Fears Grow with Genetic Crop Secrecy

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October 21, 2003

Fears Grow With Genetic Crop Secrecy

 

 

Louisa Wooton earns a living selling natural, organically grown tropical fruits

on her family's three-acre farm in Kilauea, Kaua'i.

 

As far as she knows, genetically modified crops - the polar opposite of hers -

are field-tested miles away at research facilities in Waimea run by agribusiness

giants such as Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto, reports the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

That doesn't entirely alleviate her fears that biologically engineered crops

could contaminate her produce, since many details about where genetic crop

research occurs, or even what is being done in Hawai'i, is confidential.

 

Crop researchers maintain that the secrecy is needed to protect their

proprietary work from competitors and shield their crops from eco-terrorists.

 

The closely held information, however, breeds suspicion.

 

" We don't know anything, really - that's the problem, " said Wooton, owner of

Kauai Kunana Dairy. " There's just too much secrecy for the average person to

figure out anything. "

 

According to the Honolulu Advertiser report, the secretive nature of the

industry could change quickly, based on a lawsuit by an environmental group and

several bills being discussed in the state Legislature.

 

With its fertile volcanic soil, year-round growing season and location far from

America's farm belt, Hawai'i makes an ideal location for cutting-edge research

into the high-tech seed crops of tomorrow.

 

In the past 16 years, Hawai'i has led the states in open-air test sites of

genetically engineered crops, according to a report released this year by

advocacy group

And in the past decade, the value of the state's seed-crop industry, 40 percent

of which is estimated to involve genetically engineered crops, has grown

fivefold, to a record $48.7 million last year.

 

That record could be challenged by Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm based in

Oakland, Calif., which is trying to use open-record laws to force the state to

allow inspection of its files on two companies given permission to grow

genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops in Hawai'i.

 

Genetic crop research has gone on for decades. It involves combining genetic

material from different organisms in hopes of creating higher-yielding or

better-tasting crops. Most Hawai'i research involves corn, with federal permits

also sought in recent years for open-field tests on soybeans, rice, wheat,

papaya and pineapple.

 

In the relatively new area of biopharmaceutical crop research, plants are

engineered to produce nonfood items, such as drugs or industrial chemicals. The

Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, one of five entities doing this work in

Hawai'i, said it had concluded field testing of 50 sugar-cane plants on O'ahu

that had been crossed with human genes in hopes of producing an enzyme to spur

production of bone marrow, reports the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

The use of plants to produce drugs or industrial chemicals could hold great

promise for producing compounds cheaper and faster than in today's

pharmaceutical factories, said Stephanie Whalen, president of the research

center. Growing drugs in sugar cane also could give growers a new, high-margin

sales stream, she said.

 

Critics contend that open-field, genetically modified crop testing - and

biopharmaceutical research in particular - is racing ahead of what is known

about potential risks to the nation's environment, people and food supply.

 

Holding on to information about what these companies are doing, and where, only

makes it more difficult to gauge the risks, said Isaac Moriwake, an attorney for

Earthjustice.

 

" Is the proper response to keep the public totally in the dark about where this

is ongoing, or is the response higher security, or conducting these tests

indoors? " he said. " The courts are going to be presented squarely with this

question of, is it confidential business information? "

 

The federal government has approved 14 permits to field-test biopharmaceuticals

in Hawai'i since 1998; another application to combine genes from a human and

mouse in corn is pending. In nine cases, the donor of genes being tested in

plants was kept confidential. For all the permits, the location of the tests are

kept secret.

 

Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group that has intervened in the

Earthjustice suit on the state's side, contends that details about such tests

need to remain confidential for competitive reasons and to thwart any

destruction of crops by militant environmentalists.

 

" There are valid reasons why companies ask for, and were granted,

(confidentiality) status - and if they can't receive that, companies will look

at other alternatives, " such as conducting research elsewhere, said Mike

Phillips, vice president for food and agriculture for the industry organization.

