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There are four reasons why I believe much more rigorous testing
than has so far been carried out is required to ensure that
GM foods really are safe:
1. Genes may have different effects in different gene complexes.
A classic example is the Hox genes some of which have very
different effects in different phyla of animals, plants and
micro-organisms. Therefore more stringent testing is required
to check against unintended harmful effects where the genes
being transferred come from very different organisms than
when they come from closely related species.
2. Genes are often pleiotropic (i.e. have many different
effects), so a gene may have an effect other than the intended
one. It is therefore essential that every GMO is thoroughly
tested for any harmful unintended effects. Such testing needs
to be far more rigorous than that of cultivars produced through
traditional breeding techniques, particularly where the introduced
gene comes from a very different type of organism.
3. Early GMOs used antibiotic resistance genes as markers
for the gene that was being transferred. Such genes can occasionally
be picked up by micro-organisms. We are currently suffering
from far too profligate use of antibiotics in people and farm
animals such that a great many pathogens now exhibit multiple
drug resistance. The use of antibiotic resistance genes as
markers in GMOs should be banned. Further, careful scrutiny
of any other marker genes is very important for the reasons
given in (1) and (2) above.
4. The precautionary principle should apply: unless a particular
GMO is seen to have substantial 'benefits', then it should
not be authorised for release, even if it appears to have
no harmful medical or health effects. By 'benefits' I mean
benefit not just to the manufacturer and the farmer, but also
to the consumer and the environment, and it should also have
no harmful effects on neighbouring landowners (who may, for
example, be trying to farm organically).
Malcolm Edmunds, Professor of Zoology
Department of Environmental Science
University of Central Lancashire
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