UK civil servants prove themselves as adept as ever at handling potentially sensitive genetic modification issues. In the run up to the trial of four people accused of vandalizing crops in Scotland, Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society (London) announced at a press conference organized by the Scottish Green Party that an enzyme toxic to human health was present in crops currently in UK field trials. The enzyme she had in mind was barnase, Bacillus amyloliquifaciens RNAse, used in some oil-seed rape crops as part of a "terminator" approach. There is some evidence that the enzyme can be toxic to isolated human cells. In an attempt to smooth over the rumpus that was threatening, a spokesperson from the UK's Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions said that it was the barnase gene and not the enzyme that was present in the crops, adding reassuringly that whereas the gene was not harmful, the enzyme would be poisonous.
Responding to the US EPA's deliberations over Aventis' StarLink corn (see p.11), a spokesperson for the US Organic Consumers Association said, "The health of Americans should not be put at risk simply for the convenience of the biotech industry." Quite so, and neither should it for the sake of organic farming, a user of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal toxins for many decades.
"In the light of the increasing consumer awareness in Germany, we already decided this year to approve only animal fodder that does not contain genetically engineered ingredients." This come from Matthias C. Baumgarten, director of communications at McDonald's Deutschland (although not himself a Hamburger). Now weren't McDonalds the folks whose customers were so aware that the company had to put a notice on its coffee cups warning that their contents might be hot?
UK civil servants prove themselves as adept as ever at handling potentially sensitive genetic modification issues. In the run up to the trial of four people accused of vandalizing crops in Scotland, Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society (London) announced at a press conference organized by the Scottish Green Party that an enzyme toxic to human health was present in crops currently in UK field trials. The enzyme she had in mind was barnase, Bacillus amyloliquifaciens RNAse, used in some oil-seed rape crops as part of a "terminator" approach. There is some evidence that the enzyme can be toxic to isolated human cells. In an attempt to smooth over the rumpus that was threatening, a spokesperson from the UK's Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions said that it was the barnase gene and not the enzyme that was present in the crops, adding reassuringly that whereas the gene was not harmful, the enzyme would be poisonous.
