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Re: Gene Tinkering: YOU Are The Mice And They Don't Want You to Know



In article <aquilla.1193032089A@news.erols.com> on  Fri, 13 Sep 96 
19:54:09 GMT aquilla@erols.com (Tracy Aquilla) wrote:>
>...
> >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.
> 
> I assume this reference is to tryptophan, but as in the rest of your
> post, there is no reference to any literature or evidence to support
> your claim.
> Tryptophan is not a food product and the case in question did not
> involved any "tinkered" gene!
>...

I am not a scientist but what I have read is:

>From  the book "Genetic Engineering: The Hazards, Vedic Engineering: The 
Solutions", Fagan J, MIU Press 1995, p53-54

(I do not have access to ref 13 cited but perhaps someone else could 
summarise the details?)

<<
Genetic manipulations to customize a bacterium for efficient tryptophan 
production

   Several companies use bacterial fermentation to produce tryptophan 
which is sold as a human nutritional supplement. To increase the 
efficiency of tryptophan production, one company Showa Denko, carried 
out extensive genetic modifications of the bacterium used in this 
process. The tryptophan produced by this genetically engineered 
organism was tested according to U.S Food and Drug Administration 
standards, and was cleared for commercial production and sale as a food 
supplement for humans.
   Not satisfied with the efficiency of tryptophan production, this 
company carried out further genetic modifications of this organism. 
These manipulations were successful in greatly increasing output. 
However, Showa Denko decided not to carry out the costly series of 
safety tests that were done with the earlier genetically engineered 
microorganism. The company assumed, based on the earlier tests, that 
the tryptophan produced using the new bacterium was safe and 
immediately began selling it as a nutritional supplement.
   Over the next two years 37 people died, another 1500 were partially 
paralyzed, and 5000 more were temporarily disabled by a syndrome that 
was finally linked to this company's tryptophan (Ref 13). It was 
contaminated with one or more toxic compounds chemically related to 
tryptophan.
   Most likely, the genetic manipulations had increased tryptophan 
production so greatly that the concentrations of tryptophan, within the 
bacteria reached very high levels. As a result, the tryptophan and its 
precursors began to react chemically producing unexpected toxic 
compounds. To date this company has paid over $1 billion in damages, 
and litigation is still in progress.
   There is still controversy regarding the cause of this toxicity. 
since, in addition to using the new genetically engineered bacterium 
this company had also begun to cut corners in the procedure for 
purifying their tryptophan. To protect the good name of genetic 
engineering, the industry has blamed the toxicity on these procedural 
changes, and the company has destroyed the bacterium, so that further 
research cannot be done. However, scientists who have followed this 
incident favor the explanation in which genetic manipulations caused 
the bacteria to generate toxic tryptophan derivatives.
   The question that this example raises is this: If it is impossible 
to predict the consequences of altering the genes of a simple, 
single-celled organism how can genetic engineers say with confidence 
that manipulations of the far more complex human genome will improve 
health and not create new diseases? 

Ref 13: Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and tryptophan production: a 
cautionary tale: Mayeno A N, Gleich G J; Tibtech, 12, 346-352, 1994 
>>

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