'Genetic engineering, a useful tool'

By G. Venkataramani

BANGKOK, JULY 11. ``Genetic engineering and genomic techniques offer new opportunities to develop new crop varieties with higher yield potential, dense micro-nutrients and yield stability. We have to use all the tools at our disposal to develop more productive varieties and genetic engineering is a modern tool in our tool box,'' said Dr. Gurdev S. Khush, a renowned rice breeder from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines.

A distinguished rice scientist and World Food Prize winner, Dr. Khush said to feed a world population of eight billion by 2025, food production must increase by 50 per cent and it will have to be achieved using less land, less water, less labour and less chemicals. Hence, agricultural scientists should explore all possibilities to achieve the goal.

Speaking at the international conference on ``New Biotechnology Food and Crops: Science, Safety and Society'' organised by the U.K. and OECD in co-operation with FAO, WHO, UNEP and the Government of Thailand here, Dr. Khush pointed out that GM (genetically modified) foods and food products did not inherently present any unintended toxic properties than those already presented by conventional breeding practices, which had an impressive food safety record. He cited the conclusion of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a 29,000-member, non- profit society for food science and technology which conducted a comprehensive review of biotechnology.

``Much has been said and written about the safety of GM food. The main concerns are about the introduction of allergens, toxins and anti-feedants resulting from the presence of foreign proteins. However, biosafety protocols in place ensure that GM foods are thoroughly evaluated for any such adverse human health aspects before introduction into commercial production,'' he said.

Discussing the environmental sustainability of GM crops, he said the main concerns were about the possibility of transfer of transgenes to wild relatives leading to the emergence of super weeds, consequences for biodiversity and the impact on non-target organisms. ``Numerous disease and insect-resistant crop varieties have been developed during the last 100 years and there is no evidence of escape of resistance genes to wild relatives or development of super weeds. GM crops, in reality, help protect the bio-diversity through increased food production from favourable lands and thus reduce the need to open up fragile ecosystems such as wetlands and forests for agriculture. GM crops also enhance biodiversity and environmental sustainability through a reduction in pesticide use,'' he explained.

Dr. Jan van Aken, a German cell biologist representing Greenpeace International, said there was still no scientifically sound basic concept to assess the risks of living modified organisms. ``Traditional risk assessment procedures are not applicable to the release of self-reproducible organisms into the environment. This has been acknowledged for years by most scientists in the field. However, even after more than a decade of research and discussion, no alternative and scientifically sound basic methodology is available to assess the specific risks of a specific crop with a specific trait in a particular environment,'' he said.

There is no development without taking risks but the risks posed by new technologies must be manageable. Likely negative effects must be reversible to guarantee a sustainable, environmentally- friendly and socially just development. ``As long as GM crops are grown anywhere in the world, measures are urgently needed to guarantee traceability and to prevent contamination of food and especially of seeds, to protect consumers, non-GM crop growers and the environment from an uncontrolled spread of GM crops,'' he said. The OECD and the G-8 should fully endorse and express their unambiguous support for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and call on all nations to ratify it as soon as possible, according to him.

Dr. Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign, an NGO from India, said the private sector controlling biotechnology should be forced, at least to some extent, to contribute to the creation of public good. After all, they were using the genetic material which is a public resource to create private wealth. ``All monitoring of GM crops should include independent experts, NGOs and farmers' organisations along with the regulatory authorities. Besides, there should be international standards for monitoring and they should be transparent,'' she said.

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