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Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (NW RAGE) is a non-violent, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the responsible, sustainable and just use of agriculture and science. We are working towards a ban on genetic engineering and patents on life. Our efforts focus on education, community building, advocacy and action.
NW RAGE works with neighbors, teachers, farmers and
friends to stop the reckless splicing and dicing of our genetic material.
We are not anti-science, we are pro-precautionary principle. We believe in a future that strives to do no harm to humans and to the ecosystems we all depend on. We believe in proceeding with new technologies only if a well informed civil society decides to do so after proper testing has been conducted.
Our activities range from postcard and letter writing, to education presentations,
to debates and public forums, to protests and direct action. We strongly believe that, in spite of the dangers of genetic engineering, people working together for change can and are making a difference in preventing this unnecessary and unsustainable technology from causing any further harm.
We warmly invite you to bring your voice and join in the struggle!
NW RAGE promotes active resistance to the intrusion of genetic engineering into our
lives, food and ecosystems. We are against corporate ownership of life. We believe so-called
"life science" corporations, like Monsanto and Dow, are attempting to privatize, patent
and own life to create huge profits and monopolies while ignoring the sanctity of creation.
We work to ban the release of genetically engineered organisms through education,
advocacy and action. We also work to promote sustainable agriculture through
activities like partnerships with organic associations and seed swaps. We see this
as a vibrant and viable future for life on the planet.
We work towards:
- A ban on genetic engineering
- A ban on patents on any life forms including animals, plants, cells, viruses, bacteria, genes, and proteins
- A ban on biopiracy - the theft of indigenous people's genes and knowledge
- A ban on cloning of humans and animals
- A rescinding of all current FDA approvals for genetically engineered products on the market
- An increase in the scale and scope of organic agriculture
- An increase in funding for research into organic agriculture and chemical-free growing techniques
- The cessation of factory farming Some steps you can take to get involved and to make a positive difference in your community:
- Sign up for our monthly newsletter so you can get more information and stay connected (see "Subscribe..." on the top left). Click here to see our privacy policy.
- Join us for our public meeting & screening of movies relating to Genetic Engineering and discussion on how you can help to promote a safe and sustainable food supply. Details here.
- Call us (503-239-6841) or email us (info@nwrage.org) if you have questions or comments.
- Send a tax-free donation.
Get involved now!! NW RAGE is one of the few groups in the Northwest working on the issue of genetic engineering, and we need your help!
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Jeffrey Smith to Speak July 8 at the University of Portland
Jeffrey Smith, the author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, will speak at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 8 at the Buckley Center Auditorium at the University of Portland. His talk is entitled “The Documented Health Dangers of Genetically Engineered Foods” and there will be a question and answer session following his talk.
Jeffrey has spoken in over 30 countries and has been a leading activist opposing GMO’s for many years. The event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Responsible Technology, Oregon PSR, NW Resistance Against Genetic Engineering and Bon Appetit at the University of Portland.
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Russian biologists plan to plant 300,000 genetically modified aspens and birch trees at two experimental fields, Informnauka news agency reports.
In the autumn of 2009 the trees, currently in greenhouses, will be planted in the open air near the cities of St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod.
The trees' DNA has been modified by researchers at the Institute for Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences to provide for faster growth and harder wood pulp.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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Eleven European Union countries will call next week for the right to opt-outs for growing genetically modified (GM) crops, to cut through complex EU decision-making and end years of stalemate on biotech policy.
The suggestion, to be floated at a meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, would be for governments to restrict cultivation of specific GM crop types if they saw fit.
Even though there will be no decisions taken, the paper authored by the 11 countries is certain to spark a debate on Europe's GM policy. The European Commission, the EU's executive, has already started a review of the two main biotech approvals laws: on cultivation, and imports of GM food and feed products.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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A recent study was conducted in Vidharbha, India to determine the effect of Bt (Bacillius thuringiensis) cotton on the microbial population of various soil micro-organisms. The results indicated a significant decline in total microbial biomass in the Bt soil. If current trends continue, the researcher estimated that 6.7 million hectares of planted Bt transgenic crops in India were in danger of becoming sterile and unable to grown anything within the next 10 years.
Monsanto's transgenic or genetically modified (GM) cotton is pervasive in India and is created using an insertion of three genes with only the soil bacteria, Bt, being used as a pesticide. Bt is a bacterium used for the biological control of alfalfa and redhumped caterpillars, cabbage looper and omnivorous and fruit tree leaf roller and is toxic to many types of moths and butterfly larvae. After two to three days of feeding on the Bt, the insects die.
