Unanswered Questions and Inherent Uncertainties

What's wrong with Genetic Engineering ?

Genetic Engineering is a test tube science and is prematurely applied in food production. A gene studied in a test tube can only tell what this gene does and how it behaves in that particular test tube. It cannot tell us what its role and behaviour are in the organism it came from or what it might do if we place it into a completely different species. Genes for the colour red placed into petunia flowers not only changed the colour of the petals but also decreased fertility and altered the growth of
the roots and leaves. Salmon genetically engineered with a growth hormone gene not only grew too big too fast but also turned green. These are unpredictable side effects, scientifically termed pleiotropic effects.

We also know very little about what a gene (or for that matter any of its DNA sequence) might trigger or interrupt depending on where it got inserted into the new host (plant or animal). These are open questions around positional effects. And what about gene silencing and gene instability? How do we know that a genetically engineered food plant will not produce new toxins and allergenic substances or increase the level of dormant toxins and allergens? How about the nutritional value? And what are the effects on the environment and on wild life? All these questions are important questions yet they remain unanswered. Until we have an answer to all of these, genetic engineering should be kept to the test tubes. Biotechnology married to corporations tends to ignore the precautionary principle but it also igpores some basic scientific principles.

What you can do:

þ Avoid genetically engineered (GE) food, currently in products containing soya and maize.

þ Buy organic products - look for the Soil Association label.

þ Tell your MP and the Minister of the Environment you object to GE crops being released on test sites in your area -or any area you care about. Ask your MP or the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) for details from the Public Register of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). DETR phone: 0171-890 5275.

þ Copy this briefing and give it to a neighbour /friend.

þ Contact your local paper; write a letter to the editor.

þ Demand clear choice and non-GE products from your supermarket (addresses of head offices and sample letter available from WEN).

þ Read up on the issue. Get WEN's Campaign Pack on Genetic Engineering (out in August, L2).

þ Join a local environmental group and campaign against GE crops and GE food.

þ Support WEN's Test Tube Harvest Campaign (cheques payable to: 'WEN- Test Tube Harvest').

þ Join the Women's Environmental Network.

þ Contact the Test Tube Harvest Campaign for further information.