On a Tuesday morning in September, under a sweltering tropical sun on the island of Grand Cayman, 140,000 mosquitoes flit around in four large coolers in the back of a gray Toyota minivan. Behind the wheel is Renaud Lacroix, a Ph.D. in biology and medical entomology who works for the British biotechnology company Oxitec. A colleague, Isavella Evangelou, crouches behind him in a tight space next to the coolers. The minivan is idling on the side of a dirt road in West Bay, a quiet neighborhood where iguanas and roosters dart in and out of the yards of small homes painted in Caribbean pastels. The time has come for the mosquitoes to fulfill the purpose for which they were genetically engineered: a kamikaze mission to eliminate their own species.
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Congress passed a bill on Thursday that wipes out state laws requiring the labeling of genetically modified ingredients in food.
The bill particularly strikes down a Vermont labeling law that just went into effect this month and required ingredients derived from genetic engineering to be disclosed on packaging.
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Genetically modified organisms are a technology used by many companies, but often it becomes synonymous with one company.
GMO. It’s a term shrouded in mystery. A scapegoat for real and perceived agricultural and food system ills, the acronym conjures visions of monoculture, pesticides, chemicals, junk food, obesity, and the transformation of life forms into intellectual property. Perhaps the most common menace summoned when “GMO” is uttered: Monsanto. Mentions of genetic engineering (GE) technology, seemingly without fail, result in “but Monsanto” protests, along with amalgamated concerns about food.
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Britain’s vote to leave the European Union may change the country’s agricultural policies, including those focused on genetically modified organisms.
The promise of Britain’s exit from the European Union is to liberate the U.K. from the shackles of damaging EU regulations. So congratulations to Theresa May’s government for scoring its first Brexit victory by getting away from one of Brussels’s worst food obsessions.
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