Tan & Blon
Thu, Jul-10-03, 19:14
A Biological Apocalypse Barely Averted. What About Next Time?
A Biological Apocalypse Averted Book Excerpt: The Food
Revolution by John Robbins
These [genetically engineered] products are absolutely safe.
For the most part you wouldn't know [if you were eating them]
but the point being that you wouldn't need to know.
- Bryan Hurley, Monsanto spokesperson
There is a great deal of controversy about the safety of
genetically engineered foods. Advocates of biotechnology
often say that the risks are overblown. "There have been
25,000 trials of genetically modified crops in the world,
now, and not a single incident, or anything dangerous in
these releases," said a spokesman for Adventa Holdings, a
UK biotech firm.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, then-candidate
George W. Bush said that "study after study has shown no
evidence of danger." And Clinton Administration
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said that "test after
rigorous scientific test" had proven the safety of
genetically engineered products.
Is this the case? Unfortunately not, according to a
senior researcher from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, Dr. Jane Rissler. With a Ph.D. in plant
pathology, four years of shaping biotechnology
regulations at the EPA, she is one of the nation's
leading authorities on the environmental risks of
genetically engineered foods. Dr. Rissler has been
closely monitoring the trials and studies.
"The observations that 'nothing happened' in these...
tests do not say much," she and her colleague Dr.
Margaret Mellon (a member of the USDA Advisory Committee
on Agricultural Biotechnology) write. "The field tests
do not provide a track record of safety, but a case of
'don't look, don't find.'"
When scientists actually look, what they see can be
terrifying. A few years ago, a German biotech company
engineered a common soil bacterium, Klebsiella
planticola, to help break down wood chips, corn stalks,
wastes from lumber businesses and agriculture, and to
produce ethanol in the process. It seemed like a great
achievement. The genetically engineered Klebsiella
bacterium could help break down rotting organic material
and in the process produce a fuel that could be used
instead of gasoline, thus lessening the production of
greenhouse gases.
It was assumed that the post-process waste could be added
to soil as an amendment, like compost. Everybody would
win. With the approval of the EPA, the company field
tested the bacterium at Oregon State University.
As far as the intended goals were concerned - eliminating
rotting organic waste and producing ethanol - the
genetically engineered bacterium was a success. But when
a doctoral student named Michael Holmes decided to add
the post-processed waste to actual living soil, something
happened that no one expected. The seeds that were
planted in soil mixed with the engineered Klebsiella
sprouted, but then every single one of them died.
What killed them? The genetically engineered Klebsiella
turned out to be highly competitive with native soil
micro-organisms. Plants are only able to take nitrogen
and other nourishment from the soil with the help of
fungi called mycorrhizae. These fungi live in the soil
and help make nutrients available to plant roots. But
when the genetically engineered Klebsiella was introduced
into living soils, it greatly reduced the population of
mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. And without healthy
mycorrhizal fungi in soils, no plants can survive.
It is testimony to the amazing powers of science that
researchers were able to track the mechanism by which the
genetically engineered Klebsiella prevented plants from
growing. There are thousands of different species of
microorganisms in every teaspoon of fertile soil, and
they interact in trillions of ways.
But the scientists discovered something else in these
experiments, something that sent chills down their
spines. They found that the genetically modified bacteria
were able to persist in the soil, raising the possibility
that, had it been released, the genetically engineered
Klebsiella could have become established - and virtually
impossible to eradicate.
"When the data first started coming in," says Elaine
Ingham, the soil pathologist at Oregon State University
who directed Michael Holmes' research on Klebsiella,
"the EPA charged that we couldn't have per-formed the
research correctly. They went through everything with a
fine tooth comb, and they couldn't find anything wrong
with the experimental design - but they tried as hard as
they could... If we hadn't done this research, the
Klebsiella would have passed the approval process for
commercial release."
