Should the UK government allow genetically modified potatoe trials?

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by peppermint

9) Genetically modifying plants can turn harmless food into one containing potentially deadly allergens by either increasing a natural allergen, a gene taken from one type of food might transfer allergenic properties to another when inserted or an allergen might result from forign genes and proteins that have never been part of the food supply before.

Genetic engineering is built on a long list of assumptions. The main one is that the forign gene will always operate the same way in the host organism. Lots of the genes used these days are synthetic and are assumed to be equivilant to the ones present in nature.

Another of my concerns is that for the most part our domesticated breeds of plants and animals still retain the ability over time to revert to their original state ...ie, the original genetic information is still available, in the case of genetically modified organisms that might get on the loose this is not likely to be the case, it is also the case that new and artificially introduced genetic information is highly likely to "desire" to reproduce itself .... after all that is the who point of its existence ..... and the end result of this might well be something that we don't want and something that there may well be no natural means of controlling.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Well ... there are those who are not convinced that the testing was complete &c and I always prefer to be cautious on these things. I'm thinking of Pusztai's work, of course.
I think there should be more laboratory work before they're let lose in the fields ....

As noted in BMA statement on ' ... genetic modification ... food and health.'
"Toxicity of transgenes
Information about the effect of genetic modification on the chemical
composition of food and in particular its safety is needed urgently.
Concern has been expressed over an experiment which claimed to show that
snowdrop lectins in GM potatoes had toxic effects on mice. The researcher
(Dr Pusztai) at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen claimed in August 1998
that genetically modified potato damaged rat organs and depressed their
immune system. At present there is still controversy relating to the
significance of these experiments. The Government has stated in response to Dr
Pusztai's experiment, that there are no GM potatoes on the market and
there is scientific disagreement about the validity of experiments using
lectins which are harmful in their natural state. However, the experiment
indicates a clear need for careful testing of GM foods. In a separate
experiment research was conducted on the use of the snowdrop lectin in GM
potatoes at the Scottish Crop Research Institute where studies have
indicated reduced fertility in ladybirds fed on aphids reared on potatoes
expressing lectin genes. This may indicate that such altered crops can
have a detrimental effect to beneficial insects."

I agree with further research Paul, but since this claim is dated August 1998, they've had 8 years of further research into it! For all we know the end result is the trial that prompted this thread.

You can never have enough research, but there comes a time when you have to decide what to do with it!

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, but I'm not convinced that anything has changed!
I'm going for a stroll to see what the natural world still holds - remarkably bright and warm day for November ...

Originally Posted by Alan

I agree with further research Paul, but since this claim is dated August 1998, they've had 8 years of further research into it! For all we know the end result is the trial that prompted this thread.!

[Imaginos]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

<snip> Concern has been expressed over an experiment which claimed to show thatsnowdrop lectins in GM potatoes had toxic effects on mice. The researcher(Dr Pusztai) at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen claimed in August 1998
that genetically modified potato damaged rat organs and depressed their
immune system. At present there is still controversy relating to the
significance of these experiments. The Government has stated in response to Dr
Pusztai's experiment, that there are no GM potatoes on the market and
there is scientific disagreement about the validity of experiments using
lectins which are harmful in their natural state. <snip>

So, if I'm reading this right-a gene responsible for producing lectins in snowdrops, which in the snowdrop are harmful, is found to produce harmful lectins when inserted into potatoes. Surely this is no surprise? What would be surprising is if they were not harmful in potatoes.