Mystery Gene in Soybeans Heats GMO Debate
August 16, 2001 05:26 PM ET
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By K.T. Arasu
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Fresh controversy erupted on Thursday after
scientists discovered unidentified fragments of DNA in gene-altered soybeans,
jolting grain markets and heating up a simmering debate about genetically
modified organisms (GMOs).
Biotechnology critics quickly said the latest discovery casts fresh
doubts on such foods' safety, while backers of GMO crops just as quickly said
that reaction was overblown and the news would hardly dent consumer confidence.
A team of Belgian scientists found alien gene fragments in soybeans grown
from seed developed by biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. which are spliced with
a bacterium to make them resistant to the company's Roundup Ready herbicide.
The discovery comes nearly a year after an unapproved gene-altered corn
entered the U.S. food chain, sparking recalls of items such as taco shells from
grocery shelves and causing a slump in exports of American corn to its top
buyer, Japan.
Marc De Loose from Belgium's Center for Agricultural Research said he and
his colleagues found that the unidentified gene fragments in Roundup Ready
soybeans had no link to the plant's DNA sequence or the genome of the soybeans.
But he added there was no evidence to suggest that the alien fragments
could lead to any unknown effects, such as possible allergic reactions in
people.
"There is no scientific data to support this idea because we checked this
sequence in different generations that were on the market and we didn't see any
differences. This means that the sequence is stable and all the data concerning
safety are still valid in my opinion," De Loose told Reuters.
FRANKENSTEIN
Environmental group Greenpeace said the discovery showed that Monsanto
did not know "with any certainty what it is creating through genetic
engineering."
"Like Dr. Frankenstein, Monsanto has created a new life form but doesn't
know what will happen when it's turned loose in the world," Kimberly Wilson, a
Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner, said in a statement.
She called for full disclosure of the data submitted by Monsanto in its
registration process for Roundup Ready soybeans.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, commenting on
the Belgian group's research, said the agency was "aware of it and is looking
into it."
Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture declined to comment.
Monsanto spokesman Bryan Hurley said: "This isn't a (food) safety issue.
The information about the soybeans were characterized by Monsanto more than a
year ago and we have shared that with regulatory authorities throughout the
world."
He said the unidentified gene fragments could be the result of DNA being
"rearranged" as a result of the process when the bacterium to make the plants
resistant to Roundup Ready soybeans was inserted.
"It's been there since the point of the original transformation 10 years
ago and throughout all of the safety tests," he said, adding that new
high-precision equipment allowed the company to detect the alien fragments.
"We are better able to see the stars than a hundred years ago. It doesn't
mean the stars have changed, just your perspective.... It's the same
principle," Hurley said.
NO LOSS OF CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
Hurley said he did not foresee any loss of consumer confidence in foods
produced from gene-altered crops.
"As we characterize things better, it doesn't change the fundamental
safety questions that are addressed and have for a long time been established,"
he said.
The Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization, which groups
biotech companies in the pharmaceutical, industrial, environmental and
agricultural sectors, said the discovery did not raise any question over food
safety.
"DNA is in all food, it's always been there and is safe. I cannot see
that it (discovery) raises any safety questions," BIO spokeswoman Lisa Dry
said.
Chairman of the American Soybean Association, Tony Anderson, said:"Unless
there is something definitive, to me, that there is a problem, I am still of
the belief that we have a product that is safe and allows us to be more
efficient with our farming practices. We believe in good sound science.
"And if the day should come that good sound science says we need to
rethink this, then we will rethink it. But if the good sound science tells us
over and over we got a product that is safe, let's stay with it," he added.
The discovery took its toll on soybean prices at the Chicago Board of
Trade on Thursday, with speculators selling amid fears that the news might dent
U.S. soy exports to buyers like Japan or China. Down almost 20 cents at one
point, soybeans for November delivery were 13-1/4 cents per bushel lower at
$4.99-3/4 at the close of trading.
Almost 70 percent of the soybeans produced in the United States are
genetically modified, nearly all of them Roundup Ready soybeans. Soybeans are
used in a wide variety of food products but mainly as animal feed.
Roundup Ready soybeans are also grown on a large scale in Argentina, the
world's third-largest soybean producer after the United States and Brazil.
Europe and Japan allow the import of Roundup Ready soybeans for use as food and
animal feed but do not permit their commercial cultivation.
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