Government’s deregulatory extremism puts public at risk

Government’s deregulatory extremism puts public at risk

We are surrounded by regulation. Every moment of our waking and sleeping lives is populated with a vast regulatory network. There are thousands of regulations relating to our homes, our clothes, our foods, the way we drive, the places we work, the wages we receive,...
194 countries call for the regulation of synthetic biology

194 countries call for the regulation of synthetic biology

In a unanimous decision of 194 countries, the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has formally urged nation states to regulate synthetic biology (synbio). The landmark decision follows ten days of hard-fought negotiations between developing...
Australia must support a precautionary approach to synbio at COP12

Australia must support a precautionary approach to synbio at COP12

As global governments meet to discuss synthetic biology (synbio) at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting (COP12) in South Korea, Friends of the Earth is calling for a moratorium on the commercial release of synthetically modified organisms (SMOs) until a...
Australian court hands biotech company a patent on life

Australian court hands biotech company a patent on life

“A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated.” These are the first words in a 2013 US Supreme Court decision regarding a patent on the human BRCA 1 gene – a product of nature...