Indooroopilly,
4068.
17th September, 1999.
The Editor
Courier Mail
Campbell St
Bowen Hills
Dear Sir,
In "GM
foods fear irrational" (CM Friday 17/9) the minister for
agriculture, Mr Truss, claims that hysteria in the marketplace is
making sensible debate on genetically modified foods "almost
impossible".
This is
hardly surprising given that the prestigious scientific bodies
and the multinational agribusiness companies involved have fast
tracked extensive farming of the new GM foods and their
introduction into the food chain. Consultation with those who
will be expected to consume these foods should have been
undertaken at a much earlier stage. Failure to do this has
resulted in European and Japanese consumers rejecting the GM
foods. Deutch Bank in Europe has advised its clients to off-load
stocks which rely on the new biotechnology as their future
profitability is now in doubt.
The benefits
of genetic engineering in medicine cannot be disputed. New drugs
and diagnostic techniques have resulted. However, research and
ethics in medicine are much more closely scrutinised and
controlled than those in agriculture. The company marketing
Round-up (Zero) resistant soybeans has applied to regulatory
bodies in the US to have the acceptable residues of Round-up in
soy beans increased by 200%. The same company is the major world
supplier of Round-up. Should consumers be forced to accept an
increase in pesticide residues? It was not until millions of
acres of crops carrying the Bt gene were planted in the US and
Europe that it was realised that the Bt pollen kills the monarch
butterfly and disables ladybugs!
When a gene
is inserted into a plant cell, a control gene has to be inserted
to ensure that the new gene will be expressed in the plant.
Unfortunately, this control gene can theoretically affect the
expression of other genes within the plant. How do we know that
foods that are currently beneficial to us will remain so?
Round-up resistant soybeans have been shown to have 10 to 15 %
less phytoestrogens than traditional soybeans. It is these plant
oestrogens that confer benefits in menopausal women.
The CSIRO has
wisely introduced a 5-year moratorium on the release of new GM
crops in Australia. Much more testing of the environmental
effects of these crops and of the health effects of the new foods
needs to be undertaken. Australia should certainly endeavour to
remain at the forefront of this research but we should ensure
that terrible and irreversible mistakes are not made. Mr Beattie
needs to reconsider his plan to site Gene-tech labs and
greenhouses in densely populated parts of Brisbane.
Yours
sincerely,
Dr Jenny Byth
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