GMW: The Side Effects of Drugged Crops

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The Side Effects of Drugged Crops

The Union of Concerned Scientists' Margaret Mellon explains the group's

concerns about the dangers genetically altered food poses

Business Week, July 25 2005

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945092_mz018.htm

 

The Union of Concerned Scientists, founded in 1969 at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, has since grown into one of the most

influential voices on Capitol Hill. Now based in Washington, D.C., the

group

frequently weighs in on issues related to the environment, energy, and

biotechnology. Advertisement

 

Margaret Mellon, director of the food and environment program for the

group, specializes in studying how biotech is used in agriculture and

how it might affect food safety. In a recent interview with

BusinessWeek's Arlene Weintraub, Mellon outlined her views on the

mission of Ventria

Biosciences and other biotech companies that are genetically altering

food crops to produce human drugs. Edited excerpts from their

conversation follow:

 

Q: Is the Union of Concerned Scientists opposed to genetically

engineering plants to produce human drugs?

 

A: We're not opposed across the board. It's a technology that should be

examined. And we're enthusiastic about using genetic engineering for

drug production. We're not so enthusiastic about outdoor applications of

genetic engineering to crops.

 

Q: What exactly is your concern?

 

A: When you're genetically engineering bioactive molecules -- drugs --

into crops and they're growing outdoors, you must be able to assure

those [engineered traits] don't move to food crops. Otherwise you're

imposing health and environmental risks.

 

Q: How might this affect trade with foreign countries?

 

A: Genetically engineered crops have uneven acceptance around the

world. Some people don't want any genetic engineering in their food.

If they

found drugs in commodity crops, there would be a huge international

brouhaha. People around the world have choices -- they don't have to buy

from the U.S.

 

Q: Right now, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. oversees the growing of plants

for pharmaceutical production. What are some of the questions that you

think need to be answered when it comes to regulatory oversight?

 

A: We need to look at the ways both the USDA and the Food & Drug

Administration are involved. The FDA has authority to oversee drug

production. The question is: When does drug production begin here? Is

it when the

genetically engineered crop is delivered to the biotech manufacturing

facility? Or should the FDA's authority extend into the field?

 

The FDA needs to get new authority from Congress to allow them to

regulate genetically engineered organisms. There needs to be a

pre-commercial review of the risks inherent in this type of production.

 

Q: Some companies are developing animals -- such as goats and cows --

that might be able to produce human drugs in their milk. Why hasn't that

stirred up the same amount of controversy as drug-producing plants

have?

 

A: The chances of a [captive] goat passing along a drug-producing gene

to a wild goat aren't very high. But even there, there are concerns.

 

We have to make sure the drugs don't carry viruses or other infectious

agents. We have to make sure we're not impeding the health and

well-being of the animals. And there could be problems with human

error --

someone selling one of these animals into the food supply, for example.

 

Q: It sounds like you're calling for big changes at the federal level.

 

A: The process we have now just isn't going to do it. People are

nervous about genetic engineering. This is not a trivial issue.