genetic engineering

The environmental costs of Genetic Engineering

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. 

Conventional rape seed (canola) from Canada sold by Advanta has become contaminated with Monsanto Roundup Ready Rape. The contamination happened by cross-pollination to a batch of conventional hybrid rapeseed sold as Hyola 38, Hyola 330 and Hyola 401. The GM variety is Monsanto's RT73 (also known as GT73) and resistant to Monsanto's weedkiller 'Roundup'.

"The public relations' uses of Golden Rice have gone too far. The industry's advertisements and the media in general seem to forget that it is a research product that needs considerable further development before it will be available to farmers and consumers."

News about a "Golden Rice" first appeared in August 1999, when scientists announced they had succeeded in genetically engineering a rice variety to contain Beta-Carotene (or pro-Vitamin A), a compound that our body can convert into Vitamin A.

The scientists said they hope that this genetically engineered (GE) rice would be an important tool to fight Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), a malnutrition problem which affects millions of people in poor countries, especially children and pregnant women...