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Web version of a letter sent 9th March 2003 by SGR
Mr John McAllion MSP
john.mcallion.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
[The letter was also sent to other MSPs on the Petitions Committee]
Dear Mr McAllion,
Re: Farm-scale Trials of Genetically Modified (GM) Oilseed Rape at Munlochy, Scotland
We are a group of about 700 British scientists and engineers who are concerned that science should be used in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. One of our concerns is that biotechnology, which stems from the financial interests of large corporations, is being rushed past regulatory agencies without sufficient testing to ensure safety to health and the environment. More particularly, our concerns are outlined below. For further details, please refer to the document we have submitted to the Scottish Parliament and which bears the same title that appears above (Re: Farm-scale Trials).
Results produced by this trial will have little value because the farm-scale trials have been badly designed. For example, there does not appear to be any provision for taking into account the fact that different varieties of oilseed rape are used in the GM and non-GM halves of the field. It is not enough to compare varieties that are merely ‘equivalent’.
Pollen from oilseed rape is detectable several kilometres away from the crop and GM pollen can thus contaminate other farms in the region. Although oilseed rape is not being grown by other farmers in the area at present, another Brassica, swede (turnip), is now under cultivation by organic farmers in the vicinity of the trial. Contamination of turnips by GM oilseed rape has been observed elsewhere. The European Commission proposes a separation distances of 5 km, so that, with the extremely high winds that have become common in recent months, GM pollen might reach the large cluster of organic farms downwind of the trial, one of which is 7 km from the trial site. High organic standard, such as that of the Soil Association, does not permit ANY contamination by GM crops, however low the level. This means that organic farmers who find that their crop has received pollen from the Munlochy trial will not be able to sell their crop as organic and will thereby lose the premium for the extra work they have put into the raising of their produce. There is no legislation in place through which organic (or other) farmers could obtain redress.
GM oilseed rape that has stacked the genes for three different herbicides has already become a nuisance in Canada. This would be a hazard also in the UK if GM oilseed rape were to be grown commercially.
GM pollen can spread to wild relatives of oilseed rape.
Studies have shown that Aventis’s GM variety has a lower yield than do non-GM hybrids. Moreover, in financial terms, it has proved more economical not to use any herbicide, and to lose a small portion of the crop to weeds, than it is to purchase and apply the herbicide.
Experiments on animals have revealed ‘clear evidence’ that the effective ingredient, glufosinate ammonium, in the herbicide Liberty required for use with these crops causes miscarriages and birth defects. It also has toxic effects on human beings, particularly for the nervous system. Even at very low concentrations, it is toxic to many aquatic and estuarine invertebrates, and wildlife in Munlochy Bay will therefore be in grave danger from the run-off running downhill from the trial farm.
Genetic material from GM oilseed rape has been shown to have crossed the species barrier into bacteria in the guts of honey bees. The further implications of this finding are not known. GM pollen will be carried into and will contaminate honey.
Geneticists are unable to control where inserted genes will be located in a chromosome and resort to a trial-and-error method to discover whether a trial GM plant has the desired property. Examination of the genetic structure of a GM soya variety by independent scientists showed that it differered alarmingly from what the geneticists who developed the plants had claimed.
Warnings have been given by independent scientists that the gene switch (‘promoter’) obtained from the cauliflower mosaic virus and used in nearly all GM crops, including oilseed rape, has the potential to cause harm by spreading to other plant species and also to create new, virulent diseases in human beings.
All chemical agriculture results in progressive erosion of topsoil. Soil quality is also degraded by the use of chemicals.
Experts on soil have warned that soil micro-organisms, which have an essential involvement in making plants grow, can be invaded by GM genes that have leaked from the roots of plants. If their behaviour is unfavourably altered as a result, the soil may progressively, and irreversibly, lose its fertility. As the transgenic micro-organisms proliferate, the loss of soil fertility could spread outwards over a large area.
In view of the great potential for harm arising from this crop, and in view of the fact that the fundamental reasons for growing it (less use of chemicals, higher yields) have been demonstrated to be invalid, we urge that the Munlochy trial (and, indeed, all trials of GM oilseed rape) be immediately stopped.
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Chair; Dr Eva Novotny, Co-ordinator for GM Issues
1 ‘Viral DNA fed to mice is found to reach white blood cells, spleen and liver cells via the intestinal wall, to become incorporated into the mouse cell genome [Ref. in note (a) below]. When fed to pregnant mice, the viral DNA ends up in cells of the fetuses and the new born animals, suggesting that it has gone through the placenta as well [note (b)]. The authors remark that “The consequences of foreign DNA uptake for mutagenesis and oncogenesis have not yet been investigated [note (b)].”’ (www.i-sis.org.uk, ‘Horizontal Gene Transfer - The Hidden Hazards of Genetic Engineering’)
(a) Schubbert, R., Rentz, D., Schmitz, B. and Doerfler, W. (1997). Foreign (M13 DNA ingested by mice reaches peripheral leukocytes, spleen and liver via the intestinal wall mucosa and can be covalently linked to mouse DNA. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 961-966.
(b) Doerfler, W. and Schubbert, R. (1998). Uptake of foreign DNA from the environment: the gastroinestinal tract and the placenta as portals of entry, Wien Klin Wochenschr. 110, 40-44.
2 Dr Vyvyan Howard, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Foetal and Infant Toxico-pathology Group at the University of Liverpool, and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, speaking on 18 October 2000 [transcript page 23] at the public hearing on the forage maize ‘Chardon LL’; available by visiting http://www.defra.gov.uk and searching for 'Chardon'. Then look for ‘001018’ for 18 October 2000.
3 Chardon LL Hearing; documents available by visiting http://www.defra.gov.uk and searching for 'Chardon'. This will take you to the listing of all the transcripts.(Note that transcripts are identified by year, month, day: e.g., 18 October 2000 is denoted by ‘001018’). Please refer especially to the hearings of 18 October 2000, 24 October 2000 and 23 May 2002.
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For further information contact Dr Eva Novotny, SGR Co-ordinator for GM Issues Send correspondence about the web-site to This page last modified: 4th May 2003 © SGR 1997-2003 |
