Vandalised crop trials, claims of "Frankenstein foods" and persistent concerns over environmental and public safety – genetically modified organisms rarely fail to generate controversy.
The latest development in the decades-long GMO saga is the government's recent announcement that it is introducing a Federal Law on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms.
The Cabinet-approved law is designed to safeguard public health from risks linked to GMOs or their products.
The rules are likely to "reflect people's priorities and preferences in the country", according to Lynn Frewer, a professor of food and society at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. "It might be an attempt to generate trust in the regulatory practices, as it's responding to public views," Prof Frewer said.
The depth of feeling and concern that GMOs can generate is considerable.
In some parts of the world, particularly Europe, anti-GMO protesters have taken direct action.
Few know this better than Prof Wendy Harwood, a senior scientist at the John Innes Centre, a plant sciences research institute in Norwich in East England.
Prof Harwood was running a trial on genetically modified barley in 2001 when activists attacked the project.
“People came in and destroyed it here on the John Innes Centre site,” she said.
The new law in the UAE comes a year after it was announced that Dubai Central Laboratory was carrying out screening of foods to ensure that GMOs were labelled correctly.
In 2011, a study by scientists at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority confirmed that GMO foods were being sold in the Emirates, with 16 out of 128 food samples tested containing GMO material, mostly soya or corn.
The authors noted at the time that there was "no legislation on GM labelling and the cultivation of GM crops in the UAE".
Currently, about one in three countries worldwide has mandatory GMO labelling.
Habiba Al Marashi, the chairwoman of Emirates Environmental Group, said that consumer choice was important.
"EEG believes it can be left to the consumers to choose whether they would like to purchase an organic, GMO or alternatively grown product, on the condition that the consumers have been educated and given enough awareness," she said.
With Europe having long had significant opposition to the growing of GMOs, the United States has led the way in their use, with commercial growing starting there in the mid-1990s.
Part of the GMO controversy stems from what some GM plants have been engineered for. An example is soya engineered for resistance to a herbicide, Roundup, which allows growers to apply the herbicide and kill other plants while leaving the crop intact.
Such applications of GMO technology have led the environmental group Greenpeace to say that the growing of GMOs has resulted in greater pesticide and chemical use.
There has also been an effect on public opinion.
“There’s evidence people perceive the benefits to accrue to producers ... and they’re very small to consumers,” said Prof Frewer, who has been a member of a scientific advisory board on GM and sustainable food production at Mistra, a Swedish environmental research foundation.
Genetic engineering dates back to the 1970s, with early experiments involving bacteria and mice.
GMOs, whether mammals, plants, bacteria or fungi, have had genes added to their genetic material after those genes were isolated from another organism.
Genes from everything from bacteria to fish can be transferred into plants, with one celebrated example involving the transfer of an antifreeze gene from a fish into tomatoes.
Environmental campaigners are concerned that genes inserted into GM plants could escape into wild plants, with ecological consequences – for example, if a gene that made a crop plant resistant to an insect pest was taken up by wild plants, it could devastate populations of that insect.
At a discussion at the UAE's Federal National Council in 2014, members were told that the concerns linked to GMOs were about their potential environmental and biodiversity effects, not food safety.
More recently, a technique known as gene editing was developed. This involves using specialised proteins that can make precise changes to an organism's genetic material, which can include adding or removing a section of DNA.
Advocates of GM technology argue that while the GM crops and health concerns over GM food generate controversy, other applications of the same technology are widely accepted.
Prof Johnathan Napier, who has genetically engineered crops to produce fish oils that offer health benefits, said insulin injected by diabetics, washing powders and cheese ingredients are all often produced by GMOs.
“The evidence that they are safe for human health and the environment is overwhelmingly compelling. I certainly wouldn’t be doing my experiments if I thought there was a risk,” he said.
Greenpeace, meanwhile, states in a briefing document that while "giant agricultural firms" say GMOs are not harmful to people, "the world doesn't have enough evidence to make that absolute claim".
Prof Harwood, who says that GMO crop trials today generate less controversy than they used to, insists that whether a plant is a GMO is irrelevant to the question of whether it is safe to eat or is environmentally hazardous.
She said assessments should be carried out on a case-by-case basis, because “the method itself is safe”.
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
more from Janine di Giovanni
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
