Science & Technology
Biotechnology & Life Sciences Archive
AA09178
Wolfshenk, Joshua WHAT MAKES US HAPPY Atlantic Monthly, June 2009
View article on publisher's website: [HTML format, 15 pages]
For more than 70 years, Harvard University researchers have been collecting data on a group of its male students to gain some insights into the keys to "successful living." The collected data of what is known as the Grant Study, passed from one generation of researchers to another, amounts to a rare kind of longitudinal study. Wolfshenk is the first journalist to comb through the accumulated files and draw some conclusions about whether the data does what it set out to do. The primary researcher on the study for more than forty years says the lives of the 268 subjects, half of whom are now deceased, "were too human for science, too beautiful for numbers, too sad for diagnosis and too immortal for bound journals." On a more tangible level, researcher George Vaillant did identify a number of factors that seemed to mark a healthy transition from middle age to a healthy old age: education, stable marriage, not smoking, not abusing alcohol, some exercise, and healthy weight. Of those who had most of these factors in their favor at age 50, half arrived at the age of 80 as happy and well.
AA09166
Pollard, Katherine WHAT MAKES US HUMAN? Scientific American. May 2009
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Comparisons of the genomes of humans and chimpanzees are revealing those rare stretches of DNA that are ours alone. Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans and share nearly 99 percent of our DNA. Efforts to identify those regions of the human genome that have changed the most since chimps and humans diverged from a common ancestor have helped pinpoint the DNA sequences that make us human. The findings have also provided vital insights into how chimps and humans can differ so profoundly, despite having nearly identical DNA blueprints.
HIDDEN COSTS: REDUCED IQ FROM CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT MERCURY EMISSIONS HARMS THE ECONOMY.
Oceana. Simon Mahan and Kimberly Warner. May 6, 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 22 pages]
Lowered IQ due to mercury pollution from outdated mercury-cell chlorine factories has cost the American economy millions of dollars in lost wages annually, according to the report. These factories, called chlor-alkali plants, produce chlorine and caustic soda with technology that emits mercury pollution into our air, water and food. This industry also contributes to fish contamination, which is the primary source of mercury exposure for humans. Frequent consumption of high mercury fish has been linked to lower IQ in young children and heart disease in adults.
[Note: contains copyrighted material]
AA08442
Nielsen, Peter E. TRIPLE HELIX: DESIGNING A NEW MOLECULE OF LIFE Scientific American, December 2008.
Full Text: [HTML format, 5 pages]
Peptide nucleic acid, a synthetic hybrid of protein and DNA, could form the basis of a new class of drugs -- and of artificial life unlike anything found in nature. A synthetic molecule called peptide nucleic acid (PNA) combines the information-storage properties of DNA with the chemical stability of a protein-like backbone. Drugs based on PNA would achieve therapeutic effects by binding to specific base sequences of DNA or RNA, repressing or promoting the corresponding gene. Some researchers working to construct artificial life forms out of chemical mixtures are also considering PNA a useful ingredient for their designs. PNA-like molecules may have served as primordial genetic material at the origin of life.
AA08247
Stix, Gary THE MIGRATION HISTORY OF HUMANS: DNA STUDY TRACES HUMAN ORIGINS ACROSS THE CONTINENTS, Scientific American, July 2008
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DNA furnishes an ever-clearer picture of the multimillennial trek of ancient humans from Africa all the way to the tip of South America. Scientists trace the path of human migrations by using bones, artifacts and DNA. Ancient objects are hard to find; however, DNA from contemporary humans can be compared to determine how long an indigenous population has lived in a region. The latest studies survey swaths of entire genomes and produce maps of human movements across much of the world. They also describe how people’s genes have adapted to changes in diet, climate and disease.
