AGRICULTURE-ENVIRONMENT: NEW STUDY
BACKS UP FEARS...
OTC 04.09.98 02:13
WASHINGTON, (Sep. 3) IPS - A just published scientific study bolsters worldwide fears that
biologically engineered organisms will have an adverse affect on other species and the
environment.
The report, released yesterday in the scientific journal Nature, says species of
genetically altered plants examined in field tests showed a dramatically increased ability
to reproduce sexually and spread their modified genes to non-modified plants.
This new finding strengthens the fears of many small farmers, scientists and
environmentalists worldwide who claimed that the modified or added genes of biologically
engineered organisms might "escape" into other related crops or weeds through
sexual reproduction or cross-pollination.
"This is a big deal," says Jane Rissler, a senior scientist with the Union of
Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based advocacy group. "This study confirms one of
the largest fears of what genetically modified plants can do. The flow of genes from
biologically engineered species to wild species could change the genetic diversity and
processes of whole ecosystems."
Chemical and agribusiness corporations have developed a new generation of transgenic or
biologically engineered crops that contain genetic traits from other plants, viruses,
bacteria, and animals. These new plants are designed to perform in ways that could never
have been achieved by scientists working with classical breeding techniques.
Scientists, for example, have inserted "antifreeze" protein genes from flounders
into the genetic code of tomatoes to protect the fruit from frost damage. U.S.-based
Monsanto has altered soyabeans to withstand the herbicides the chemical company
manufactures. And, chicken genes have been inserted into potatoes to increase disease
resistance.
In the new study published by Nature, Joy Bergelson and other scientists at the University
of Chicago in the state of Illinois say that, normally, the risk of a gene spreading to
other plants is low if the plants self-fertilize. Yet, after several field tests,
Bergelson and colleagues report that a genetically engineered plant that was modified to
be resistant to the herbicide chlorsulphuron is unusually promiscuous.
Normally this plant, a weed known scientifically as Arabidopsis thaliana, would
self-fertilize and cross-pollinate. But after its genes were modified, it was 20 times
more likely to pollinate with other thaliana plants that were not genetically modified, or
wild.
Therefore, the researchers say, the study shows that wild thaliana are more likely to be
fertilized by the pollen of biologically altered thaliana rather than self-reproduce.
"Although A. thaliana is unlikely to become a (sexually reproductive plant), these
results show that genetic engineering can substantially increase the probability of
transgene escape, even in a species considered to be almost completely self-
pollinating," says the study.
While the researchers do not know why the plant has become more fertile after being
biologically engineered, they say their findings may have serious consequences since
"this (biologically altered) gene has been introduced into dozens of agricultural
crops."
Researchers, farmers and environmentalists are concerned that transgenic genes for
herbicide tolerance, and pest and disease resistance might escape and through
cross-pollination, insert themselves into weedy relatives or other crops. This would
dramatically alter the balance in ecosystems by creating weeds or crops that are resistant
to herbicides, pests and viruses, says Rissler.
Scientists, for example, have transferred to Indian rice the gene of a naturally occurring
bacteria, called Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, which acts as a pesticide. Biologists that
study bugs worry that this new Bt rice which is pollinated by wind, might spread to wild
grasses that are close relatives. This would lead to pest resistance of the weeds and
increase the likelihood of creating bugs super resistant to pesticides.
The implications of the Nature study have also caused alarm among those concerned about a
new biologically engineering technique that would enable seed companies to switch a
plant's reproductive processes on and off. This means that if farmers attempted to replant
the harvested seed, it would be sterile.
Mississippi-based Delta and Pine Land -- the largest cotton seed corporation in the United
States -- which was recently bought out by the chemical giant Monsanto, has come under
strong criticism for its new technology by farmer organizations in developing countries.
They fear that since many farmers who rely on keeping seeds from a previous harvest for
the next season will suffer the consequences of this new technology even if they do not
buy the modified seed.
"Pollen from crops carrying the new trait will infect the fields of farmers who
either reject or can't afford the technology," says Neth Dano, director of the
Philippines-based SEARICE, an organization that workers with farmers in South-east Asia.
"When farmers reach into their bins to sow seed the following season they could
discover -- too late -- that some of their seed is sterile."
This new seed technology is hardly an isolated case say, farmer organizations. Zeneca
BioSciences, a British corporation, just applied for patents in 58 countries for its new
chemical that works together with a biologically engineered crop to activate or halt genes
crucial to normal plant development.
Farm organizations in developing countries charge that this new invention renders it
impossible to save protected seed from growing season to growing season. Findings from the
new study published in Nature rekindle indicate that this genetic trait might spread
easily to other crops through sexual reproduction.
"Farmers could find that their neighbor bought the technology and it cross-pollinated
into their field, leaving them with dead seeds," says Monica Opole, the Kenya-based
coordinator for the Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation Program.
"Who knows how this technology will interact with nature, especially as it spreads
out over time and inevitably crosses with farmers' varieties."
Copyright 1998