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Free New Zealand in Food & Environment, 19th
November 2004
Scepticism over GE " Breakthrough" : Crop and Food barking
up wrong tree
Claims by a crop and food scientist that he has made a breakthrough
to solve the scientific issues around GE are being met with scepticism.
Scientists asked for comment on claims by Dr Tony Conner of Crop
and Food Research warn that this may not really be 'breakthrough'
at all and say more details need to be released for peer review.
But Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment says the
claims seem to reflect a "Lego" approach to genetics at
Crop and Food Research that is already outdated.
" We know that genomes are more complex and fluid than current
methods of genetic modification recognise.The problem remains that
there are inadequate regimes to determine the effects of the GE
process on the recipient organism, on those consuming the products,
and on the environment," says Jon Carapiet.
The techniques are outlined in media-releases by Dr Conner and indicate
a new way to transfer gene sequences but give no information about
the use of promoter sequences, antibiotic-markers, location of gene
-inserts, number of inserts, or ways of testing the impact on the
genome.
Independent scientists say they need more information to comment
on Dr. Conner's work but point out that using vectors made from
endogenous transposons is not new. It has been used to create sterile
mosquitoes for example, and are not at all benign, because many
transposons have a wide host range and are related to retroviruses.
It is not clear if Dr Conner's work has similar drawbacks but scientists
have already discovered that making a vector out of such transposons
could result in dangerous recombination's to create disease agents
and destabilize genomes.
The claims for the technique are being spun as "good news"
for GE but based on the information released to date, the broader
problems remain.
" I think it will be an up-hill battle to convince consumers,
farmers, scientists and regulators that this approach is really
any different to transgenic GE, though that remains to be seen.
The onus of proof is on those pushing for the technology and at
the moment the proof is simply not there," says Mr Carapiet.
ENDS
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