Biotech Updates

EU Opens Doors to GM Carnations from Australia

June 8, 2007

Florigene, an Australian company that breeds flowers using genetic modification, got the go signal to market genetically modified carnations and to sell them as cut flowers in the European Union (EU) for 10 years. The approval, which does not allow cultivation of the plant, was made by the EU Commission on the basis of a safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority.

The carnation, named Moonlite, contains petunia genes that provide the blue color. It will be available in European flower shops as soon as Florigene provides a detection method and a label or document that identifies the flowers as GM.

The full story is at http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/messages/200706.docu.html#124.