Geneticist David Suzuki understands that what took place
was truly ominous. "The genetically engineered
Klebsiella," he says, "could have ended all plant life on
this continent. The implications of this single case are
nothing short of terrifying."
Meanwhile Monsanto and the other biotech companies are
eagerly developing all kinds of genetically modified
organisms, hoping to bring them to market. How do we know
if they're safe? According to Suzuki: "We don't, and
won't for years after they are being widely used.''
It's not a prospect that helps calm the nerves and
restore confidence in our collective future. Surely,
I've wanted to believe, when the chips are down,
scientists and researchers would never do anything that
would jeopardize life on Earth. Surely, the people who
run these companies - and the government officials who
oversee them - would never allow something that
dangerous to occur.
But then again, this wouldn't be the first time that
corporations like Monsanto have brought us new products
they promised would make life better for everybody and
that turned out to do something very different. This is
the same company, after all, that brought us PCBs and
Agent Orange. Even the product the company was originally
formed to produce, the artificial sweetener saccharin,
was later found to be carcinogenic.
Of course, Monsanto tells us that this time we don't
have to worry.
GE Crops Can't Be Contained A test conducted by the Wall
Street Journal found that 16 of 20 vegetarian foods
labeled as being "free" of genetically engineered products
actually contained GE soybeans. As Arran Stephens,
president of Nature's Path Foods, noted: "You cannot build
a wall high enough" to prevent genetic pollution of wild
and organic crops.
In August, a team of Belgian researchers were surprised
to discover that Monsanto's GE soybeans contained "a DNA
segment... for which no sequence homology could be
detected." "No one knows what this extra gene sequence is
[or]... what its effects will be," said Greenpeace-UK's
Doug Parr. "If Monsanto did not even get this most basic
information right, what should we think about the
validity of all their safety tests?"
John Robbins is the author of Diet for a New America and
founder of EarthSave International. Excerpted with permission
from Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Save your Life and the
World [Conari Press, 2550 Ninth St., Suite 101, Berkeley, CA
94710, (510) 649-7175]. http://www.earthisland.org
A Biological Apocalypse Averted Book Excerpt: The Food
Revolution by John Robbins
These [genetically engineered] products are absolutely safe.
For the most part you wouldn't know [if you were eating them]
but the point being that you wouldn't need to know.
- Bryan Hurley, Monsanto spokesperson
There is a great deal of controversy about the safety of
genetically engineered foods. Advocates of biotechnology
often say that the risks are overblown. "There have been
25,000 trials of genetically modified crops in the world,
now, and not a single incident, or anything dangerous in
these releases," said a spokesman for Adventa Holdings, a
UK biotech firm.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, then-candidate
George W. Bush said that "study after study has shown no
evidence of danger." And Clinton Administration
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said that "test after
rigorous scientific test" had proven the safety of
genetically engineered products.
Is this the case? Unfortunately not, according to a
senior researcher from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, Dr. Jane Rissler. With a Ph.D. in plant
pathology, four years of shaping biotechnology
regulations at the EPA, she is one of the nation's
leading authorities on the environmental risks of
genetically engineered foods. Dr. Rissler has been
closely monitoring the trials and studies.
"The observations that 'nothing happened' in these...
tests do not say much," she and her colleague Dr.
Margaret Mellon (a member of the USDA Advisory Committee
on Agricultural Biotechnology) write. "The field tests
do not provide a track record of safety, but a case of
'don't look, don't find.'"
When scientists actually look, what they see can be
terrifying. A few years ago, a German biotech company
engineered a common soil bacterium, Klebsiella
planticola, to help break down wood chips, corn stalks,
wastes from lumber businesses and agriculture, and to
produce ethanol in the process. It seemed like a great
achievement. The genetically engineered Klebsiella
bacterium could help break down rotting organic material
and in the process produce a fuel that could be used
instead of gasoline, thus lessening the production of
greenhouse gases.
