[Pirateninfo] German GM project stalled

[pcl at jpberlin.de]

Na so was,
die Schröder-Regierung kann's aber auch keinem Recht machen. Den 
einen ist das neue Gentechnikgesetz zu lasch und den anderen zu 
restriktiv. Aber ungeachtet dessen, lässt unten stehender Beitrag 
ungewollt gucken, dass Graswurzelwiderstand durchaus Wirkung zeigen 
kann. Schön, das mal von der "anderen Seite" zu hören.  
P.

The Scientist - News 14.01.2005

January 13, 2005 
German GM project stalled
In the wake of a law seen as a major blow for science, a major 
project's funding dries up | By Ned Stafford
A German research project aimed at producing genetically modified 
(GM) potatoes with higher levels of an important carotenoid will 
likely be cancelled before completion because of what the study's 
leader calls the German government's negative attitude toward GM crop 
research.
Helmar Schubert, from the University of Karlsruhe's Institute of Food 
Process Engineering, told The Scientist the German research ministry 
has refused to provide additional funding needed to complete the 5-
year project.
The group has succeeded in producing GM potatoes with 250 times more 
zeaxanthin than found in conventional potatoes, said Schubert. Past 
studies have indicated that higher dietary levels of zeaxanthin 
reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration, a frequent cause 
of vision loss in the elderly.
Schubert said his group needs just one more year to finish the 
project, but "at the moment, we have no money to finish the project."
The project, which started in 1999, received a grant of around ˆ10 
million (USD $13.2 million) under the government of the previous 
chancellor, Helmut Kohl. Schubert said Kohl supported GM research 
more than the current government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, 
whose SPD party relies on the support of the Greens party to maintain 
a parliamentary majority.
Schroeder's government last year supported parliamentary passage of a 
new highly restrictive GM crop law that most in the bioscience 
community see as a major blow to German science. Mark Stitt, managing 
director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 
reflected the prevailing disillusionment during an interview with The 
Scientist in late November. "Germany has potentially one of the most 
flourishing bioscience industries in the world," he said. "But now, 
research will be leaving Germany. Firms will be leaving Germany."
Schubert said simply: "You can imagine that the current government 
has some problems with our project."
In the spring of 2003, seed potatoes developed by a University of 
Frankfurt team were planted in a test field by a research team headed 
by Gerhard Wenzel from the Technical University of Munich. But as has 
often been the case in Germany, the test field was destroyed by anti-
GM activists, throwing the project a year behind schedule. Last 
spring, the team installed ˆ23,000 (USD $30,400) worth of security 
cameras before planting a fresh test field, which survived until 
harvest, yielding 2 metric tons of GM potatoes this past autumn.
The first batch of potatoes was to have been analyzed by the Federal 
Research Center of Nutrition and Food in Karlsruhe, Schubert said. 
But funding for the center and most other project participants ended 
in October, and the 2 tons of GM potatoes are now in storage.
"The potatoes, in our opinion, are very valuable," Schubert said. 
About half a million euros is needed to complete the project, which 
would include a second test field planted next spring.
Barbara Dufner, a Research Ministry spokeswoman, told The Scientist 
that additional funding to continue the program is not expected, 
adding that funding for Wenzel's University of Munich team ends on 
May 28. Schubert said he will seek funding from other sources. But if 
he fails, he said it "does not make sense" for Wenzel to plant 
another test field this spring.
Christoph Then, a Greenpeace Germany GM expert, told The Scientist 
that in addition to his organization's opposition to the concept of 
GM crops, it also is generally opposed to enriching foods with 
vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients, some of which can be harmful 
if ingested in excess. "It makes no sense to enrich certain types of 
food with GMOs," he said.
Links for this article
Helmar Schubert
http://www.lvt.uni-karlsruhe.de/mitarbeiter/institutsleitung/sc 
hubert/schubert.htm 

"Study demonstrates essential role of zeaxanthin in eye health," MD 
Support: published by permission from RFB Communications Group, Inc., 
June 9, 2003.
http://www.mdsupport.org/library/zeaxanthin.html 

N. Stafford, "GM law 'a blow for science,'" The Scientist, December 
1, 2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041201/01 

Gerhard Wenzel
http://www.weihenstephan.de/pbpz/ps_gw.html 

N. Stafford, "Uproar over German GM corn," The Scientist, May 17, 
2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040517/03/ 
-