GENTECH archive 8.96-97
[Index][Thread]

Flavr Savr


Hi, 

I received an answer from  Dr. Michael Hansen on the  Flavr Savr.

Just to clarify: Flavr Savr or other genetically engineered tomatoes are
not approved for marketing in Germany.

However, since the discussion on Monsantos soybeans is heating up in Germany
people from the food industry are trying to convince consumers how well 
genetically engineered foods are working in the US.

Under the big pressure of the consumer resistance in the EU they 
are often just telling lies  or only half of the truth. For
that it was important for me to get some reference on the Flavr Savr 
tomato. 

That Calgene (developer of Flavr Savr) had big financial losses and could
only survive because Monsanto essentialy bought Calgene they did not deny. 

Regards, Eckart Stein





Dear Mr. Stein,

Just a quick note on the FlavrSavr tomato before I leave for the Food Summit 
(and the NGO Forum) in Rome next week.  In the US, the US Department of 
Agriculture has National Biolgical Impact Assessment Program (NBIAP) which runs
 
an Information Systems for Biotechnology (ISB) jointly with a local University.
  
I'm sending you a small article that ran in the March 1996 ISB News on 
FlavrSavr pointing out that Calgene, in their quarterly report, stated that the
 
FlavrSavr is off the market due to problems with yields, insufficient disease 
resistance and fruit quality.  I'm also including the information on how to 
access the ISB News via the internet.  The articles are quite good in the news 
letter, but a bit on the technical side.  Anyway, I'd suggest subscribing (it's
 
free) When I get back from the Food Summit, I can also send a number of 
articles which have pointed out how the product has failed (they ran into a lot
 
of problems trying to grow it in areas outside the Midwestern part of the US). 
 
If you need more info get in touch with me.  But this should be enough to show 
that the food industry people in Germany are not telling the truth.  By the 
way, another long shelf life tomato, the Endless Summer by DNAP has also been a
 bust and is not on the market, even though our federal agencies have approved 
it.

Yours,
Michael Hansen
Consumer Policy Institute/Consumers Union
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY  10703-1057
USA
Ph: 1-914-378-2452
e-mail:  hansmi@consumer.org.









   ISB News Report - March 1996

In This Issue:

     Herbicide Tolerant Cotton Deregulated

     Transgenic Arthropod Symposium Being Planned

     Field Testing in the UK

     European Federation Advances Public Awareness

     Algorithm Helps Identify Jumping Genes

     Fungus Used for Gene Delivery

     Plant Biotechnology Research at Tuskegee University

     Whither the Flavr Savr?

     Male Sterility in Lettuce Opens the Door to Hybrid Varieties

     Patenting Genetically Engineered Animals

     New Promoter for Ph-inducible Protein Expression

     More on Recombinant Porcine Somatotropin 

     Chicken Interferon Gene Cloned

     Alliance Activity Heats up in Commercial Agbiotech Sector

     BIOSCI - A Network for Biologists


WHITHER THE FLAVR SAVR?
Disappointing yields and insufficient disease resistance traits have derailed 
Calgene's commercialization of the Flavr Savr tomato. In its quarterly report, 
the company acknowledged that product quality also was in need of improvement. 
Production of Flavr Savr has been curtailed while new transgenic tomato 
varieties are being evaluated. A pending partnership with Monsanto, which seeks
 
to buy a 49.9 per cent share of the company, is currently under review by the 
Justice Department.  Should it be approved, Monsanto's breeding expertise is 
expected to strengthen efforts to develop new and improved varieties. 

The news isn't all discouraging, however. Calgene appears to have come out on 
top in a patent dispute over the use of antisense technology. Enzo Biochem Inc.
 
of New York had filed claims that three of its patents were infringed in the 
course of engineering the delayed ripening tomato. A judge in Delaware has 
ruled that Enzo's patents do not enable others to make use of the claimed 
invention, which is one of the criteria for awarding a patent, and therefore 
were invalid. He ruled that Calgene's patent was valid.

Pat Traynor



 


The material in this News Report is compiled by NBIAP's

Information Systems for Biotechnology, a joint project of

USDA/CSREES and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

University. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S.

Department of Agriculture or of Virginia Tech. The News Report

may be freely photocopied or otherwise distributed without

charge. P.L. Traynor, Editor.


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Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

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