Biotechnology news from around the world.
- AIDS vaccine trial in Uganda
- China's new GMO product labelling rules
- German Parliament calls for international ban on human cloning
- US House of Representatives supports total ban on cloning
AIDS vaccine trial in Uganda
22 February – An AIDS vaccine, developed to prevent infection with the A strain of HIV prevalent in Uganda, is under trial at the Uganda Virus Research Institute. Other vaccines currently being studied are designed to combat the B strain of HIV, found in the US and Europe. The Institute has started a Phase 1 trial with the aim of vaccinating 50 volunteers not infected with HIV. The vaccine works by delivering a gene from HIV, which causes the recipient to express HIV derived proteins, which in turn trigger an immune response.
[Source: BMJ]
China's new GMO product labelling rules
21 February – China's new rules on genetically modified organisms came into effect on 20 February 2003. Under the new rules, all imported genetically modified soya beans, corn, rapeseed, cotton seed and tomatoes must be clearly labelled as GM products. To export GM products to China, overseas companies must obtain safety certificates from China's Ministry of Agriculture, the GM products will be returned to their ports of origin or destroyed.
[Source: CheckBiotech]
German Parliament calls for international ban on human cloning
23 February – A motion has been passed by the lower house of the German Parliament calling for an international ban on all human cloning, stating that neither reproductive nor therapeutic cloning is compatible with human dignity. French President Jacques Chirac will also press for a UN convention on bioethics which bans reproductive cloning, but not cloning for research purposes.
[Source: BBC]
US House of Representatives supports total ban on cloning
February 27 – The US House of Representatives has passed a bill banning both reproductive and research (therapeutic) cloning. The proposed Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 provides for fines of US$1m and up to ten years in prison. However, the future of the Bill is far from certain: while a similar Bill passed the House of Representatives in 2001, a rival Bill introduced to the US Senate specifically encourages therapeutic cloning.
[Source: Reuters]