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GLOBAL NEWS MONSANTO FAKED DATA, CLAIMS ITS EX-CHIEF IN INDIA DNA EVIDENCE MAY BE FAULTY At revelation casts doubt on certain verdicts in the US justice system delivered since the mid- 990s. It stems from an important inding made by a team co-led by ickolas Papadopoulos, a Johns Hopkins University geneticist. The team discovered that DNA rom tiny symbiotic bacterial descendants called mitochondria, which live in our cells and give hem energy, varies from tissue to issue in the human body. The finding is significant, as mitochondrial DNA analysis was considered a proven enough echnique that US law enforcement as been using it as a tool to identify criminals since the mid-1990s. The new results, set to be published in the 4 March edition of he prestigious journal Nature, indicate that the possibility of false negatives might be much higher han previously thought. Furthermore, the chance of two people having the same mitochondrial DNA goes up as well. If the results are validated, this could lead to a major shake-up in he field of forensics. Source: DailyTech.com, 4 March 2o10, http://tinyurl.com/yjubuyy) forest fires and ease acute water shortages in some areas, he said. The annual grain output is around 500 million tons. Zheng said he expects weather modification projects will contribute to the country's efforts to increase grain production capacity by 50 million tons annually. Last year, officials used artillery, rockets or planes to induce precipitation for wheat-producing areas and some other regions. n all, a record 840 flights were made to increase rain last year for areas spanning 3.6 million square kilometres, or roughly one-third of China's territory. At least 116,000 rockets and 890,000 artillery shells were fired to alter atmospheric phenomena. Nationwide, weather modification projects cost 910 million yuan in 2009 but helped generate output 30 times that amount, according to statistics from the administration's Weather Modification Center. The technology was used to ensure clear skies for the grand parade of the National Day celebration last year, when the country marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China. It also was used to ensure rainless days for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Zheng said. The China Meteorological Administration is gearing up for weather services for the Shanghai World Expo, which opens in May, and for November's Asian Games in Guangzhou, he said. The Shanghai event will be a challenge, as it lasts 184 days and may be affected by monsoons and high temperatures. Weather manipulation is still a developing discipline that holds great potential, Zheng said. China began modifying the weather on a local or regional scale in 1958. (Source: China Daily, 4 March 2010, via Blacklisted News, http://tinyurl.com/ ybkbc24) he former managing director of Monsanto India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join the critics of Bt brinjal and perhaps is the first industry insider to do so. Bt brinjal is a transgenic eggplant which has the gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis inserted into it. Jagadisan, who worked with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including eight years as the managing director of India operations, spoke against the new variety, and later he elaborated by saying that the company "used to fake scientific data" submitted to government regulatory agencies to get commercial approvals for its products in India. The former Monsanto boss said government regulatory agencies which the company used to deal with in the 1980s simply depended on data supplied by the company while giving approvals to herbicides. On 9 February 2010, the Indian Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, imposed a moratorium on the cultivation of Bt brinjal. (Source: India Today, 9 February 2010, http://tinyurl.com/y8r659q) ——- sorry, HOLD UP A SECOND... I GOTTA _TAKE THIS ONE. APRIL - MAY 2010 NEXUS ¢ 7 www.nexusmagazine.com