AA08277
Pala, Christopher VICTORY AT SEA Smithsonian, September 2008, pp. 46-55
Full Text: [Available for your nearest American Library]
The tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati created a marine reserve the size of California, and Pala writes that this action may point the way toward restoring marine ecosystems. A scientific expedition in 2000 was the first step toward creation of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, about 1,000 miles east of Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati. Pala quotes marine biologist Gregory Stone, who was on that trip, describing the abundance of sea life surrounding the coral reefs: “It was the first time I had seen what the ocean may have been like thousands of years ago.” Humankind never took inventory of sea life before it started to fish the seas, Pala writes, so the distinction of the remote and untouched Phoenix Islands is that they provide a new baseline for understanding what healthy populations of sea life really look like. Kiribati sacrificed significant revenue from commercial fishing licenses in protecting the islands, but did so with a promise of compensation from the nongovernmental organization Conservation International.
HOT TIMES FOR SOLAR ENERGY
Susan Moran, J Thomas McKinnon. World Watch. Mar/Apr 2008. Vol. 21, pg. 26-31
Full text available from your nearest American Library
The vision of a future powered by fossil fuels in one of the sunniest spots in the world strikes many people, including Harry Reid-majority leader of the U.S. Senate and a strong opponent of coal-fired plants-as ludicrous. Which is why Nevada has emerged not only as the biggest battleground over coal but the newest test bed for utility-scale solar thermal electricity. "The world will have more and more demand for cleaner technology as economies grow. There's not enough [fossil] fuel to go around and we have a global warming issue," says Peter Duprey, chief executive officer of Acciona Energy North America…
AA07181
Whitty, Julia GONE: MASS EXTINCTION AND THE HAZARDS OF EARTH'S VANISHING BIODIVERSITY. Mother Jones, vol. 32, no. 3, May/June 2007
Full text
By the end of this century, it is widely believed by biologists that up to half of all species on Earth may be extinct, due to global warming and fragmentation and loss of habitat. According to the most conservative estimates, species extinctions are occurring at 100 times the natural rate, but Harvard biologist Edward Wilson believes that the true rate is probably 1000 to 10,000 times the natural rate. From what is known, five extinction events have occurred on Earth in the past 450 million years; we are currently living through the sixth extinction period, that began during the Stone Age as man migrated out of Africa and began permanently altering the landscape with agriculture and animal husbandry. The author notes that many of the stories about newly-discovered species are the result of researchers frantically trying to identify as many life-forms as possible before they disappear. Many scientists believe that mass extinction poses an even greater threat to human existence than global warming.
AA07181
Whitty, Julia GONE: MASS EXTINCTION AND THE HAZARDS OF EARTH'S VANISHING BIODIVERSITY. Mother Jones, vol. 32, no. 3, May/June 2007
Full text
By the end of this century, it is widely believed by biologists that up to half of all species on Earth may be extinct, due to global warming and fragmentation and loss of habitat. According to the most conservative estimates, species extinctions are occurring at 100 times the natural rate, but Harvard biologist Edward Wilson believes that the true rate is probably 1000 to 10,000 times the natural rate. From what is known, five extinction events have occurred on Earth in the past 450 million years; we are currently living through the sixth extinction period, that began during the Stone Age as man migrated out of Africa and began permanently altering the landscape with agriculture and animal husbandry. The author notes that many of the stories about newly-discovered species are the result of researchers frantically trying to identify as many life-forms as possible before they disappear. Many scientists believe that mass extinction poses an even greater threat to human existence than global warming.
SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION: GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASE FROM SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION.
Robyn Lucas, Tony McMichael, Wayne Smith and Bruce Armstrong. World Health Organization, Public Health and the Environment. July 2006.
Full Report: [pdf format, 258 pages]
[Note: Contains copyrighted material.]
This report provides an overview of the magnitude of the global disease burden associated with ultraviolet radiation (UVR). The most serious problems, which cause the greatest burden of disease from UVR, are cutaneous malignant melanomas and non-melanoma skin cancers developing in different cell layers of the skin. Of an estimated 60,000 deaths attributed to UVR, an estimated 48,000 are caused by malignant melanomas, and 12,000 by skin carcinomas. In addition, UVR causes sunburn, skin photo ageing, cortical cataracts (eye lens opacities), pterygium (a fleshy growth on the surface of the eye), reactivation of herpes of the lip (cold sores) and the rare squamous cell carcinomas of the eye.
The report notes that UVR does have beneficial effects, mainly in the production of vitamin D following skin exposure to the UVB (shorter wavelength) component of UVR. Adequate vitamin D prevents the development of bone diseases such as rickets, osteomalacia and steoporosis. WHO notes that in most cases, minimal casual exposure to UVR should be sufficient to maintain vitamin D levels at a range that avoids these health problems. The dangers are much greater from over-exposure to the sun's radiation. WHO espouses a public health policy on ultraviolet radiation that aims to prevent the disease burden associated both with excessive and with insufficient UV exposure.
AA06310
Singer, Emily STEM CELLS REBORN (Technology Review, vol. 109, no. 2, May/June 2006, pp. 58-65)
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In 2004, stem cell researcher Hwang Woo Suk of Seoul National University and colleagues claimed to have created patient-specific stem cells. In 2005, Hwang's research was shown to be fraudulent -- he and his team had created no cloned stem cell lines. Stem cell research suffered during the time Hwang had claimed his advances because many researchers stopped their work or lost their funding. Today, stem cell researchers are back at work; this article describes a range of stem cell research, including therapeutic cloning. Other researchers, rather than using stem cells as a form of therapy themselves, plan to use them to study specific diseases and test new treatments. This application will help scientists understand how any disease with a genetic component unfolds at the cellular level. Cloned stem cells might also provide a much more effective way to test drugs. Despite the possibilities, U.S. researchers are constrained by intense public scrutiny, an administration opposed to embryonic stem cell research, and a continuous struggle to get funding from private investors.
AA06114
Williams, Mark THE KNOWLEDGE (Technology Review, vol. 109, no. 1, March/April 2006, pg. 44-53)
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According to the author, biotechnology's advance could give malefactors the ability to manipulate life processes -- and even affect human behavior. Williams tells the story through interviews with Sergei Popov, who for nearly 20 years developed genetically engineered biological weapons for the Soviet Union and is now working in the U.S. Popov's accounts of what the Russians accomplished in producing genetically engineered bioweapons are important now, Williams says, because the achievements show what is possible, and all can be accomplished today with time and money. The growing scientific consensus is that biotechnology -- especially the technology to synthesize ever-larger DNA sequences -- has advanced to the point that terrorists and rogue states could engineer dangerous novel pathogens. He describes the Soviet bioweapons program, which involved plague, Ebola virus, and even concepts of subtle bioweapons that modified behavior by targeting the nervous system, inducing effects like temporary schizophrenia, memory loss, heightened aggression, immobilizing depression, or fear, or pacification of a subject population. Just as a revolution in "targeting specificity" (targeting is the process of engineering molecules to recognize and bind to particular types of cells) is creating new opportunities in pharmaceuticals, it is advancing the prospects for chemical and biological weapons.
AA06148
Fields, Helen DINOSAUR SHOCKER (Smithsonian Magazine, vol. 37, no. 2, May 2006, pp. 50-55)
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North Carolina State University paleontologist Mary Schweitzer has found what was never supposed to exist -- tissue cells from a 68-million-year-old dinosaur. The conventional wisdom was that the process of fossilization -- that tissue cells decay, and hard tissues acquire minerals to fossilize -- meant that scientists would never find tissue from ancient creatures. But the broken, fossilized bone of a dinosaur, and the Dr. Schweitzer's flair for the unorthodox, led to the discovery of a few surviving tissue cells, which is providing a window in the lives of these extinct animals. Her first discovery was that her specimen came from a pregnant female. The tissue revealed that the dinosaur had been building a stockpile of medullary bone, a hard tissue that helps in the formation of eggshells in the breeding season. Birds undergo the same process, providing further evidence that our feathered friends are the descendants of the dinosaurs.
AA05417
Brownlee, Christen THE SUM OF THE PARTS (Science News, Vol 168, No. 24, December 10, 2005, pp. 378-380)
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Synthetic biologists are giving genetic engineering a new twist by designing sections of DNA that act in predictable ways to fit specific needs. Stringing together these different DNA parts and introducing them into a cell can allow scientists to make tiny "living machines." While this new field is still in its infancy, scientists are already using synthetic biology to make it easier to study life's basic mechanisms. Several scientists predict that this field could eventually help in combating and treating deadly diseases, such as having a bacterium deliver chemotherapy or direct the delivery of an antimalarial drug. Some scientists have ethical concerns over the risks posed by synthetic biology, and are looking for ways to oversee the use of this technology. One method would have a regulatory body notified whenever an order is placed for DNA sections that may have potentially harmful uses. Another would attach a "DNA barcode" to indicate where that piece of DNA came from, thus providing a chain of accountability.
AA05365
Cohen, Joel E. HUMAN POPULATION GROWS UP (Scientific American vol. 293, no. 3, September 2005, pp. 48-55)
Full text available from your nearest IRC
Cohen, Professor of Populations at Rockefeller and Columbia universities, writes that the global human population will grow to about 9 billion people by the middle of this century, and will undergo unprecedented changes in the balance between young and old, and rich and poor. He notes that virtually all of the growth will occur in urban areas of developing countries. Falling fertility rates and increased longevity will expand the proportion of elderly people. Migrants from countries with traditionally high fertility rates who go to developed regions where fertility rates are lower, such as Europe or North America, often adopt the low-fertility patterns of those countries. Cohen notes that the growing urban populations in the developing world will put more farmland out of production, because most cities grew up in prime agricultural regions. This article is one of a special series, CROSSROADS FOR PLANET EARTH, in the September issue of Scientific American.
AA05272
Arndt, Michael; Capell, Kerry DRUGS GET SMART (Business Week, September 5, 2005, pp. 76-85)
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The authors argue that new medications to cure human diseases are about to become more efficient. The issue is that genetic variations among individuals make today's prescription medications effective only for some of the people who take them. In the future, however, new technologies will help drug companies tailor innovative medications to the genome of the individual; this will become possible due to research currently taking place that is decoding human DNA, and how it varies from person to person. Some theorists believe, for example, that there are different varieties of such commonplace conditions as heart disease that need to be medicated differently depending on the patient's biochemistry. "Personalized medicine" is already beginning, as with the anti-cancer drug Herceptin, prescribed for patients with a particular genetic variation. Tests are already on the way to tell how easily individual patients metabolize medications, in order to make it easier to choose the right type and dose; and to pinpoint how aggressive a cancer is likely to be, so treatment can be foreseen. The downside: soon so much will be known about an individual's genetic makeup that people might be discriminated against on the basis of theoretical genetic vulnerability.
USDA ISSUES TWO BIOTECHNOLOGY REPORTS, May 2005
Download Global Traceability [pdf format, 33 pages]Download Preparing for the future [pdf format, 15 pages]
"U.S. Department of Agriculture issued two reports on agricultural biotechnology that cover the evolving world requirements for the traceability and labeling of agricultural biotechnology products and on the complexities of predicting the use of these products in the future. The reports, developed by USDA's Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21), are entitled (1) Global Traceability and Labeling Requirements for Agricultural Biotechnology-Derived Products: Impacts and Implications for the United States; and (2) Preparing for the Future."
AA05129
Paarlberg, Robert THE GREAT STEM CELL RACE (Foreign Policy, no. 148, May/June 2005, pp. 44-51)
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The author surveys the national policies of countries engaged in stem cell research and evaluates the progress of this cutting-edge research. Even as a number of governments restrict funds and regulate the permissible parameters of research, biomedical firms, local governments, and disease foundations are investing millions of dollars in private initiatives. The payoff: securing an early advantage in an emerging industry that holds the potential for enormous financial, social, and scientific gains.
AA05068
Sanderson, James G.; Trolle, Mogens MONITORING ELUSIVE MAMMALS (American Scientist, Vol. 93, No. 2, March-April 2005, pp. 148-155)
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Camera traps provide direct proof of elusive mammals, their habitat and population, and help scientists identify the species and their probability of endangerment. When the Convention on Biological Diversity was ratified in 1992, a program was initiated called Tropical, Ecology, Assessment and Monitoring, or TEAM. The goal of TEAM is to set up research centers around the world, installing cameras in high-habitation regions to record mammals in their environment. The cameras are triggered when the sensors detect movement, and have produced brilliant pictures of some of the world's most elusive species, as well as identified at least one new species. With that information and using a population matrix principle, scientists have been able to identify a particular animal within a 2-day period. Once identified, the continuous photographs reveal how many of that species traveled through the area in the given days, and a population per square mile can be calculated.
Cummings, Claire Hope. TRESPASS: GENETIC ENGINEERING AS THE FINAL CONQUEST (World Watch, vol. 18, no.1, Jan/Feb 2005. pp. 24-35)
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Agricultural biotechnology — the "new biology" — is pushing a little-publicized agenda that brings unprecedented new risks to ecological stability and human security. Cummings focuses on the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMO) on biodiversity; the involvement of the University of California at Berkeley in the development of genetic engineering; and the effect of GMO on farmers. She also provides a list of agrochemical seed companies.
AA04396
Davis, Joshua THE MYSTERY OF THE COCA PLANT THAT WOULDN'T DIE (Wired, vol. 12, no. 11, November 2004)
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The U.S. aerial coca fumigation campaign in Colombia is losing ground to a rapidly spreading new strain of coca plant that is resistant to glyphosate, the herbicide marketed by Monsanto Corporation under the brand name Roundup. Many initially suspected that drug lords had paid an unscrupulous scientist a large sum to tinker with coca DNA, but no one had obtained samples for testing. The author, who heard reports about the existence of this new plant, traveled at some personal risk to the coca-growing region of Colombia to obtain leaf samples of "Boliviana negra," as the new variety is known to the locals. A geneticist who then sequenced the DNA and tested it for the foreign gene that Monsanto developed for its "Roundup Ready" variants of soybean and canola, found no evidence of manipulation -- an indication that the coca-growing campesinos had bred the variety on their own. Very likely, a coca plant was found somewhere in the country that survived aerial spraying; cuttings were made, regrown and selected for increasing resistance, and were quickly sold or traded to others. Selective breeding and a decentralized method of distributing cuttings presents a major challenge to U.S. policymakers in their antidrug efforts, notes the author -- "it's hard to beat technology developed 10,000 years ago."
INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GMOS [GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS]: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS AND DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONCERNS.
Simonetta Zarrilli.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). November 8, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 19 pages]
For developing countries agro-biotechnology is a particularly challenging phenomenon. They stand to be the main beneficiaries of it, if agro-biotechnology keeps its promises. But they could also be the main losers if agro-biotechnology negatively affects biodiversity or if patented biotechnology makes access to seeds more difficult or changes the structure of food production systems.
At the multilateral trade level, rules on transboundary movement of GMOs have been agreed upon in a specific legal instrument, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which recently entered into force. The interaction between this instrument and WTO rules adds challenges to an already complex scenario and might lead to international trade disputes. [Note: The text of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish here.]
The author observes that developing countries must balance their trade interests with their responsibility to improve the quantity and quality of agricultural and food products made available to the population, as well as with their commitment to environmental preservation. Making these goals mutually supportive is not an easy task, especially for countries that still face major difficulties in dealing with the scientific aspects of agro-biotechnology, including risk assessment. Additional capacity-building efforts, including those related to the international trade dimension of the issue, therefore seem necessary.
AA04379
Quammen, David WAS DARWIN WRONG? (National Geographic, vol. 206, no. 5, November 2004, pp. 2-35)
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The author's answer to the title of this article is a strong NO. Quammen notes that some skeptics might be tempted to say that it's "just a theory." However, he cites several other basic scientific theories, such as relativity, continental drift, the atomic theory and electricity, arguing that each "is an explanation that has been confirmed to such a degree, by observation and experiment, that knowledgeable experts accept it as fact." Of course, some people challenge evolution as an explanation for the creation of life, and a number of world religions have basic texts that provide alternative accounts of the creation of life. The author acknowledges these; however, he argues that "Evolution is both a beautiful concept and an important one, more crucial nowadays to human welfare, to medical science, and our understanding of the world than ever before."
AA04330
Kaplan, J. Kim ARS LEADS IN ASSESSING RISK IN TRANSGENICS (Agricultural Research, Vol. 52, No. 9, September 2004, pp. 4-9)
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is a world leader in biotechnology risk assessment research, Kaplan states. Risk must continue to be clearly and openly assessed if genetic engineering of living organisms is to gain in public acceptance, she said. "The public is entitled to know that we have considered the risks in whatever we are engineering," says an ARS scientist. ARS is developing new risk assessment models, and finding ways to limit the spread of transgenes, to transfer only desired genes, and to prevent new allergens from being created. The U.S. agency acts as an objective voice. In the 1999 case of a suggestion published in the journal Nature that biotech maize threatened monarch butterflies, ARS was able to quickly coordinate groups with widely different views to develop verifiable and scientifically sound data. ARS compared the potential risk toxicity of biotech maize on butterflies to that of conventional varieties requiring insecticides. The chemically treated maize was much more harmful, it concluded. "We strive to have solid information about what happens with transgenic organisms in the real-world environment, not just in the lab or under controlled conditions," says another ARS scientist. The article includes a "genetic engineering timeline" that starts in 8,000 B.C., when humans began selecting desired traits to domesticate crops and livestock.
SAFETY OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS: APPROACHES TO ASSESSING UNINTENDED HEALTH EFFECTS. REPORT BRIEF.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC). July 28, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 4 printed pages]
Note: This link is for the 4-page report brief only. The full report is available for purchase at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10977.html. Alternatively, one can view and read or print one page at a time at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309092094/html/.
The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council issued the full 256-page report in order to assist policymakers in evaluating the appropriate scientific methods for detecting unintended changes in food and assessing the potential for adverse health effects from genetically modified products. In the report, the IOM and NRC recommend that greater scrutiny should be given to foods containing new compounds or unusual amounts of naturally occurring substances, regardless of the method used to create them.
The report offers a framework to guide federal agencies in selecting the route of safety assessment. The authors identify and recommend several pre- and post-market approaches to guide the assessment of unintended compositional changes that could result from genetically modified foods and research avenues to fill the knowledge gaps.
THE FUTURE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS: LESSONS FROM THE GREEN REVOLUTION.
Felicia Wu and William Butz. RAND. August 17, 2004.
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The world is now on the cusp of a new agricultural revolution, the so-called Gene Revolution, in which genetically modified (GM) crops are tailored to address chronic agricultural problems in certain regions of the world. In this document the authors compare the Green Revolution of the 20th century with the GM crop movement to assess the agricultural, technological, sociological, and political differences between the two movements.
The similarities and differences between the Green and Gene Revolutions lead Wu and Butz to posit that for the GM crop movement to have the sort of impact that would constitute an agricultural revolution, the following goals still need to be met and the related challenges overcome:
- Agricultural biotechnology must be tailored toward, and made affordable to, developing-world farmers.
- There is a need for larger investments in research in the public sector.
- To garner the level of public interest that can sustain an agricultural revolution, agricultural development must once again be regarded as being critically important from a policy perspective in both donor and recipient nations.
- Policymakers in the developing world must set regulatory standards that take into consideration the risks as well as the benefits of foods derived from GM crops.
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THE TRIPLE HELIX: UNIVERSITY, GOVERNMENT, AND INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES.
Eric Campbell, Greg Koski and David Blumenthal.
AEI-Brookings Joint Center. June 2004.
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Today the roles and interests of universities, corporations and government are intimately intertwined in a complex combination of financial, intellectual, personal and legal relationships. This report presents data regarding the nature, extent and consequences of this 'triple helix' of relationships and also provides a set of guiding principles and management and policy suggestions regarding the disclosure and management of relationships among the various sectors. The authors outline six types of relationships: research relationships; consulting relationships; licensing relationships; equity relationships; training relationships; and gift relationships.
Campbell, Koski and Blumenthal note that these interactions have both pros and cons: "On the one hand, these relationships seem to have fostered collaboration, productivity, innovation and wealth. On the other, many observers find them troubling because the competing commitments and interests that result may threaten the integrity of the scientific endeavor itself, particularly in the biomedical and health-related sciences."
