Ethical Investing
Eminent Scientists Comment on the Dangers of Genetically Engineered Foods
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(Prepared by the Natural Law Party of New Zealand)
Professor Richard Lacey, microbiologist, medical doctor, and Professor of
Food Safety at Leeds University has become one of the best-known figures of
food science since his prediction of the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis made
more than seven years ago. Recently Professor Lacey has spoken out strongly
against the introduction of genetically engineered foods, because of 'the
essentially unlimited health risks' _ "The fact is, it is virtually impossible to
even conceive of a testing procedure to assess the health effects of genetically
engineered foods when introduced into the food chain, nor is there any valid
nutritional or public interest reason for their introduction."
Professor Mae Wan-Ho, of the UK Open University Department of Biology
says, "Genetic engineering bypasses conventional breeding by using artificially
constructed parasitic genetic elements, including viruses, as vectors to carry and
smuggle genes into cells. Once inside cells, these vectors slot themselves into the
host genome. The insertion of foreign genes into the host genome has long been
known to have many harmful and fatal effects including cancer of the
organism."
Professor Dennis Parke of University of Surrey School of Biological Sciences,
a former chief advisor on food safety to Unilever Corporation and British
advisor to the US FDA on safety aspects of biotechnology writes: "In 1983,
hundreds of people in Spain died after consuming adulterated rapeseed oil. This
adulterated rapeseed oil was not toxic to rats". Dr Parke warns that current
testing procedures for genetically altered foods including rodent tests are not
proving safety for humans. He has suggested a moratorium on the release of
genetically engineered organisms, foods, and medicines.
Dr Peter Wills, theoretical biologist at Auckland University writes: "Genes
encode proteins involved in the control of virtually all biological processes. By
transferring genes across species barriers which have existed for aeons between
species like humans and sheep we risk breaching natural thresholds against
unexpected biological processes. For example, an incorrectly folded form of an
ordinary cellular protein can under certain circumstances be replicative and
give rise to infectious neurological disease".
Dr Joseph Cummins, Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of
Western Ontario warns: "Probably the greatest threat from genetically altered
crops is the insertion of modified virus and insect virus genes into crops. It has
been shown in the laboratory that genetic recombination will create highly
virulent new viruses from such constructions. Certainly the widely used
cauliflower mosaic virus is a potentially dangerous gene. It is a pararetrovirus
meaning that it multiplies by making DNA from RNA messages. It is very
similar to the Hepatitis B virus and related to HIV. Modified viruses could cause
famine by destroying crops or cause human and animal diseases of tremendous
power."
Dr John Fagan, an award winning microbiologist and cancer researcher,
Professor of Microbiology at Maharishi University of Management, has
renounced $3 million in US government research grants to publicise the
dangers of misuse of biotechnology. He advocates a science-based precautionary
approach requiring the labelling of all novel foods. He says "without labelling it
will be very difficult for scientists to trace the source of new illness caused by
genetically engineered food".
The British Retail Consortium which represents over 90% of food retailers in
the UK has issued a policy statement calling for clear labelling of foods
produced using genetic engineering: "Retailers in the UK and Europe as a
whole are clear that the preservation of consumer choice is paramount, and that
substantial work over several years on product ingredient traceability should
not be compromised". The Consortium has decided to boycott suppliers of raw
ingredients who cannot guarantee that natural foods are kept separate from
those produced using genetic engineering.
Dr Norman Ellstrand, Professor of Genetics at the University of California, is
one of the world's leading authorities in genetic engineering. He comments on
the economic implications for farmers of gene exchange between crops and
weedy relatives. "We see this as a multi-million dollar problem. In Europe,
there is already a big problem with gene flow between wild beet and cultivated
beet. Oil-seed rape also has close relatives and is going to cause problems in the
future. One would expect that the kind of genes that are now being engineered
are going to be the ones that have a higher potentiality for causing trouble".
Dr Michael Antoniou, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Pathology at a London
teaching hospital says, "the generation of genetically engineered plants and
animals involves the random integration of artificial combinations of genetic
material from unrelated species into the DNA of the host organism. This
procedure results in disruption of the genetic blueprint of the organism with
totally unpredictable consequences. The unexpected production of toxic
substances has now been observed in genetically engineered bacteria, yeast,
plants, and animals with the problem remaining undetected until a major health
hazard has arisen. Moreover, genetically engineered food or enzymatic food
processing agents may produce an immediate effect or it could take years for
full toxicity to come to light." Because genetically engineered foods reproduce
themselves and can never be recalled from the environment, Dr Antoniou
warns of an unprecedented health risk for humanity
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