Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of Golden Rice, which was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

But campaigns by Greenpeace and local farmers last month persuaded the country’s court of appeal to overturn that approval and to revoke this. The groups had argued that Golden Rice had not been shown to be safe and the claim was backed by the court, a decision that was hailed as “a monumental win” by Greenpeace.

Many scientists, however, say there is no evidence that Golden Rice is in any way dangerous. More to the point, they argue that it is a lifesaver.

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
    46·
    6 months ago

    Exactly. And those who suffer in the end is always the people, never the big corps. Never trust big corps to do the right thing in agriculture. They’ll fuck you over and leave the environment destroyed. Build local species.

    • HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social
      153·
      6 months ago

      “Big corps” aren’t involved here. It’s a philanthropy project, and from what I can find it’s not legally encumbered in any way like Monsanto stuff is. This is entirely Greenpeace doing something that gets headlines, instead of something actually good. Don’t forget that that organization, too, has motives, first among which is going to be survival and advancement of the organization.

        • HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social
          1·
          6 months ago

          These companies provided access to the required technologies free of charge, for humanitarian purposes.

          They don’t own it, they don’t get paid for it.

          • Cypher@lemmy.world
            1·
            6 months ago

            The package contained proprietary technologies belonging not only to Syngenta but also to Bayer AG, Monsanto Co, Orynova BV, and Zeneca Mogen BV.

            The sentence preceding the one you have quoted. This is also only in respect to proprietary tech that was used in the creation of golden rice and not the proprietary golden rice itself.

            Regardless Syngenta has exclusive commercial rights to Golden Rice.

            Syngenta retains commercial rights

            So yes, I did read it, the whole article and several others. I understand the full picture and it isn’t as clear cut as some are making out.