Section One: Cautions about GMO
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0000008#journal-pbio-0000008-t001Opinions differ on this, however, and seem to follow the United States–European Union divide over the use of GM crops. Kaare Nielsen, microbial geneticist at Norway's University of Tromsø, is one of the few scientists to find examples of horizontal gene transfer. “There are actually very few studies and most of the ones conducted have been on first-generation plants,” Nielsen explains. Given that plant DNA can last in soil for over two years, Nielsen does not believe the possibility can be dismissed and argues that long-term studies are necessary. Work continues in this area in Europe.
The lack of baseline ecological data—even agreeing on what an appropriate baseline is—presents a substantial knowledge gap to environmental impact assessments. Scientists, including Nielsen, wonder whether there could be unexpected risk factors. Allison Snow, weed expert at Ohio State University, agrees with what many feel is the most important risk—the inability to anticipate all the effects. “Do we know all of the right questions we should be asking?” she wonders, adding, “Genes are complicated and can interact.” For these reasons, identifying factors that regulate weed and pest populations and determining how microbial community changes affect larger ecosystems are important areas of research.
Section Two: Overall considerations
A Different Article outlining dangers
© 2000 Nathan B. Batalion, Published by Americans for Safe Food. Oneonta, N.Y. Email batalionn@earthlink.net
The National Academy of Science released a report that GM products introduce new allergens, toxins, disruptive chemicals, soil-polluting ingredients, mutated species and unknown protein combinations into our bodies and into the whole environment. This may also raise existing allergens to new heights as well as reduce nutritional content. Even within the FDA, prominent scientists have repeatedly expressed profound fears and reservations. Their voices were muted not for cogent scientific reasons but due to political pressures from the Bush administration to buttress the nascent biotech industry.
A four-year study at the University of Jena in Germany conducted by Hans-Hinrich Kaatz revealed that bees ingesting pollen from transgenic rapeseed had bacteria in their gut with modified genes. This is called a "horizontal gene transfer." Commonly found bacteria and microorganisms in the human gut help maintain a healthy intestinal flora. These, however, can be mutated.
Section Three: Economic considerations
For example, two bioengineering firms have announced a GM vanilla plant where vanilla can be grown in vats at a lower cost – and which could eliminate the livelihood of the world’s 100,000 vanilla farmers – most of whom are on the islands of Madagascar, Reunion and Comoros. Other firms are developing bioengineered fructose, besides chemical sugar substitutes, that threatens, according to a Dutch study, a million farmers in the Third World. In 1986, the Sudan lost its export of gum arabic when a New York company discovered a bioengineering process for producing the same. Synthetic cocoa substitutes are also threatening farmers. It is estimated that the biotech industry will find at least $14 billion dollars of substitutes for Third World farming products. Far beyond hydroponics, scientists are developing processes to grow foods in solely laboratory environments – eliminating the need for seeds, shrubs, trees, soil and ultimately the farmer.
Section Four: Dosing ourselves with medicine when we think we are merely eating food
The bio-engineering crowd thinks that it a good idea to implant a needed medicine into a plant. Theoretically this might be wise - if a farmer can dose a herd of cattle with antibiotics simply by feeding them -what could be wrong with that?
But if the foodstuff thus innoculated with meds instead gets mixed up and put into the human food chain, there could be many complications. Many Americans are now ingesting complicated medines into the bloodstream -what happens to such a person if additionally they consume a medicine meant for an animal the next time they reach into a bowl of corn Chips. (This is pretty much what happened with the Starlink disaster of several years ago.)
The use of microbes and their gene products introduces additional considerations to the toxicological dose-response relationship, including a need to determine the plausibility of infectious and immunological effects in association with human exposure to these biopesticides in food or the environment.
Section Five: Other dangers -- Those posed to soil
From Ronnie Cummins
Scientists in Oregon found that a genetically engineered soil microorganism, Klebsiella planticola, completely killed essential soil nutrients. Environmental Protection Agency whistle blowers issued similar warnings in 1997 protesting government approval of a GE soil bacteria called Rhizobium melitoli.