October 2004
Embargo: Oct 28

PRESS RELEASE

New Report Highlights Huge Gaps in GM Crop Science

A new report (1) on the impact of GM on the genetics of the modified crops
by an independent group of scientists has highlighted huge gaps in
scientific knowledge and the need to greatly improve scientific assessment
procedures before GM crops are licensed.

The report, by the group EcoNexus (2), is based on the peer-reviewed
scientific literature and USDA (3) documents. It examines the consequences
of genetic modification events for the integrity of transgenic plant genomes
(4) and suggests that significant genetic damage can arise. These
consequences include:

* large scale genetic rearrangements of host DNA at transgene insertion sites
* many hundreds to thousands of individual mutations scattered throughout the genome of each new transgenic plant

The authors (5) suggest that these changes are caused through genetic
engineering itself, i.e. by transgene insertion and the procedures plant
cells are subjected to in order to insert the transgene.

Most crop plants are a complex mixture of biologically active chemicals with
both positive and negative health effects, they often are bred from inedible
ancestors and many have poisonous tissues or organs. Consequently, food
safety of edible crops relies crucially on genetic stability and
predictability rather than being an inbuilt property of crop plants.
Therefore, the discovery of these genetic changes arising from GM, the
authors suggest is highly significant and has major implications for the
safety of transgenic crops.

The report analyses crops that are already on the market around the world
based on documents obtained from the USDA. It finds that regulators fail to
require adequate analysis of transgene insertion sites and that there is no
mechanism to detect random genetic damage induced by transformation.

These omissions appear to result from failure to appreciate the magnitude of
genetic damage sustained by transgenic plants. They indicate that regulators
are not keeping up with the latest research, that there are massive gaps in
the regulatory systems which are supposed to ensure transgenic crops are
safe: thus regulators have been guilty of making dubious assumptions about
the similarities between transgenic crops and plants developed by
traditional plant breeding.

Commenting for EcoNexus one of the report¹s authors Dr Jonathan Latham said:

³The genetic effects highlighted in this report cannot easily be eliminated
from transgenic crops and nor can their consequences for the safety of food
and environment be easily or reliably detected. Consequently, they present a
major challenge to the plant biotechnology industry. Their elimination will
require major changes to plant transformation methods. Any methods
substituted will themselves require evaluation to determine whether they
have problems of their own².

END

Notes for editor:

(1). This new report (Genome Scrambling Myth or reality?
Transformation-induced mutations in transgenic crop plants) is 36 pages long
and available as a pdf file at www.econexus.info <http://www.econexus.info/>
. It is written by Dr. Allison Wilson, Dr. Jonathan Latham and Dr. Ricarda
Steinbrecher of EcoNexus.

(2) EcoNexus is a not-for-profit public interest research organisation and
science watchdog. It offers a rigorous scientific critique of genetic
engineering (GE) and genetically modified organisms. It investigates and
reports on the impacts of GE on the environment, health, food security,
agriculture, human rights and society. EcoNexus also examines the influence
of transnational corporations (TNCs) on development issues and scientific,
social, economic and political processes. It is based in the UK and
collaborates with a diversity of networks nationally and internationally.

(3) USDA, United States Department of Agriculture.

(4) Genome, the sum total of the genetic material (DNA) of an organism.

(5) The authors:

Dr. Allison Wilson is a plant molecular geneticist. She has a degree in
biological sciences from Cornell University, USA, (1985) and did her
dissertation (PhD) on hormone-resistant mutants in Arabidopsis at Indiana
University, Bloomington, USA. She carried out post-doctoral research in
genetics and molecular biology for 5 years. She has published papers in
scientific journals and given talks on her research at international
meetings. She has also written entries for the Encyclopaedia of Molecular
Biology (1999, TE Creighton, Ed). Her main area of expertise is plant
genetics and molecular biology.

Dr. Jonathan Latham is a molecular biologist and plant virologist. He has a
degree in biology from Bath University (1989), an MSc from the University of
Wales, Aberystwyth and a PhD in plant virology from the John Innes
Institute, Norwich, UK. He was subsequently a postdoctoral researcher in the
Dept. of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, USA). Currently,
he is investigating the use of plant virus genes to make GM plants.

Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher has a masters degree (first class honours) in
biology with a focus on developmental biology and microbiology, from the
University of Kiel, Germany (1985) and a PhD in molecular genetics from the
University of London. She has specialised in gene regulation since 1982 and
has worked as a research scientist in the field of mutational analysis, gene
identification and gene therapy in university and hospital settings. Since
1995 she has focused on genetic engineering in food and farming, its risks
and potential consequences on health, food security and the environment.
She has been closely involved with the international negotiations and
implementation of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol since 1995. She has been
advisor and consultant to many national and international organisations and
is co-founder of the Genetic Engineering Alliance and its GM Freeze Campaign
in the UK.

Ricarda Steinbrecher is co-author of the book ³Hungry Corporations
transnational biotech companies colonise the food chain², published in 2003,
and is author of many scientific papers, briefings, commentaries and
reports.

Contact: Jonathan Latham 01531 670 313 or Email: A.Wilson@econexus.info