Genetic Engineering
- going cautiously into the future

One of the "triumphs" of the twentieth century was supposedly the discovery of genes and the accompanying birth of genetic engineering, the ability to modify the genetic makeup of an organism. This new science promised the invention of new, improved crops and livestock, marking the end of the era of haphazard breeding methods.

Why then has there been a growing uproar, starting in Europe and now spreading to other parts of the world, over this new technology? If genetic modifications are such a useful tool in precisely tailoring crops and other organisms, as compared to the much less efficient processes of hybridisation and selective breeding, then why are consumers and politicians everywhere up in arms against GM crops and food products?

What is Genetic Engineering and how far has it come?

Genetic engineering is the science of tinkering with the genetic makeup of an organism by adding or deleting specific genes. The products of genetic engineering, Genetically Modified (GM) organisms have new, useful traits such as fungal resistance for crop plants or the ability for microbes to produce antibiotics.

Even with the tide turning against GM crops, the odds look good for it's increasing integration with mainstream "traditional" agriculture. Back in 1990, it would have been impossible to find any GM crops in commercial cultivation anywhere. Yet by the close of 1999, approximately 40 million hectares (100 million acres) will be covered with them, an estimate (by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech applications) quoted in The Economist. Some GM crops, in particular a certain strain of herbicide-resistant soybean, have become so widespread that finding the unmodified variety has become difficult. Food manufacturers trying to avoid the GM variety previously relied on old stockpiles or countries like Brazil. But now even Brazil is joining the group of nations which has embraced GM strongly: America, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China and Mexico. (Today however, the amounts of GM crops being planted has waned slightly in the face of consumer pressure.)

In Europe however (which has always imported its soybeans), only Spain has significant commercial plantings of GM crops. Current legislature allows European nations to refuse GM crops already approved by the European Commission, upon finding new any new risk. Recently, France, Austria and Luxembourg used this provision to reject several strains of GM maize and oilseed rape. On the whole, although nine varieties of modified crops have been approved for planting in the EU since 1994, the ensuing outcry has meant that no new strains have been added in over two years.

What do consumers think?

Even as many European governments reject genetically modified crops, consumers there are raising even stauncher opposition to the whole industry of genetically modified foods. Their objections run along three main lines: firstly, that genetic tinkering is inherently unnatural and morally reprehensible (since it is equivalent to playing god); secondly, that GM food is unhealthy and potentially dangerous; lastly, that GM crops will harm the environment and affect biodiversity.

Is GM amoral?

On the first count of being unnatural and amoral, the fact is that all of agriculture is pretty much unnatural - there is nothing natural about seedless grapes or flightless chickens or corn that does not fling its seeds away as its ancestors did. Humans have spent centuries modifying various plants and animals by selecting and cross-breeding them for certain traits. The dairy cows of today can produce up to 12 litres of milk a day (over 4 times what "natural" cows would produce) so much that their calves would die if they were allowed to suckle from their mother. Of course, this does not mean that genetically modifying plants and animals is either "natural" or moral, just pretty much the same as all other agricultural processes.

Is GM safe?

The second argument about safety is mostly sensationalism based on ignorance. As yet, not scientifically reputable study has shown that any GM product currently on the shelves is toxic to consumers. (The scientific community has largely discredited a much-publicised report on the toxicity of GM potatoes.) Of course, consumers are right to be worried since accidents do happen (a brazil-nut gene transferred to soybeans made some nut-allergic people display allergic reactions during trials). However, the point to note is that there are extensive testing procedures in place to check on the safety of GM food products long before they reach the consumer. Also, food companies have no interest in promoting products that would harm consumers and devastate their corporate image.

A good dose of scepticism is healthy though, when sorting out the claims of scientists and GM food companies. Despite what they might say about the "safety" and "accuracy" of genetically modifying organisms, and how the insertion of a "single gene" could not conceivably harm people, the fact is that the technology is very much in its infancy and remarkably inaccurate. Scientists often use what's known as the "shotgun" method to hopefully insert the desired gene into the host cell (which does not always happen). And even if the gene is inserted, the location is largely random, often disrupting existing genes and sometimes interacting with other nearby genes to produce weird results. Also valid is the possibility that GM food will turn out to be harmful in the long term. Scientific trials seldom last longer than 10 years (or even 5), and the effects of many other well-known scientific disasters (DDT, CFCs) did not reveal themselves for several decades. And since certain modifications include having crop plants produce their own internal insecticide (which cannot be washed off), consumers cannot be blamed for being wary.

GM and the environment

The last concern about the environment is the most possible, yet also the one with the least reliable data. Possible damage to the environment includes the "spreading" of transplanted genes from GM crops to related wild species, creating "superweeds" with insecticidal properties or herbicide-resistance. These hybrid organisms would then proceed to dominate the environment with their superior characteristics (a la rabbits in Australia or rats in New Zealand). While GM field tests in the UK currently must be sited at least 50 metres from agricultural fields, monitoring exercises have found that both wind and honeybees can carry the pollen up to 20 times these distances (no surprise to anyone with any knowledge of how pollen works).

Another widely-publicised experiment, proving that the pollen of a certain GM crop could be toxic when accidentally eaten by the caterpillars of Monarch butterflies, shows the potential risk to non-pest insects from crops with the insecticide gene. Also scary is the idea that Gm microbes (designed to clean up oil slicks or digest metal ores) could escape into the environment, where they would be virtually impossible to recover. Rather like Pandora's Box. The message: handle with extreme caution. consumers cannot be blamed for being wary.

Advocates of genetic engineering point out that agriculture is inherently damaging to the environment, since forests have to be cleared to make way for farmland. Thus, only if genetic modifications cause greater environmental damage than present farming practices (already horribly polluting) would there be a reason to reject GM crops. Also, some genetic modifications are meant to benefit the environment. For instance, the amount of insecticide used on cotton fields in the USA has fallen by two thirds since the widespread switch to insect-resistant cotton strains. Of course, the problem with GM organisms is that the scale of the potential problems is so great that we cannot afford to be careless.

References:
The Economist, "Food for Thought" 19 June 1999
Geographical, "All in the Genes", Nick Middleton, December 1999

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