GUARDIAN (London) Wednesday May 31, 2000
Soya gene find fuels doubts on GM crops
James Meikle
Monsanto, the international company that pioneered the use of genetically
modified crops, has revealed that its most widely used GM product contains
unexpected gene fragments, raising fresh doubts that the technology is
properly understood.
Two extra gene fragments have been found in modified soya beans that have
been grown commercially in the US for four years and used as an important
ingredient in processed foods sold in Britain for a similar period.
The company and the British government, which approved the soya's use in
food and animal feed on behalf of the EU, yesterday insisted that the
beans were no more risky to human health than conventional types. However,
the revelation will cause further problems for ministers trying to prove
they can manage and monitor the introduction of the technology.
Monsanto alerted the Department of the Environment to the results of new
studies on its Roundup Ready soyabeans on May 19, two days after ministers
revealed that thousands of acres of oilseed rape had been grown
unwittingly from conventional seed contaminated by GM material. German
research has suggested that a gene used to modify rape seed could leap the
species barrier into the guts of bees.
Monsanto said the new studies used more advanced techniques to provide
"updated molecular characterisation" of its beans which contain an
inserted gene to ensure they are not destroyed by weedkiller. The tests
found that two "inactive" pieces of genetic material were inserted at the
same time as the whole gene. Dan Verakis, a spokesman for the company,
said: "All this means is we are able to see genes in soya more clearly
now. It is like putting a telescope in orbit allows astronomers to see
stars better."
He insisted that the fragments were in the product when it passed safety
assessments by US authorities in 1992 and in Britain in 1996.The company's
letter to the government says that nearly 100m acres of such beans have
been cultivated round the world since 1996 "without adverse impacts on the
environment or human health. They have also been widely consumed in Europe
in foods and animal feedstuffs without adverse effects." No GM soya is
grown in Britain.
The Department of the Environment said its own preliminary study "suggests
that the risk from these beans when used in food or animal feed is no
different from conventional soya beans". The in formation was considered
by one advisory committee, on releases of GM material into the
environment, last Thursday. The government has promised to publish its
final verdict which will be passed on to the European commission.
Andy Tait, GM campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: "This shows exactly what
we have been saying for years, that genetic modification is inherently
unpredictable and will have all sorts of knock-on effects once released
into the environment." Soya is used in a wide range of foods. About half
the US harvest is now thought to be GM.