160 kg of soy beans exported to China from Japan have been returned due to contamination with GM soy. This became clear from October 2012 quarantine rejection data related to imported food and cosmetic products issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the Peoplefs Republic of China. The soy beans in question were exported by Nisshin Oilio Group to Nishio Foods Ltd. in a bonded area in China. The shipment was returned due to the indication of GM content. (Mainichi Chugoku Keizai, 2012/12/19)
The latest gCurrent State of Cloned Livestock Researchh was published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheriesf (MAFF) Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council (AFFRC) on December 12, 2012. It is clear from the document that the development of cloned livestock is almost at an end. (See BJ
April 2011 Numbers born in the period April 1 to September 30, 2012 were zero for both germ line cell (inseminated ova) cattle and somatic cell cloned cattle.
In utero cattle numbers were three for germ line cell clones and zero for somatic cell clones. 39 somatic cell cloned pigs were born, but there were zero
in utero, showing that there has been a discontinuation in development. The number was also zero for both births and
in utero somatic cell cloned goats. It seems safe to say that both research and development in clone technology is being gradually abandoned. In addition to clone technology itself not progressing well, it may be that almost all researchers have moved away from clone technology research and into ES cell and iPS cell research.
(MAFF 2012/12/11)
Table 1: Numbers of Cloned Livestock Born or In Utero |
For the period from 1 April 2012 to 30 September 2012 |
Type of cell and cloned animal |
Born |
In Utero |
Germ line cell cloned cattle | 0 | 3 |
Somatic cell cloned cattle | 0 | 0 |
Somatic cell cloned pigs | 39 | 0 |
Somatic cell cloned goats | 0 | 0 |