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Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009
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The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association (IDEA) has called for an immediate moratorium on genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. This move comes hot on the heels of a new position paper from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) which said that GM foods “pose a serious health risk” and which had also called for a moratorium on them.
The Irish doctors expressed concern that there have been no tests for possible adverse health effects from GM foods on humans while testing on animals have raised concerns. Among the concerns are allergies may develop, and bacteria and viruses could become more virulent.
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Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009
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Government Set to Approve Planting of a Quarter Million Genetically Engineered Eucalyptus Trees in U.S. South
Hinesburg, VT, U.S.--The U.S. government is set to approve [1] a request from ArborGen, the genetically engineered (GE) tree research and development giant, for permission to plant 260,000 GE cold tolerant eucalyptus trees in 29 "field trials" across seven southern U.S. states. Approval of such a large-scale planting of these dangerous flowering GE forest trees in the U.S. is completely unprecedented. The GE eucalyptus, to be planted in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, would be allowed to flower and produce seeds, enabling them to potentially escape into native ecosystems and forests.
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Posted on Friday, June 12, 2009
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Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs today handed down judgment in the Biowatch case. Calling the case “a matter of great interest to the legal profession, the general public, and bodies concerned with public interest litigation”, Justice Sachs set aside the costs order awarded against Biowatch in favour of Monsanto and further awarded legal costs in the High Court hearings in favour of Biowatch and against the state. The
bench of eleven judges was unanimous in its decision.
Biowatch is a small South African non-governmental organisation campaigning in the public interest for sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, biosafety and farmers’ rights. For many years it has been opposing the rapid spread of genetically modified (GM) crops in South African agriculture. It argues that there are health and environmental risks resulting from this technology, and that it diminishes food security and food sovereignty.
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Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009
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Key quote: "ALL THIS FOR A HIGHLY RISKY INDUSTRY THAT HAS TURNED A PROFIT ONLY ONE YEAR IN THE PAST FOUR DECADES."
Where a textile mill once drove the economy of this blue-collar town northeast of Charlotte, an imposing neoclassical complex is rising, filled with fine art, Italian marble and multimillion-dollar laboratory equipment. Three buildings, one topped by a giant dome, form the beginnings of what has been nicknamed the Biopolis, a research campus dedicated to biotechnology.
At $500 million and counting, the Biopolis, officially called the North Carolina Research Campus, is a product of a national race to attract the biotechnology industry, a current grail of economic development.
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Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009
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Despite industry claims of higher yields from biotech corn and soybeans, much of the increase can be tied to other improvements in agriculture, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The Union of Concerned Scientists said its review found genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant soybeans and corn did not increase yields compared with conventional methods. Still, farmers embraced the technology partly because of lower energy costs and convenience associated with applying pesticides.
It also found another variety, BT corn, contributed to about 3.3 percent of the estimated 28 percent increase in corn yields since it was made available commercially in 1996. BT crops are resistant to certain insects.
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Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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Organic seed producer Frank Morton has been warning people for years that genetically modified organisms pose a serious threat to the Willamette Valley’s vegetable seed industry.
Now he thinks his worst GMO nightmare may be coming true.
Roundup Ready sugarbeets — a patented variety engineered by Monsanto to tolerate the company’s widely used Roundup herbicide — have turned up in a soil mixture being sold to gardeners at a Corvallis landscaping supply business just a few miles from Morton’s fields.
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Posted on Sunday, June 07, 2009
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Roundup Ready crops have made weed control much easier for farmers, but a new study shows their reliance on the technology may be weakening the herbicide's ability to control weeds.
Bill Johnson, a Purdue University associate professor of weed science, said farmers who plant Roundup Ready crops and spray Roundup or glyphosate-based herbicides almost exclusively are finding that weedshave developed resistance. It is only a matter of time, Johnson said, before there are so many resistant weeds that the use of glyphosate
products would become much less effective in some places.
"We have weeds that have developed resistance, including giant ragweed, which is one of the weeds that drove the adoption of Roundup," Johnson said. "It's a pretty major issue in the Eastern Corn Belt. That weed can cause up to 100 percent yield loss."
Johnson was part of a team, including Steve Weller, a Purdue professor of horticulture and landscape architecture, that surveyed farmers in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska and North Carolina about their views on the ability of Roundup Ready crops to help control problematic weeds. A paper on the survey was published in the most
recent edition of the journal Weed Technology. Researchers from Iowa State University, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Nebraska and Southern Illinois University Carbondale also contributed.
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Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009
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