I am catching up on past issues of Nature Biotech. Here are a few things that caught my eye:
(Feb 09) Cuba is launching a domestically produced GM corn. The strain (which looks from the name to contain Bt) is to be used in animal feed. Another sign that developing countries view biotech as important national initiatives, and that they can push the technology on their own.
(Feb 09) Researchers in Belgium got fed up with efforts to get their field trial for GM poplars approved in country, and are taking the trial to the Netherlands. So much for uniformly applying laws on planting GM crops in Europe. (Mar 09) Local environment ministers voted to overturn the European Commission's initiative to force member states to lift national bans.
(April 09) Malaysia has dropped several billions of dollars on biotech as part of their stimulus package. More on this when I dig into it.