Matthew O. Berger
WASHINGTON, Nov 19 2010 (IPS) – U.S. regulators are poised to decide as early as next week whether to approve a genetically modified salmon for human consumption.
It would be the first GM animal approved for human consumption, and there are fears that the review process is overlooking key ripple effects of approving the fish.
These ripple effects are both positive, such as public health benefits, and negative, such as environmental degradation, say researchers.
The debate over the salmon, which would be raised on fish farms and which contains inserted genes from two other species of fish that allow it to grow faster and require less feed than conventional salmon, has focused on whether the fish would pose a hazard to human health or, were it …
The richest 66 people have the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of humanity. Credit: Bigstock/IPS
NEW YORK, Jun 17 2014 (IPS) – Two major injustices – inequality and climate change – are threatening to undermine the efforts of millions of people to escape poverty and hunger.
By concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few, inequality robs the poorest people of the support they need to improve their lives. And as climate change devastates crops and livelihoods, it undoes poor people’s efforts to feed their families.
But an historic opportunity is on the horizon as the sun sets on the (MDGs). Right now the United Nations is i…