It was assumed that the post-process waste could be added
to soil as an amendment, like compost. Everybody would
win. With the approval of the EPA, the company field
tested the bacterium at Oregon State University.
As far as the intended goals were concerned - eliminating
rotting organic waste and producing ethanol - the
genetically engineered bacterium was a success. But when
a doctoral student named Michael Holmes decided to add
the post-processed waste to actual living soil, something
happened that no one expected. The seeds that were
planted in soil mixed with the engineered Klebsiella
sprouted, but then every single one of them died.
What killed them? The genetically engineered Klebsiella
turned out to be highly competitive with native soil
micro-organisms. Plants are only able to take nitrogen
and other nourishment from the soil with the help of
fungi called mycorrhizae. These fungi live in the soil
and help make nutrients available to plant roots. But
when the genetically engineered Klebsiella was introduced
into living soils, it greatly reduced the population of
mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. And without healthy
mycorrhizal fungi in soils, no plants can survive.
It is testimony to the amazing powers of science that
researchers were able to track the mechanism by which the
genetically engineered Klebsiella prevented plants from
growing. There are thousands of different species of
microorganisms in every teaspoon of fertile soil, and
they interact in trillions of ways.
But the scientists discovered something else in these
experiments, something that sent chills down their
spines. They found that the genetically modified bacteria
were able to persist in the soil, raising the possibility
that, had it been released, the genetically engineered
Klebsiella could have become established - and virtually
impossible to eradicate.
"When the data first started coming in," says Elaine
Ingham, the soil pathologist at Oregon State University
who directed Michael Holmes' research on Klebsiella,
"the EPA charged that we couldn't have per-formed the
research correctly. They went through everything with a
fine tooth comb, and they couldn't find anything wrong
with the experimental design - but they tried as hard as
they could... If we hadn't done this research, the
Klebsiella would have passed the approval process for
commercial release."
Geneticist David Suzuki understands that what took place
was truly ominous. "The genetically engineered
Klebsiella," he says, "could have ended all plant life on
this continent. The implications of this single case are
nothing short of terrifying."
Meanwhile Monsanto and the other biotech companies are
eagerly developing all kinds of genetically modified
organisms, hoping to bring them to market. How do we know
if they're safe? According to Suzuki: "We don't, and
won't for years after they are being widely used.''
It's not a prospect that helps calm the nerves and
restore confidence in our collective future. Surely,
I've wanted to believe, when the chips are down,
scientists and researchers would never do anything that
would jeopardize life on Earth. Surely, the people who
run these companies - and the government officials who
oversee them - would never allow something that
dangerous to occur.
But then again, this wouldn't be the first time that
corporations like Monsanto have brought us new products
they promised would make life better for everybody and
that turned out to do something very different. This is
the same company, after all, that brought us PCBs and
Agent Orange. Even the product the company was originally
formed to produce, the artificial sweetener saccharin,
was later found to be carcinogenic.
Of course, Monsanto tells us that this time we don't
have to worry.
GE Crops Can't Be Contained A test conducted by the Wall
Street Journal found that 16 of 20 vegetarian foods
labeled as being "free" of genetically engineered products
actually contained GE soybeans. As Arran Stephens,
president of Nature's Path Foods, noted: "You cannot build
a wall high enough" to prevent genetic pollution of wild
and organic crops.
In August, a team of Belgian researchers were surprised
to discover that Monsanto's GE soybeans contained "a DNA
segment... for which no sequence homology could be
detected." "No one knows what this extra gene sequence is
[or]... what its effects will be," said Greenpeace-UK's
Doug Parr. "If Monsanto did not even get this most basic
information right, what should we think about the
validity of all their safety tests?"
John Robbins is the author of Diet for a New America and
founder of EarthSave International. Excerpted with permission
from Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Save your Life and the
World [Conari Press, 2550 Ninth St., Suite 101, Berkeley, CA
94710, (510) 649-7175]. http://www.earthisland.org