Oxford Bio-technology

25-04-2005 15:34 | 0 comment(s)

The joy of seeds

Last month saw Oxford's first seed swap. In a repeat of a formula tried and tested in other areas, growers came to exchange seeds and knowledge and got to go away with some rare and unusual veg varieties, as well as some that are local to Oxford.

The importance of saving seeds has never been more relevant as the erosion of our genetic heritage continues, not just here but all over the world, and with potentially disasterous consequences. Please read the following links, and remember 'Think Global, Act Local'.

report + video | Our Vegetable Heritage | Brighton group website
Traditional Seed Saving Made Illegal in Iraq | Seedswapping at LARC

Read more >>

31-03-2004 11:57 | 11 comment(s)

Bayer Come a Cropper

Bayer have withdrawn the only GM crop with (partial) commercial approval. They blame government regulation and caution for holding up the crop which is now technologically and economically obsolete. However it has taken five years to get just one crop this far, which has been the result of the delays caused by the many crop trashings, lobbying, blockades, research and not a little consumer pressure.

When a government announces commercialisation of a GM crop, and then three weeks later, the very large multinational company responsible withdraws it from commercialisation, it would be a fair assumption that someone, somewhere, has put a spanner in the works.
Read more >>

18-12-2003 04:04 | 0 comment(s)

Pink Castle Now Guilty!

On 15th December 2003 a District Judge in Weymouth, Dorset found four anti-GM activists guilty of aggravated trespass for attaching themselves to tractors. The activists were attempting to prevent the sowing of a trial of GM maize near Weymouth in May 2002.

This marks the end of a drawn-out and contradictory legal process which saw all four activists cleared of aggravated trespass by the same District Judge in March 2003. The Crown Prosectution Service (CPS) appealed and had the verdict overturned by two High Court Judges who ordered a retrial, with instructions that the defendants should be found guilty. The four now face prison for refusal to pay the punitive costs.

Full Report | video | audio | earlier verdict one two | background history | Pink Castle website

Read more >>

29-06-2003 16:32 | 3 comment(s)

Dawn raid on GM research station

During the early hours of Sunday morning, 29 June, almost sixty members of the public broke into the grounds of GM giant Syngenta's reasearch station at Jealott's Hill near Bracknell, Berkshire. They pulled up a 600 sq metre research plot of experimental wheat.

Syngenta had government consent to plant upto 35 by 20 metres of genetical modified wheat. In a press release, protesters claimed that if allowed to pollenate, it would have spread GM material into the surrounding countryside...

For Photos [updated]Click Here
For Video [latest edit]Click Here
Read more >>

25-01-2002 11:46 | 0 comment(s)

Bayer HQ Blockaded

As German multinational Bayer launched on the New York Stock Exchange, activists blockaded their UK Headquarters to highlight their recently acquired status of Europe's biggest GM research company. A group of sixty people used various methods to block car parking spaces, roads and later the entrance doors. No arrests were made. Read more Read more >>

Oxford Bio-technology Feature Archive >>

Publish your news