please help us clean up Bayer by sending a letter to the CEO of Bayer Brazil today from: http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/ams/e?a=bayer_toxics&s=s01 ACTION GROUP EXPERIMENT CONTINUING Greenpeace is starting an experiment in setting up international action groups of cyberactivists who want to work together on a common campaign or to share information in a common language or about a common country or region. If you want to get involved or find out more, you can read the latest update at: http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/983643653/index_html NEW RAINFOREST REPORTS RELEASED A new Greenpeace report reveals that International Forest Products (Interfor) is a rogue logging company that chooses to ignore its own concerned global customers and public opinion while it destroys the remaining pristine valleys in the Great Bear Rainforest. See: http://greenpeace.org/~forests/010307.html Greenpeace needs your help to track down forest products that have been logged in the Great Bear Rainforest on Canada's west coast, home to bears, wolves, salmon and eagles. We are asking people all over the world to track down wood products that have been clearcut logged from Canada's rainforest by Interfor and West Fraser Timber. Please visit: http://www.greenpeace.org/~forests/sleuths/ =================================================================== Italian set to begin cloning babies <http://itn.co.uk/news/20010309/world/06cloning.shtml> 03/09/01 A fertility doctor who helped the world's oldest mother give birth has announced he is about to start cloning babies for infertile couples. Italian Professor Severino Antinori claims Britain's decision to allow limited research into therapeutic cloning will help the project. A cloned baby could be created within two years using techniques already practised on animals, he told a conference in Rome. But the scenario has already prompted criticism from scientific authorities in Britain. Professor Antinori first attracted controversy when he helped a 62-year-old woman have a baby eight years ago by implanting an egg in her womb. "If you ask the women, 'Do you prefer normal sperm or do you prefer cloning?', 70 per cent prefer gene cloning," he said in a radio interview. Cells from the infertile father would be injected into an egg, which is then implanted in the mother's uterus for the pregnancy. The resulting child would have the same physical characteristics as his father and infertile parents would not have to rely on sperm donors. The doctor also praised the House of Lords vote in January that legalised the cloning of human embryos for research purposes only. "For me, Tony Blair's intelligent decision - for that I revere the good help for Tony Blair's decision," he said. Professor Antinori, who six years ago helped a British 59-year-old unmarried mother have twins, says he has 600 patients who want the fertility treatment, most from the US. He also claims he is backed by an unidentified Mediterranean country for his research programme, likely to start in October. The chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Ruth Deech, warned that the procedure would be illegal in Britain and should remain so. "There are lines you should not cross. You have to consider humanity as a whole and say there limits beyond which we should not go for the sake of future generations and for respect for the autonomy and dignity of present generations," she said. Life, the anti-abortion charity, condemned the doctor's plans but said it was "inevitable" someone would try to clone babies. National chairman Professor Jack Scarisbrick said: "Science must be subject to ethical controls and moral controls. Cloning involves creating an entirely new kind of human being - a human being generated asexually. "This is a momentous step to take and society should tremble before doing something so radical." Prof Scarisbrick added: "It is very interesting that Professor Antinori has thanked Tony Blair for making this possible. "The Government's promises that cloning would be for research only and there would be no birth cloning are hollow. "This is giving the green light for cloning, and if it doesn't happen in Britain it will happen elsewhere." --------- See also: CLONING: SPECIAL REPORT <http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/clone/clone.html> =================================================================== "Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children." -Kenyan Proverb ====================================================== "We cannot solve the problems that we have created with the same thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein ====================================================== "The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders." -Edward Abbey ______________________________________________________________ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send appropriate email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. ______________________________________________________________ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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