From - Fri Mar 07 17:15:13 1997
Eminent Scientists Comment on the Dangers of Genetically
Engineered Foods
(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
Richard Wolfson, PhD
Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Food
Natural Law Party
500 Wilbrod Street Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2
Tel. 613-565-8517 Fax. 613-565-6546
E-Mail: rwolfson@concentric.net
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