Canola Case Tests GMO Patent
The future of genetically modified crops in North America is in the hands of a 73-year-old Canadian canola farmer named Percy Schmeiser.
Schmeiser already has lost two court cases dealing with his use of seed designed by Monsanto, but he and his supporters have made it to the Supreme Court of Canada with a new argument: Monsanto’s patent is invalid.
Food Biotech Is Risky Business
The genetically modified food industry has battled opposition from consumer and environmental groups to get its food on the table. Its lobbyists have cajoled skeptical politicians; its scientists have produced studies contradicting other studies suggesting the food is somehow tainted.
Now the industry faces another hurdle with long-range, dire consequences: It may be uninsurable.
NBI On Drugs
You won’t recognize the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) the next time you see it. It’s undergone a radical change, bulking up to nearly twice its original size by adding 55 more companies to the list. The new Index, which debuted November 24, now consists of 129 firms � and many of the new additions are drug companies (including specialty pharmas and generic drug manufacturers).
Glowing red GM fish to sell in US
A tropical fish that fluoresces bright red is set to become the first genetically modified pet to go on sale in the US. Alan Blake and colleagues at Yorktown Technologies LP say the GloFish will be available from January 2004.
Slowdown casts doubt on biotech offerings
After a two-year capital drought, seven biotechnology and life sciences companies made initial public offerings in October and early this month. Now the newly issued stock of six of those companies is underwater — and one, Acusphere Inc. of Watertown, has lost 50 percent of its value since going public…
Yali Friedman lives in Washington, DC and is author of Building Biotechnology and other books; founder of DrugPatentWatch; and chief editor of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology.
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