GMW: The Faithless Gardener

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GMW: The Faithless Gardener

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Tue, 8 Aug 2006 14:11:22 +0100

 

 

 

 

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The Faithless Gardener

by Silvia Ribeiro

ALAI-AMLatina, Published in Rebelion, 02-08-2006

Translated By Tlaxcala

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00074.htm

 

Pharmaceutical companies use Third World populations for experiments

not permitted in their own countries.

 

Fabrizio and Jordano, two of the 140 Peruvian babies used in an

experiment with substances derived from genetically manipulated rice

by the

company Ventria Biosciences have presented allergic symptoms from that

time according to statements made to Peru's La Republica newspaper of

July 20th.

 

According to the testimony of Diana Canessa Garaya , a 24 year old

mother, she took her 8 month old baby to the Children's Hospital in Lima

last year with symptoms of severe diarrhoea. A doctor offered to

administer a " rice based rehydration fluid " which the young woman

agreed to,

since she had no reason to mistrust " medical authority " and she wanted a

prompt recovery for her only child. So, without really understanding

the consequences it might have, she signed the authorization that they

asked from her to be able to give the medicine.

 

Diana did not then know that her son, who is now two years old, had

become the object of an experiment, not permitted in the United

States, by

a US biotechnology company with substances unapproved for consumption

in any part of the world.

 

After being given the fluid, according to the mother, the baby started

to show allergic symptoms and currently is " delicate, constantly unwell

and allergic to everything " . She adds, " they tricked me, they just

wanted to experiment with my baby. "

 

Condemned now by various Peruvian and international human rights,

environmental and consumer organizations as well as by the Peruvian

Medical

Association, the experiment consisted of administering to a group of

babies with diarrhoea a rice-based rehydration fluid with the recombinant

proteins (1) lactoferrin and lisozyme produced in the United States in

rice genetically modified with synthetic human genes. (For more details

see the article " Babies as guineapigs " published July 1st in Mexico's

La Jornada).

 

 

The possibility of recombinant drugs produced in genetically modified

plants provoking allergies is exactly one of the risks of which various

US organizations, including the Center for Food Safety, had alerted

their country's authorities when Ventria sought approval to grow this

type

of rice in California.

 

According to the report of this and other organizations, supported in

numerous scientific references, recombinant proteins - derived from

genetically modified organisms - are not identical to those produced

naturally. The differences can be so subtle as to be difficult to

detect even

in a laboratory. However, the human immune system is indeed sensitive

to these differences and can generate anti-bodies which in some cases

lead to a chronic reaction to many other foods and substances to which

previously the patient was not allergic.

 

In his reply to questions from Peru's Human Rights Association, the of the Specialist Children's Health Institute, Dr. Dante

Figueroa

Quintanilla, one of the people responsible for the experiment, argued,

among other things, that " in modern medicine recombinant proteins are

used legitimately to improve people's health, for example insulin,

growth hormone, clotting factor and hematopoyetics. "

 

Precisely in all the cases cited by Figueroa Quintanilla there have

been problems of one kind or another, but as is already common in the

case

of genetically modified organisms, the powerful biotechnology industry

has worked to suppress them and keep them little known. It is

inexcusable that a hospital director who gave his agreement to expose

babies to

an experiment with recombinant proteins was unaware of them or, worse

still, failed to take them into account.

 

For example, recombinant insulin, one of the examples most used by

promoters of genetically modified organisms to show the alleged

benefits of

these products, come with a history of concealment and distortion about

its damaging effects. In 1999 the British Diabetics Association made

known an extensive report - which it had kept hidden for several years

thanks to the " donations " it received from pharmaceutical companies and

producers of sweeteners that also contain genetically modified products

- according to which it had received complaints from almost 10% of its

members (about 15,000 people) directly related to the change from

animal insulin to genetically modified insulin.

 

The damage reported ranged from light discomfort to the absence of

symptoms signalling diabetic coma, which is very serious because it can

cause the patient's death if no measures are taken to prevent it. Also

documented are the generation of antibodies in the case of the use of

clotting factors and growth hormones. In one particular case (MGDF) a

product was withdrawn from clinical trials because the formation of

antibodies caused haemorrhaging. In other cases products continue in

circulation despite known damaging effects, in part because the

companies hide

them or minimize them, in part because alternatives are taken off the

market or else because the products count with a powerful lobby to

prevent

the truth being known and appropriate measures being taken.

 

Just as with genetically manipulated agricultural products, genetically

modified products for pharmaceutical use have a bulging hidden record

which, if it were fully disclosed, would justify their removal from the

market.

 

In the case of Ventria in Peru, it seems furthermore that they are

prepared to follow the sadly well-worn path of many pharmaceutical

companies and use Third World populations to carry out experiments not

permitted in their own country.

 

Translator's note

1. Recombinant DNA (sometimes rDNA) is an artificial DNA sequence

resulting from the combining of two other DNA sequences in a plasmid.

Recombinant proteins are proteins that are produced by different

genetically

modified organisms following insertion of the relevant DNA into their

genome. As this recombines the DNA of two different organisms, the word

recombinant is used to refer to this process.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recombinant)

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Translated from Spanish into English by toni solo, a member of Tlaxcala

( www.tlaxcala.eshe network of translators for linguistic diversity.

This translation is Copyleft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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