The final events of the first Asia Citizens Rice Action Week, in which producers and consumers from 13 Asian countries, including Japan, participated, took place in the Philippines and India. The common theme of the Action Week was opposition to GM rice, and at the main venue in the Philippines producers and consumers from eight countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, gathered for the events. On 4 April 2007, following demonstrations at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Philippine Rice Research Institute, and the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture, a rally was held at the University of the Philippines.

Outdoor trials for a GM poplar (see BJ February 2007), applied for by the Forest Tree Breeding Center (FTBC), were formally approved by MAFF and the Ministry of the Environment on 26 March 2007. The poplar is a broad-leafed deciduous tree which grows to a height of over 20 meters. This GM poplar has enhanced cellulose content brought about by inserting a gene from an aspergillous fungus. Tests up to now show a 10% increase in cellulose and 16% increase in density. The increased cellulose content is supposed to be useful in the enhancement of CO2 fixing. In the outdoor trials approved, it is planned to plant 100 GM poplars and 50 non-GM poplars in an isolation field surrounded by an eight meter fence.

Suntory's Advanced Core Technology Research Center (Mishima County, Osaka Prefecture) has developed a GM torenia variety that has increased uptake of phosphorus. The torenia ordinarily has the ability to accumulate phosphorus, but using GM technology this ability has been enhanced 3 to 6 times when compared with conventional varieties. Suntory has stated that the plant could be used as a countermeasure in eutrophic lakes and rivers. (Suntory)

In the long controversy over whether the GM "pollen allergy alleviating rice" is a foodstuff or a pharmaceutical, MHLW finally ruled at the beginning of 2007 that it is a pharmaceutical and thus MAFF has abandoned development of it as a foodstuff.

On the premise that the GM rice variety would be a foodstuff, the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), had planned human trials, but it has now abandoned this project and returned the approximately 50 million yen granted for the trails to the national treasury. Development will now take place on the basis of the GM rice variety being a pharmaceutical. (Yomiuri Shinbun 2007/03/31)

It has become clear that the cultivation trials of the GM "multi-resistant rice" (See previous articles: BJ June 2006, July 2006) being carried out by the Hokuriku Research Center (Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture), a part of NARC (National Agriculture Research Center) and under the independent administrative entity NARO (National Agriculture and Bio-oriented Research Organization) were concluded last year and that there will be no cultivation this year. Besides the fact that the trials have shown no conspicuous achievements, the deterioration in the public image of the rice following the injunction to suspend planting and the trial concerning a claim for damages are thought to have been the cause of the termination of the project.

A symposium entitled, "DNA testing comes to the streets - hovering between medical treatment and business -" was held at the Shirokane Campus of Kitasato University on 17 March 2007. The symposium was sponsored by the MEXT research group for "Bringing DNA diagnostics out of medical treatment: the socio-ethical tasks of commercialization". The head researcher of the research group is Professor Takada Fumio of Kitasato University.

A speech was given to the symposium by Nakamura Yuusuke, Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science, which is now compiling the 300,000 person gene bank. It was clear from the speech how advances in human genome sequencing are aiding the essentially uncontrollable spread of DNA testing throughout the medical and healthcare industry.

A meeting of the Science Council of Japan "Committee to consider the state of assisted reproduction medical treatments" was held on 28 March 2007. At the meeting, a hearing concerning current legal aspects was conducted with Ms. Nishi Kiyoko, lecturer of Sophia University School of Law. Under current Japanese civil law, the legal parent and the genetic parent are not necessarily the same since the decision concerning parenthood would be made according to several different regulations. Based on this a discussion of whether the establishment of new laws is necessary to take into reproductive technologies such as surrogate birth and legally unforeseen advances. Ms. Nishi stated that in her opinion the legal establishment of parenthood of children born using assisted reproduction techniques would be problematical for reasons such as the difficulty of establishing a uniform standard, and the fact that assisted reproduction medical techniques are not subject to national borders and so on.

At the meeting of the MEXT specialist panel on 3 April 2007, approval was granted for a partial revision of the Kyoto University Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences project to establish human ES cell lines. The director of the project is the Director of the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Nakatsuji Norio. The research objective of the project is to establish new human ES cell lines by the breakdown of human embryos. The Kyoto University project was approved by the specialist panel on 7 March 2002, and using human embryos provided by Keio University Hospital, has thus far established three human ES cell lines. The revision of the project approved this time is to aim for a further approximately ten lines to be established using embryos provided by the private Hiroshima HART Clinic (HART = Human Assisted Reproductive Technology).

At present the Hiroshima HART Clinic holds in cold storage about 230 human embryos that were not used in fertility treatments. It is planned to use embryos from among these for which the Clinic has obtained informed consent for use from the patients. In the discussions of the specialist committee, it was pointed out that at the time Kyoto University first requested provision of the embryos the Clinic did not have an ethics committee. Kyoto University Graduate School Professor Ida Ryuichi sharply criticised the project by saying, "The guidelines state that the providing institution must have a ethics committee. Is it OK to source from anyplace just because they have a lot of surplus embryos?" However, the Clinic set up an ethics committee following the provision request, and because discussion took place in the committee the Kyoto University project revision was approved.

For more detailed information see:
http://www.frontier.kyoto-u.ac.jp/es01/EScell.htm

Anticipating rising demand for biofuels, the US Monsanto and the German BASF announced on 21 March 2007 that they would invest US$1.5 billion in the development of high-yield GM crops with environmental stress resistance. The aim is to commercialize such crops, said to be maize, soy, cotton and rapeseed, within ten years. (Nikkei Biotech 2007/04/09)

Please see the following link for an article on the problems of biofuels:
http://www.energyskeptic.com/Peak_Soil.htm