• Marks & Spencer (M&S) has been caught with its pants down. The environmental campaigning organization Friends of the Earth (FoE) suggested to the British high street retailer that it will need to offer a choice of GM-free underwear to its clientele unless it is to suffer the kind of consumer backlash that savaged the food sector. FoE has implied that it will launch a "Frankenpants" campaign, drawing public attention to the fact that M&S cannot guarantee that the cotton in its underwear is not derived from genetically modified (GM) plants. Although M&S has not made any commitment on the Y-front, it has guaranteed that its Christmas turkeys will have been fattened on a GM-free diet.

• Having deliberately scared the adult population over GM food, FoE is now using its "Kids Matters" supplement to recruit junior worriers to the cause. The "Frankenchow" campaign encourages kids to read labels and insist on GM-free pet food. Its misplaced campaign might be explained by FoE's clear belief in genetic determinism ("Genes contain all the information, for example, for how people look."). Or by the lack of judgment shown by its youth and education officer: Among the pets she admits to owning are a giant African land snail, a snake, and an iguana—none of them native to her hometown of Stratford, London.

• John Jackson, the chairman of Britain's largest biotechnology company, Celltech Chiroscience, entered the GM crop fray when he expressed concerns about the effects of the crops on human health and the environment. Jackson is chairman of the Countryside Alliance, an organization that campaigns on behalf of rural dwellers and landowners. Among its contributions to the peace of the rural idyll are its campaigns supporting fox hunting with dogs, hare coursing (a live hare is chased across a set distance by a hunting dog), and ferreting.

• Pressure is building on the South African government from environmental scientists and activists to impose a moratorium on GM crop planting. A review of legislation commissioned by the environmental group, Biowatch South Africa, points to "anomalies and loopholes" in legislation that allow companies to monitor the environmental impact of their own plantings and to evade liability for damage.

• In mid August, Greenpeace reported net income of $101 million and profits of $7 million.