www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

People are being urged by Scotland's new chief scientific adviser to embrace
genetically modified (GM) food as an answer to poverty, hunger and toxic
pollution, December 2006 by Rob Edwards.

Professor Anne Glover, herself a genetic engineer, is urging consumers to
ignore labels like "Frankenstein foods" because they are misleading and
damaging. The potential benefits of GM crops are "huge", she says, and the
risks "extremely small".

But her enthusiasm for GM food has infuriated environmentalists, who fear
she could exert an important influence on Scottish ministers. They argue GM
crops are "potentially dangerous" and point out that they have been widely
rejected by the public and supermarkets.

Glover, a molecular biologist from the University of Aberdeen, was appointed
chief scientific adviser earlier this year by Nicol Stephen, the deputy
first minister. She is an expert on microbes and has genetically engineered
bacteria to glow in the dark.

She has taken luminescence genes from deep sea organisms and transplanted
them into soil bacteria. The healthier the soil, the brighter the bacteria
glow, making it possible to use them as biological sensors for measuring
environmental contamination.

It's that research which informs Glover's view of GM foods. "I'm absolutely
in favour of genetic manipulation carried out under appropriate guidelines,"
she told the Sunday Herald. GM food could help end poverty and hunger in the
world, as well as reducing farmers' use of hazardous pesticides, she said.
"I think GM crops might well be able to help us in addressing some of these
issues."

Crops could be engineered to resist drought, or to have a higher nutritional
value, she argued. They could also be developed to produce biofuels to use
as a renewable fuel for vehicles.

Blight-resistant GM potatoes being trialed in England could help Scotland's
potato market, she suggested. GM crops could also deliver cheaper foods with
longer shelf lives.

"They have a significant amount to offer, globally, in terms of how they
could be used to better produce crops under difficult conditions and to
reduce the amount of chemicals used in agriculture," Glover said.

The public debates that had so far taken place had been "really poorly
informed", she added. "There's an astonishing lack of knowledge about
genetic modification."

Glover also said that she didn't understand why people were prepared to eat
fast food that was high in fat and preservatives known to be bad for health,
but were worried about GM.

Glover was particularly concerned about the widespread use of the term
"Frankenstein foods" to describe GM products. "That's really unhelpful," she
said. "We need to learn from what's happened over GM foods to ensure that we
don't allow developing new technologies to be hijacked by phrases which are
all to do with headline-grabbing and nothing to do with reality."

But her views were fiercely rejected by the Soil Association, which promotes
and certifies organic food. "There is no evidence whatever that Scottish
consumers want GM products in their food supplies," said Hugh Raven, the
association's director in Scotland.

"If the Scottish Executive's advisers can't grasp that in a democracy it's
not very clever to foist potentially dangerous new technologies onto
reluctant consumers, God help us all."

Raven pointed out that several studies had raised questions about the safety
of GM organisms for human consumption. Some showed that modified genes could
transfer into bacteria in the human gut.

Scottish ministers have postponed a long-promised consultation on the
"coexistence" arrangements under which GM crops might be grown north of the
Border until next summer. No GM crops have been grown in Scotland since
trials of GM oil seed rape ended in 2003.

The Scottish Greens' environment speaker, Mark Ruskell MSP, has proposed a
bill to Holyrood to make GM companies strictly liable for any economic
damage caused by contamination from GM crop trials and commercialisation.

"I think the professor needs to wake up to the reality of GM crops and to
the basics of plant biology. Once the GM genie is out the bottle, there is
no going back," Ruskell said.

"She only needs to look to Canada where farming businesses have been left
crippled after their crops have become contaminated. Given that GM crops
would ruin the Scottish agriculture industry, I'm at a loss as to why the
government's chief scientific adviser is determined to push this agenda."

Glover, however, stressed that scientists should not impose GM onto an
unwilling public. They should explain the benefits, leaving it up to people
and politicians to decided what they wanted.
[www.sundayherald.com]

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