IPS: Activists from 30 countries have taken action against the world's biggest life science companies by taking them to court over the question of genetically-modified food which, they say, represents an attempt to free agriculture from the control of a few .... Spearheading the drive against big business is US biotechnology activist and head of the Foundation on Economic Trends, Jeremy Rifkin. He is leading a campaign that will see activists and farmers from Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America challenge the power of the world's most dominant genetic food engines later this year .... The activists claim that the likes of Monsanto, DuPont, Pioneer Hi-Bred, and Novartis are exploiting bio-technology unfairly and in such a way that they gain control of global agricultural markets.

Modified crops are protected by patents and contracts. Farmers who plant them must promise not to keep seeds for future use. Using new bio-technologies the big corporations are attempting to extend control to the 45 percent of the world economy that is based on biological products by using a patent system designed for machines and making it work with plants and animals, activists say.

PRESS ASSOCIATION, ENGLAND: Scientists have found genetically modified pollen in beehives nearly three miles from an official trial site, according to Friends of the Earth. The first published monitoring results of GM pollen from a farm-scale trial site show GM pollen traveling further than previously detected. It also reveals the threat the trials pose to non-GM and organic farmers, beekeepers and the wider environment, FoE said.... The government's rules for farm-scale trials require only a 50-metre separation between GM crops and other fields.