 

If successful, Earthjustice's lawsuit could pave the way for making public all

information on genetically modified crop research in the state, not just

biopharmaceuticals. Research supporters say that could jeopardize a seed-crop

industry that employs 1,190 people, the state estimates, in relatively high-wage

jobs.

 

Ultimately, the research needs to prove its worth, and failure to manufacture

crop drugs may lead to fewer tests. For example, last week Monsanto Co. said it

would discontinue its plant-made pharmaceuticals program as a cost-cutting

measure. Pioneer says it has no intention to field-test biopharmaceuticals, says

the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

That would be fine with Blake Drolson, a member of GMO-Free Kaua'i, which

opposes genetically modified crops and food. Chief among the group's concerns

are genetic contamination of the environment and risks to the state's endangered

species.

 

" I feel like I'm being experimented on without my consent, " he said.

 

Beyond highly debated health risks, environmentalists raise concerns that

Hawai'i's $500 million agriculture industry could be tainted by the state's

increasingly high profile as a center for genetic crop research.

 

Already, food processors have lined up with environmentalists and consumer

groups on the issue of biopharmaceuticals and expressed worries about buying

food from areas where drugs or industrial chemicals are grown.

 

" Hawai'i could get a reputation as a genetically engineering place, and our

agriculture may not sell around the world, " said Drolson of GMO-Free Kaua'i.

 

Just how real are the dangers from genetically modified crops? Industry

officials maintain that the risk to the environment and food is minimal.

 

" It's a bunch of nonsense, " said Whalen of the Hawaii Agriculture Research

Center, on the prospect of genetic research contaminating the environment.

" Plants are not promiscuous. There has to be some compatibility between the

(genetically modified) plant and the natural plant. "

 

Keith Pitts, director of public policy for the independent Pew Initiative on

Food and Biotechnology, agreed that Hawai'i's lack of a commercial corn crop

reduces much of the risk of genetic contamination.

 

" But the other thing you have to think about - and I'm not saying it's a risk -

is what does it mean to have a pharmaceutical grown in corn, or industrial

chemical grown in corn, if it's eaten by a bird or small animal?

 

" Genes do move around, and plants cross-pollinate. "

 

Part of the problem in gauging the adequacy of industry regulation is a lack of

consensus on the risks posed by genetically modified crops. A key issue is

whether it's even possible to measure the broad ecological effects of the

plantings, according to the Pew Institute.

 

Time needed to act

 

Meanwhile, biotech crop research races ahead of the government's ability to

react, Pitts said.

 

" I think the potential of the technology is a bit ahead of where our regulatory

system is now, " he said. " So I think some catching up needs to be done. "

 

After an incident last fall in which biopharmaceutical soybeans were found mixed

with soybeans meant for human consumption, the U.S. Drug Administration proposed

new rules aimed at reducing the movement of biopharmaceutical seed and

preventing genetically engineered crops from mixing with food crops.

 

The Pew Initiative also would like to see better coordination among federal

agencies responsible for overseeing the industry. Some groups have called for

greater scrutiny into what companies keep confidential, and increased disclosure

of experimental locations where the risk to other crops is greater.

 

Beyond federal rules, many states are considering their own restrictions on the

industry.

 

In the 2001 and 2002 legislative sessions, Hawai'i lawmakers led all states by

introducing 23 biotech agriculture-related bills, according to the Pew

Initiative. Only one passed: It made anyone found destroying such crops liable

for damage.

 

In the 2003 legislative session, about a dozen biotech agriculture bills were

introduced, including one by state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau),

that would make crop test locations public and require independent monitoring of

the work conducted.

 

Hooser said he recognizes the potential benefits of crop research, but feels

certain types of crop experimentation warrant greater review. That is especially

true in Hawai'i, where the state's $10 billion tourism industry depends heavily

on the natural environment, says the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

" There's a wide range of GM operations. Some are working on corn, soy and rice

making them resistant to pests and weather, " he said. " On the other end of the

spectrum, we have pharmaceutical GMOs, where you cross animals, fish and plants

together - scary stuff. I think the right to know is fundamental. "

 

http://pewagbiotech.org/newsroom/summaries/display.php3?NewsID=527

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