BlogIssues

From Foreign Policy:

Quite interesting collection of 10 stories you probably missed this year. Amongst the list,

The American Heartland Grows Crops—with Human Proteins

Farmers have long experimented with crops bred to produce better yields, with few ill effects. But with little public debate, something entirely new—rice engineered to produce human proteins—is coming to a grocery store near you. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) authorized Ventria Bioscience to grow as many as 3,200 acres of special rice that produces proteins normally found in breast milk.

The California-based company hopes to market its rice as the key ingredient in a cheap formula to treat diarrhea, a condition that kills 3 million children worldwide each year. The company believes its special brand of rice may be of particular appeal to aid organizations. Yet Ventria maintains that pharmaceutical rice doesn’t need the clinical testing required of new drugs because it’s a food, not a drug. U.S. rice growers, however, fear a backlash from customers in Europe and Asia if medicine gets accidentally mixed in with the food supply. Anheuser-Busch, the largest rice buyer in the United States, used its considerable clout to keep Ventria’s “pharming” techniques out of Missouri–and out of its beer. Mere paranoia? Only two months before it gave Ventria the green light, the USDA banned another company’s variety of long-grain rice that may have been contaminated by mysterious genetic material.

Undeterred, Ventria is plowing ahead. This fall, the first batch of its breast-milk rice was harvested outside Junction City, Kansas. Ventria’s rice is supposed to hit markets in 2008, and it will likely be just the first of many pharmaceutical crops. Aspirin corn, anyone?

U.S.-Mexico Border Fence Gets Cut in Half

In the run-up to the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, conservative lawmakers—desperate to show supporters they were making progress on immigration and border security—easily passed the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered, reinforced fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that Congress had only earmarked enough money to build 370 miles’ worth of wall. Give it another budget year, the barrier’s strongest backers said, and the rest of the cash would surely make its way south.

But they might want to check with the chief of U.S. Border Patrol, David Aguilar. The military industry’s National Defense magazine reported that at an April press conference, Aguilar suggested that the physical fence will indeed stop at the 370-mile mark. Making up the remaining 330 miles will be a “virtual” wall of surveillance and radar equipment, hardly the kind of compromise that will satisfy those who, like Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, want the entire 1,933-mile border double-fenced and topped with razor wire. A spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says that hundreds of miles of vehicle barriers—concrete tubes set in the ground to prevent cars from crossing the border—are also due to be built by the end of 2008. But those who wanted a Fortress America are finding that Washington’s plan for their beloved fence is full of holes.

The Cyberwars Begin

In the run-up to the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, conservative lawmakers—desperate to show supporters they were making progress on immigration and border security—easily passed the Secure Fence Act, authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered, reinforced fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that Congress had only earmarked enough money to build 370 miles’ worth of wall. Give it another budget year, the barrier’s strongest backers said, and the rest of the cash would surely make its way south.

But they might want to check with the chief of U.S. Border Patrol, David Aguilar. The military industry’s National Defense magazine reported that at an April press conference, Aguilar suggested that the physical fence will indeed stop at the 370-mile mark. Making up the remaining 330 miles will be a “virtual” wall of surveillance and radar equipment, hardly the kind of compromise that will satisfy those who, like Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, want the entire 1,933-mile border double-fenced and topped with razor wire. A spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says that hundreds of miles of vehicle barriers—concrete tubes set in the ground to prevent cars from crossing the border—are also due to be built by the end of 2008. But those who wanted a Fortress America are finding that Washington’s plan for their beloved fence is full of holes.