The Rural Voice, 2001-03, Page 37Book Review
Detailed look at GMOs by a mart who makes them
Reviewed by Keith Roulston
Genetically modified foods
continue to make news almost daily.
In one week in early February, for
instance, there was both reassurance
about their safety from British
scientists who said GMO crops won't
spread, just after the Royal Society
expressed concerns over Canada's
lax regulations on GMO approvals
and the theory of substantial
equivalence (if two products look the
same and have the same traits,
they're the same even if one contains
genes transferred from an unrelated
organism). Pandora's Picnic Basket
will provide reassurance for those
looking for proof GMOs are safe
while not satisfying critics.
Though the subtitle "The potential
and hazards of genetically modified
foods" might give the impression this
is a completely unbiased look at the
issue, the fact that author Alan
McHughen developed a strain of
genetically modified flax at the
University of Saskatchewan and is
chair of the Advisory Committee of
the Genetics Society of Canada soon
makes it obvious he is not a totally
distant observer. Still, there's a great
deal of information here that even
cynics can use in trying to understand
just what happens when a plant is
changed through genetic
manipulation.
Reading McHughen's explanation
of DNA, for instance, it's easy to see
how scientists can be caught up in the
fascination of the way this basic
building blocks (McHughen likens
DNA to a recipe book) can shape all
life on earth. All cells, plant or
animal for instance, contain the same
language: a cell in the stem of a plant
has the same basics as a cell in the
flower or the root, yet different
genetic instructions cause similar
cells to behave differently in order to
carry out different needs.
While the idea of swapping genes
between totally unrelated plants or
even between plants and animals,
seems strange to most people, it's
easy to see why geneticists think
nothing of it when you read that even
a simple organism like a tiny
nematode worm shares 7000 of its
20,000 genes with humans. If all
living things share so many similar
genes, what can be the harm in
switching a few?
None, according to McHughen.
While he deals with many of the
concerns raised by opponents, in an
apparent gesture to open-mindedness,
most he generally dismisses. Worried
about the potentially
toxic effect of B.t.
modified crops?
What's so different
than the use of B.t. in
organic farming, which
he makes it seem is
poured on by the tonne.
Worried about pollen
spread or insects
developing resistance
to B.t.? That's a
management issue, not a scientific
one.
Similarly he attacks any attempts
to labeL Because it's impossible to
isolate GM products it's even
impossible to say something is GM -
free, he says. Besides, that's a
negative and science can't prove a
negative. Even "organic" products
can't be claimed to be GM free
because they might have been
affected by pollen spread from GM
crops, he says. He then goes on to
attack the credibility of organic crops
saying they hold dangers consumers
aren't aware of.
Besides, McHughen says, most of
the GM products now under
development will be labeled happily
by their makers because they will
have benefits that the companies will
want people to know they can get by
consuming these products. Genetic-
ally -altered rice will include Vitamin
A and iron to combat leading causes
of death and blindness in the develop-
ing world. Potatoes will absorb less
fat in frying. Sugar beets will be
modified to have lower -calorie
sugars. Oil seeds like canola and soya
will have reduced saturated fats.
But don't consumers have the
right to choose? McHughen has great
fun with the phrase "informed
choice", pointing out how hard it is to
be truly informed even with the labels
we now have on foods of all sorts.
What's the answer then? The
author advocates an extensive data
base which people can access on-line
to tell them the background of how
each and every food product was
created. He points out, for instance,
that people have the right to know
there are breeding techniques beyond
genetic alteration (intergeneric
crossing, embryo rescue, happloid
breeding and mutation breeding) that
should bring the same kind of fears as
genetic modification yet there's little
known of them.
In the long run, however,
McHughen's basic conclusion is
don't worry, be happy. The genie is
long out of the bottle and can't be put
back. If GM crops were going to
cause problems they'd have already
showed up. Our regulatory system
will protect you.
"Eat balanced and varied meals.
Stop worrying so much about your
food; it's almost certainly healthier
than you are."0
Pandora's Picnic Basket: by Alan
McHughen, 277 pgs. hard cover,
Oxford University Press Canada,
$34.95
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MARCH 2001 33