In spring 1999, following widespread calls for a halt to the development of genetically modified (GM) crops in the UK, the Government launched a four-year programme of farm scale trials (see glossary). The trials have been designed primarily to answer criticisms from English Nature and others concerned about the environmental impact of GM crops, particularly the secondary effects on biodiversity.
Developing a new variety of rice would not tackle the key cause of vitamin A deficiency. The real causes of hunger and malnutrition are poverty, poor food distribution, lack of land and resources to grow food, and a failure of political will. Experience with 'green revolution' crop varieties suggests that their introduction often results in the use of expensive external inputs - fertilisers and chemical pesticides, without which the crops fail.
Current intensive farming practices rely on the use of artificial chemicals and, unlike organic farming methods, inflict significant environmental damage. Genetic engineering represents an escalation of these intensive farming practices. It threatens the environment and potentially human health and will contaminate non-GM and organic crops.
Of the 40 million hectares of genetically engineered (GE) crops grown throughout the world in 1998, 22% (8.8 million hectares) were varieties developed to be resistant to insects 1 . Most such crops are created by inserting a synthetic version of a gene from the naturally occurring soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), so that the plants produce their own Bt toxins to destroy pests. Insect resistant Bt maize, cotton and potatoes have already been grown extensively on a commercial scale, particularly in the USA, and many other Bt crops are under development (e.g.
Any of the genetically engineered (GE) crops which are already being grown on a commercial scale contain genes which are resistant to antibiotics used for the treatment of diseases in both humans and animals. These genes are unnecessary to the development of the GE plants themselves and could severely undermine the effective treatment of diseases if the antibiotic resistance is transferred to bacteria which are harmful to human and animal health.
Genetic scientists are altering life itself - artificially modifying genes to produce plants and animals which could never have evolved naturally. The products of their labours are already present in the food we eat and the fields around us, even though little is known about the long term effects on human health and the environment.
The risks are enormous and the consequences potentially catastrophic, and yet the new technology is being rapidly introduced into every aspect of our lives with little regard for safety.
"The latest survey shows an on-going collapse of public support for biotechnology and GM foods. At each point in this project, we keep thinking that we have reached the low point and that public thinking will stabilize, but we apparently have not reached that point." - Monsanto internal memo
History has shown that the destructive consequences of new technologies may not become apparent for many years. When Du Pont started to produce CFCs in 1931, for instance, they were believed to be totally harmless. It was not until 1975 that their potential to destroy the ozone layer was first recognised and it took a further ten years for this to receive scientific acknowledgment.
Genetically modified (GM) crops pose a significant threat to the environment through pollution by GM pollen and the consequent flow of modified genes into the wider plant community. However, GM crops may also pose hazards to the ecology of soil. This briefing identifies four main areas of concern:
