Agricultural Biotechnology: A Hazards Checklist
THREE AREAS:
1)
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
2)
HAZARDS TO PLANT, ANIMAL, AND HUMAN HEALTH
3)
HAZARDS TO AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL BIODIVERSITY
1)
Socioeconomic impacts
o Increased drain of genetic resources from South to North (from indigenous and other land-based
communities to TNC biotechnology)
o Increased marginalization of small farmers due to intellectual property rights (IPRs), and other restrictive
or appropriative mechanisms and practices associated with seed certification
o Substitution of TEK and germplasm for land-race (heirloom) produce
o Inherent genetic instability of transgenic lines resulting in crop failures
o Transgenic maize adapted for resistance to heavy metals and other contaminants in degraded soils
perpetuates environmental racism and continued destruction of habitat and land race cultivars; there is
horizontal gene transfers with land race varieties (for example, the Madres de maíz that are critical
fountains of place-specific biodiversity in Mexico have been contaminated by gene transfers from
Monsanto transgenic maize)
o Engineering mind-set underlying development of transgenic maize adapted to grow in degraded soils
illustrates the complete failure to address need for ecological restoration, wildlife species and habitat, or
farm worker health and safety
o
Engineering mindset ignores the need for restoration of indigenous land and other traditional resource
rights threatened by the expropriating privilege granted the Northern IPR (patenting) regime
2) Hazards to Human and Animal Health
o Toxic or allergenic effects due to transgene products or products from interactions with host genes
o Increased use of toxic pesticides with pesticide-resistant transgenic crops, leading to pesticide-related
illnesses in farm workers and the contamination of food and drinking water
o Vector-mediated spread of antibiotic resistance marker genes to gut bacteria and to pathogens
o Vector-mediated virulence among pathogens across species by horizontal gene transfer and
recombination
o Potential for vector-mediated horizontal gene transfer and recombination to create new pathogenic
bacteria and viruses
o Potential of vector-mediated infection of cells after ingestion of transgenic foods, to regenerate disease
viruses, or for the vector to insert itself into the cell’s genome causing harmful or lethal effects including
cancer
3) Hazards to Agricultural and Natural Biodiversity
o Spread of transgenes to related weed species creating superweeds (e.g., herbicide resistance)
o Spread of transgenes to related cultigens, creating harmful genetic disruption of locally-adapted
land race varieties
o Increased use of toxic, non-discriminating herbicides with herbicide-resistant transgenic plants
leading to large scale elimination of indigenous agricultural and natural species
o Increased use of other herbicides to control herbicide-resistant “volunteers,” thus further
impacting on indigenous biodiversity
o Increased use of toxic herbicides destroying soil fertility and yield (complexity of soil flora and
fauna is reduced)
o Bio-insecticidal transgenic plants (i.e., Bt transgenics) accelerating the evolution of bio-pesticide
resistance in major insect pests, resulting in the loss of bio-pesticide use (or natural controls) by
organic farmers for years
o Increased exploitation of natural bio-pesticides in transgenic plants, leading to a corresponding
range of resistant insects, depriving the ecosystem of its natural pest controls and the ability to
rebalance itself to recover from perturbation
o Vector-mediated horizontal gene transfer to unrelated species via bacteria and viruses, with the
potential of creating many other weed species
o Vector recombination to generate new virulent strains of viruses especially in transgenic plants
engineered for viral resistance with viral genes
o The vectors carrying the transgene, unlike chemical pollution, can be perpetuated and amplified
given the right environmental conditions; it has the potential to unleash cross-species epidemics of
infectious plant and animal diseases that will be impossible to control or recall
o Transgenic crops bio-engineered for Terminator-type technologies may amplify vector-mediated
horizontal gene transfer of the self-destructive sterility trait, affecting the reproductive biology of
wild weedy relatives and land races
Adapted and modified from: Mae-Wan Ho, Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare? The Brave New World
of Bad Science and Big Business. Bath, UK: Gateway Books (1998). Pp. 141-43.
New Social Movements Against
Commercial Agricultural Biotechnology
1.
No Patents on Life
2.
Transgene Free Zones of Indigenous Biodiversity
3.
GEO Food Labeling
4.
Anti-Pesticides
5.
De Facto Protection of Traditional Resource Rights from IPR Regimes
6.
Indigenous Sovereignty (“No Patent Zones”)
7.
Restoration of CPRs (in WTO & other contexts)
8.
CSA – Community Supported Agriculture and LFSS – Local Food Self-Sufficiency Systems
(Urban Horticulture)