The first in a series of six articles on genetic engineering biotechnology

 

1 - Why are we so afraid?

Robert Anderson BSc(Hons) PhD

4 February 1942 to 5 December 2008

 

At the recent Dairy Board’s Expo¹in Hamilton, Dr Robert Mann, a retired senior lecturer in ecology from the University in Auckland, said to a crowd of several hundred people: “The hazards of genetic engineering rival those of nuclear war.” Dairy Board scientists immediately dismissed his claims as “absolute nonsense”, adding, “We cannot afford to ignore GE advances which will boost production and income.”

Who is right? And why?

In this and the the next five articles, I shall endeavour to show you that not only should we have a real fear of genetic engineering (GE), but that it is imperative for New Zealand that it remain in the research laboratory.

GE is a vast field. We might even say a minefield. So we will begin with what most of us would consider the most important aspect, our food.

Genetically engineering crops to produce foodstuffs is not new. It started about thirty years ago. However, the ruthless push by giant corporations such as Monsanto and others to get it onto the market is recent. The American people have been eating GE food for about three years - be it unawares until recently. The anger rising from this is approaching a major conflagration, ignited by the rebellion of Europeans, as Americans realise GE foods have been slid stealthily under their kitchen door and into the fridge.

So let us get down to business. What is so dangerous about splicing a gene into our vegetables to give them a new ‘required characteristic’ - say more vitamins? Nothing in principle. It is a great idea … except that we cannot do it in such a way as to guarantee it only produces that ‘required characteristic’, in this case a vitamin. For example, a gene spliced into the tobacco plant to produce a dietary supplement instead generated a highly poisonous chemical. This kind of result is not uncommon.

To understand why this can happen it helps to understand ‘gene splicing’ - how a new gene is placed in a ‘host’. No, don’t put your magazine down. Despite what government officials and experts claim, it is possible for us ordinary folk to understand this process. In giving GE talks from Invercargill to Whangerei I have found ordinary NZers perfectly capable of grasping the concepts.

Every plant cell, as with a human cell, has a protective membrane, a skin if you like. In order to get the gene with the required characteristic into the ‘host’ cell - be it an apple cell, human cell, whatever - geneticists require a ‘bullet’ to fire it in; what they call a vector. The most effective bullet is a creature we are all familiar with, a virus.

Viruses are designed by nature to break into cells with gusto. The virus most commonly used in GE plant work is the Cauliflower Mosaic virus – (CaMV). Geneticists have not found a more aggressive replacement so far.

Now, before any informed reader tells me, yes, but we eat those every day in our broccoli and cabbage, I will explain. The way it is used in GE is not the same scenario. In broccoli or cabbage, the CaMV has a protein coat making it ‘host specific’ for those plants. For GE purposes, the geneticist removes that protein coat leaving the DNA naked. It is naked DNA which is then used as a bullet to gain passage into the new host. And it is naked DNA which is then eaten by humans. This in itself is a serious risk. There is a chance this naked DNA could enter our cells and cause real genetic disturbance, including cancer.

So we have one danger. Are there more? I’m afraid so.

Having got a bullet to carry the genes with the required characteristic/s into the host cells, geneticists have to know which host cells have accepted the required genes. As they will have a dish of many thousands in front of them, they need a ‘flag’ to mark which cells have taken up the required gene. The flag geneticists use is an ‘antibiotic marker gene’ - in plant work, for example, it is commonly kanomycin.

How does this antibiotic marker gene tell geneticists which host cells have received the required gene? They flood the dish with kanomycin antibiotic solution. The cells which survive should also contain the required gene. Their antibiotic marker gene will leave them unaffected by the kanomycin antibiotic solution.

Another problem? Yes. Kanomycin is an antibiotic often used to treat human beings who have contracted tuberculosis. If I start feeding you food containing the very medicine I hope to cure you with then those germs quickly became resistant to that particular antibiotic. It is called antibiotic resistance. You will have seen it talked about in the press. It is a grave concern for many of our doctors. Antibiotics are our crown jewels of medicine. If we lose them we’re in trouble.

Where is commonsense you say? That kind of sense is far from common in genetics as you will find out, more especially if it involves billions - did I say billions? - yes, billions of dollars. We are not talking about a little loose change here, but more of that later.

We must have finished now, surely? No.

The host cell in the tamarillo, pear or whatever is being genetically engineered does not recognise this strange gene with the required characteristic/s smuggled in. In other words, it will not ‘drive’ it to produce the necessary characteristic. It needs a dynamo or motor of some kind to make the required gene produce the required characteristic., ‘Encode’ is the smart term here if you are keen to impress a friend. Again, geneticists fall back on a virus or a chimeric bit of bacteria to do that job for them.

By now you may be able to see the excitement of working in the field of genetic engineering biotechnology. Just think about it. We can put genes from a monkey into a banana, genes from the lesser spotted corncrake into a rhino, or even a scorpion gene into a strawberry. What more could we want? It is every scientist’s Leggo set.

Genetic engineering biotechnology is a formidable technology

Now let us talk about added dangers. Did you think I had dealt with them all? Before we continue, I am sure some reader is itching to pick up his pen and write to tell me - as the experts have already explained to our public - that GE is no different to ordinary breeding, we have been doing it for centuries. This is another story put out by indentured gene jockeys.

The difference between natural breeding and GE is about as great as nuclear power is from rubbing two sticks together to make a fire. GE bypasses conventional breeding by putting together artificial bullets - artificially constructed parasitic elements which geneticists call ‘vectors’ - to smuggle the genes into the cell.

In conventional breeding, nature decides where an introduced gene fits and how it works to produce a required characteristic. Natural genetic elements are designed specially by nature for a given host. Natural breeding occurs almost exclusively within a species; plant with plant, fish with fish, horse with horse. The ass and mule are as close as Nature has come to crossing the species barrier.

The vectors used in GE are designed by man to overcome species barriers and can infect a wide range of species, including humans. Known experiments include putting toad genes in potatoes, fish genes in tomatoes and human genes in cows.

If you have stayed the course so far you are doing well. In the next article, I will tell you how to make a toad into a prince – well, almost.

 

Robert Anderson BSc(Hons) PhD

Robert Anderson was a Quaker, teacher and writer. He was a Trustee of Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility (www.psgr.org.nz), a member of Amnesty International, a Theosophist, and a campaigner for peace and disarmament. He believed everyone has the right to equality and respect, freedom of speech and religion He lectured on many subjects to meet the public's right to be independently informed on issues of science, the environment and social justice. He was passionate about making this world a better place for the generations to come. He authored eleven books and regularly wrote for a number of periodicals.

Enquiries about books written by Robert Anderson should be addressed to  naturesstar@xtra.co.nz

 

For further information see:

GE Free New Zealand in food and environment www.gefree.org.nz/

GE Free Northland in food and environment http://web.gefreenorthland.org.nz/

Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility www.psgr.org.nz

Sustainability Council of New Zealand http://www.sustainabilitynz.org/

The Soil & Health Association / Organic New Zealand http://organicnz.org.nz/