The latest scientific evidence strengthens the case for an Irish moratorium on the growing of genetically modified (GM) crops, as promised by Fianna Fail before the last election, according to the leading British opponent of such foods, geneticist Dr Mae-Wan Ho.
Speaking in Dublin, Dr Ho of the Open University's department of biology, said the Fianna Fail commitment to introducing a moratorium pending scientific clarification on their safety was "an eminently sensible one".
She could not reconcile why Fianna Fail had not immediately acted on its commitment on coming into office, especially in the light of the latest evidence. But she speculated on the likelihood of a "very strong lobbyist role" played by large corporations over the past year. She believed this - rather than the EU stance allowing the growth of transgenic crops - had contributed to the Labour government in the UK backing off a moratorium recently. The latest evidence on the phenomenon of genes jumping species barriers, known as "horizontal gene flow", had confirmed it represented an insidious threat to the environment and to people's health, she said. Dr Ho was in Ireland to promote her controversial book, Genetic Engineering, Dream or Nightmare - the brave new world of bad science and big business.
Biotechnology industry and most scientists, she claimed, had refused to look at the wider picture and were totally preoccupied by reductionism when looking at biotechnology and genetic engineering: "the doctrine that complex systems can be understood in terms of their simplest parts." She added: "This view is endemic in the scientific community because it's efficient, it gets results, it gets publication, it gets grants (for research). But it is flawed."
She had no confidence in current evaluation procedures and regulations operating nationally and at EU level, she said, because monitoring of horizontal gene flow was not required. Those who had uncovered the latest evidence of such gene flow (published in the US Journal of Applied and Environmental Micro- biology) had suggested it was not cause for undue concern, notably in relation to transferring antibiotic resistance between species, she accepted. Her conclusions were different to those of the authors but she did not feel this was "intellectual dishonesty" on her part.
Reiterating her views that genetic engineering was linked to the resurgence of infectious diseases, Dr Ho stood over her belief it had also increased antibiotic resistance among the human population, and is likely to promote "genetic discrimination" in the future. The vast majority of scientists did not agree with her because, she claimed, they are caught up in a reductionist mould. The business and employers' representative group, IBEC, which recently introduced a labelling system for GM foods that has been adopted by many Irish retailers, has criticised the comments of Dr Ho, and disputed her claims on "the dangers" that the foods pose for consumers.
