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Frequently
Asked Questions About Biotechnology
Speakers
for the Breakthroughs in Biotechnology program have an opportunity
to answer specific questions asked by audience members. Following
are some of the frequently asked questions along with information
to help answer the questions.
If you have
a question about biotechnology that you would like answered,
please send it to bettyw@fb.org
and we will attempt to answer as many questions as possible by
posting them in this section of the Educating About Agriculture
web site.
How
long does it take to develop a genetically modified (GM) product?
According to Steve Moose, plant geneticist at the University
of Illinois, producing a new GMO is currently about a ten year
process. Several years of research are involved in proving the
viability of a new plant discovery in the laboratory. Another
year is required to scale up production of enough of the promising
new plants to then conduct research to make sure the new plant
line is stable (does not cause other undesirable traits to occur).
This process takes about three to five years, during which time
the plant also is put through tests required by the three federal
government agencies that oversee the introduction of biotechnology
products into the marketplace.
Is
Starlink corn unhealthy for humans?
Since StarLink
corn was found in the human food chain during the fall of 2000
– first appearing in taco shells – it has been taken
off the market. StarLink corn was approved and released for use
only with animals, since sufficient studies had not been done
to prove it was safe for human consumption. However, scientists
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported
on June 13, 2001 that StarLink corn was not responsible for the
self-reported allergic responses from some people during the
fall of 2000.
The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration requested the CDC to investigate
possible adverse health effects among people who had reported
they might have had an allergic reaction to eating corn products
contaminated with the Cry9c protein. The CDC investigation included
talking with persons who reported reactions plus collecting medical
records and testing blood samples of those individuals. In addition,
an independent laboratory analyzed the samples and confirmed
the results. To access the full report, log onto www.cdc.gov/nceh.
Hoban, professor
of food science and sociology at North Carolina State University,
wrote in an editorial published November 26, 2000 by the Washington
Post:
"Starlink,
developed by the French-based drug company Aventis, is really
no different from other corn, except for the addition off a gene
that produces an insect-fighting protein. Corn had already been
dramatically modified from the "natural" plant originally
found in the wild. Those ancient ears of corn were the size of
your little finger and looked more like grass than modern yellow
corn. Over the ages, crossbreeding and, more recently, forced
mutation, has produced the ear of corn we eat today. Starlink,
with its one gene added to the approximately 60,000 in this modern
ear, represents a very modest, precise change by comparison."
Are
allergies a problem with biotech foods?
None of
the foods on the market today contain allergens from biotechnology
applications, according to the International Food Information
Council (IFIC). The Food and Drug Administration guidelines require
companies to label food products that contain any of the eight
most common food allergens (e.g. milk, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish,
tree nuts, peanuts and soy). The FDA evaluates all new foods,
including those produced through biotechnology, and will not
approve foods containing allergens unless companies label them
and identify the allergen.
Michael
Fumento, the author of Science Under Siege and numerous other
books, says biotech crop technology may actually be beneficial
for food allergy sufferers because, "biotech can even be
used to make allergenic foods non-allergenic, or less allergenic,
by 'switching off' certain genes or by other means. This isn't
theory; it's being researched now."
Is
there a danger of genetically modified plants and animals causing
mutations in other plants and animals?
Associated
Press writer Jeff Barnard, reporting February 7, 2001 on a study
funded by a consortium of biotechnology companies, said:
"A
l0-year look at genetically modified crops found that they survive
no better than their conventional cousins, easing fears that
superplants could stray from farm fields and crowd out natural
species. The study looked at soybeans, oilseed rape, potatoes,
corn and sugar beets that had been engineered in the laboratory
to resist insects or herbicides…The study found that neither
the conventional nor the modified plants increased in numbers
beyond their first plantings, and the modified plants never lasted
significantly longer than the conventional ones."
In an article
in USA TODAY, author Anita Manning wrote about fears of
environmentalists that crops designed to withstand herbicides
will cross-pollinate with nearby weeds, creating a breed of superweed,
or that fast-growing bio-engineered salmon will escape into the
wild and compete with natural salmon. Manning quoted Elliot Entis,
president of Aqua Bounty in Waltham, Massachusetts, as saying,
"..our fish are unlikely to be good survivors in the wild
because they want to grow in the winter. Growing uses energy,
which requires food. Fish that use too much energy in the winter
don't get enough food and die." Besides, his genetically
modified salmon are sterile and cannot reproduce.
Is
Bt corn harmful to monarch butterflies? What is Bt corn?
The following
information is taken from the American Farm Bureau Voice of Agriculture
web site www.fb.org:
The monarch
butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and Bt corn have been the focus
of a great deal of recent research. Bt corn is a biotech corn
variety that has built-in insect protection that comes from a
naturally occurring microorganism called Bacillus thuringiensis
or "Bt."
Much of
the criticism of biotechnology stems from a laboratory study
at Cornell University in which monarch larvae were allowed to
feed on milkweed plants with Bt corn pollen. Researchers observed
an increase in the mortality rate of monarch larvae feeding on
the treated milkweed.
Many scientists
contend that the Cornell study was flawed. Information from the
Biotechnology Industry Organization says it is highly likely
that in the natural setting, outside the laboratory, most monarch
larvae would never encounter any significant amounts of corn
pollen.
A 1999 study
at the University of Maryland by Dr. Galen Dively showed that
corn plants typically shed their pollen completely before monarchs
lay eggs. Research from the University of Nebraska showed similar
results, according to Dr. John Foster. By late July, corn pollination
in Nebraska was 95 percent complete. This was before monarch
eggs were observed on milkweeds in the vicinity of corn. According
to Purdue University entomologist Tom Turpin, there is little
threat to monarchs encountering Bt pollen on milkweed because
there is very little milkweed in and around cornfields. |
