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Gene Tinkering: YOU Are The Mice And They Don't Want You to Know
GENE TINKERING BLUES
Volume 1 Issue 3 August 1996
by Prof. Joe Cummins, Professor Emeritus of Genetics, University of
Western Ontario
GENETIC EXPERIMENTS THREATEN SOUTHERN ONTARIO
During the past year gene tinkered crops have begun to flood the
marketplace. These crops need not be labeled nor have they been tested to
assure their safety both for humans and for the environment. Such
production is going forward even though there is clear evidence that about
one in ten tinkered genes escapes from its original crop and spreads to
weedy relatives. The crops designed to resist viruses incorporate virus
genes that recombine with wild viruses to create stronger
(super) races of viruses. The greed of multinational companies that own
most tinkered crops drives them to risk human and environmental injury
>from crops that are designed to grow obsolescent from spread to weedy
relatives.
Recently Agriculture Canada began testing a gene tinkered
construction in Southern Ontario that has frightful characteristics. The
population of this area are being used as white mice in a gigantic
experiment. The experiment is a poor one because its results will not be
clearly and carefully recorded and public relations experts from government
and multinational companies will obfuscate the results and trick and
mislead the public about them.
The questionable experiment is to insert a gene for scorpion toxin
into an insect virus then to spray the tinkered virus onto produce crops in
the field. The tinkered virus is now highly potent in destroying insects
both pests and their natural predators and the pollinators.
The scorpion toxin may not be threatening to humans as a toxin
when it is eaten but its impact on cuts and open sores is a concern. Such
toxins are frequently allergens as well as nerve toxins. Food allergy
causes effects ranging from migraine headache to death.
The danger from a small field test is tangible provided the
experiment is not well thought out and controlled. Genetic recombination is
a significant concern in such experiments. The scorpion toxin gene can be
spread by recombination to insects that suck blood as well as insects that
suck plant juice. The virus that acquires a toxin gene will achieve a new
ecological niche and is likely to be a formidable parasite.
SCORPION TOXIN WILL BE SPREAD BY INSECT VIRUSES
GENETIC RECOMBINATION CAN MOVE THE TOXIN GENE
INTO WIDE RANGING INSECT PESTS OF PLANTS AND MAN
Even though it is relatively inexpensive to monitor the scorpion
toxin using a technique called ELISA and to monitor spread of the toxin
gene using PCR (a highly sensitive technique used in genetic
fingerprinting) such monitoring will not be done in Ontario. The reason
that the experiment will not be monitored is the mistaken belief that the
scorpion gene will not be an advantage to the insect virus which will die
out and have to be continually replaced from the company store.
Furthermore, it is equally clear that the agricultural authorities are not
eager to have adverse monitoring reports slow the development of a product
capable of enriching companies beyond their wildest dreams.
The use of a scorpion genes to enhance the killing ability of
insect viruses is not new. Somewhat similar experiments on trees sparked
violent controversy in the United Kingdom. Most of the tests on gene
tinkered crops have been done in the United States and Canada and most of
the marketed gene tinkered products have been released in the United States
and Canada. While the issue has sparked extensive debate in Europe the
extensive testing in North America has mainly been ignored by news media
and government. Most of the huge North American population is unaware of
the testing and marketing of unlabelled gene tinkered crops even though the
populations are totally immersed in news media of rich variety but little
diversity.
The use of microbes to control insects is well established. A
bacterium called Bt has been used to fight insects for many years. The
bacterial toxin that kills insects has been added to the genes of potatoes
and corn among a growing number of crops. Such gene tinkered potatoes are
being marketed in Canada. The gene tinkered crops have two disadvantages,
first the crops promote rapid appearance of resistant crop varieties and
second, the Bt toxin may cause allergies in some people or toxicity in
people taking ulcer medication or antacids(the toxin is inactivated in the
acid environment of the stomach). The gene tinkered insect virus bearing
scorpion toxin will be sprayed on leafy vegetables such as lettuce. People
eaten poorly washed lettuce will ingest modified virus. The toxin is
known to cause allergic responses along with poisoning animals and people.
Furthermore, recent studies show that people may take genes form viruses
or modified food into the genetic makeup of their tissues. Vaccines are
being created by injecting or feeding genes containing the information for
epitope creating the vaccination. However, gene products like scorpion
toxin are very likely to make tissues autoimmune, in turn creating diseases
related to arthritis, Lupus and a range of related conditions. If people
are not made aware of their exposures they will never learn what caused
their diseases.
Gene tinkering has already caused profound alterations on the
environment through the extensive testing programs in Canada and the United
States. Current test are growing riskier all the time even though release
of a carelessly gene tinkered health food product caused death of at least
37 Americans and crippled thousands. We must insure that gene tests and
releases do not kill and maim thousands more.
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