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GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN FOOD CRISIS OF 2002-2003.
Steven Hansch, Andrew Schoenholtz, Alisa Beyninson, Justin Brown, and Don Krumm. Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service. Institute for the Study of International Migration. March 2004.
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Concern about the health and agricultural effects of genetically modified (GM) food has been growing worldwide. As a trade issue, the stakes are very high, as evidenced by the May 2003 case brought before the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the United States and other countries against the European Union (EU). This issue has had an important impact on the delivery of food aid in the Southern Africa crisis of 2002 and 2003. This report discusses how and why GM food affected this humanitarian crisis.
But the major constraint to the ambitious 2002 food relief plan turned out to be recipient government policies on acceptance of GM food aid. A high percentage of the food aid, particularly maize, that had been received or purchased by the World Food Programme (WFP) appeared to have had GM content. And early on, concerned about the possibility of famine in the region, the United States put ships filled with relief maize on the high seas even before the official appeals went out; much of this maize had GM content. The governments of the affected nations did not have GM food policies in place. Despite the fact that GM foods had been circulating noticeably for years in the region, in August 2002 the GM issue started receiving intense attention by the region's governments. Governments suddenly decided they would not permit the relief maize into their countries, even though North American yellow maize has been the dominant form of emergency food aid for distribution throughout Africa for decades.
After presenting the historical background to this specific crisis, the authors discuss the implications of the political debates over GM foods and how humanitarian agencies might best prepare for food emergencies.
ISSUES IN THE REGULATION OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PLANTS AND ANIMALS.
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. April 1, 2004.
Full Report [pdf format, 178 pages]
Executive Summary [pdf format, 19 pages]
This report notes that current agricultural biotechnology products have been widely adopted without evidence of food safety or environmental problems, but the potential complexity of future products may challenge the ability of the existing Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology (administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)) to continue to protect public health and the environment and maintain public trust. The report also examines the extent to which agency regulatory practices are transparent, clear, and open to public participation- all procedural elements that will help build confidence in the integrity of the regulatory system.
While the report does not contain recommendations, each chapter analyzes the current legal authorities used by agencies to oversee a particular product, examines the issues future products may raise for that review process, discusses differing policy perspectives and outlines policy options to address those issues.
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FEEDING THE WORLD: A LOOK AT BIOTECHNOLOGY AND WORLD HUNGER.
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. March 3, 2004.
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This issue brief examines both the potential for agricultural biotechnology to boost food production and quality for poor farmers in developing countries as well as some of the possible concerns about and limitations of agricultural biotechnology. While not comprehensive review of all pertinent factors contributing to the problem of global hunger, the brief illuminates key policy issues relevant to the discussion.
The report provides an overview of:
- The constraints to further increases in food production in developing nations;
- The status of GM crops worldwide and the role of conventional breeding in international food development;
- The potential benefits of genetic engineering to increase food production; reduce crop losses from disease, insects and drought; and improve the nutritional content of traditional foods;
- The unique perspective developing countries have on the potential environmental and food safety risks of GM crops;
- The risk management and socioeconomic issues that GM crops present for developing countries.
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BIOLOGICAL CONFINEMENT OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ORGANISMS.
National Academies of Science, National Research Council. January 20, 2004.
Table of Contents page
Developers of genetically engineered organisms need to consider how biological techniques such as induced sterility can prevent transgenic animals and plants from escaping into natural ecosystems and mating or competing with their wild relatives, or passing engineered traits to other species, says this new report from the U.S. National Academies' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The report, produced for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides an outline for guidelines on how to prevent "escapes" from areas in which genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are produced. The report assesses which organisms (some fish, for example), may be subject to more stringent confinement mechanisms, since the probability of escape may be higher than other organisms.
Note: This is one of the annoying page-by-page view/download publications that the National Academies Press makes available online. It is, however, an important report on an important topic, so we provide the url for the Table of Contents page above. Note: A forthcoming hardcopy edition is available for sale at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10880.html.
BUGS IN THE SYSTEM? ISSUES IN THE SCIENCE AND REGULATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED INSECTS.
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. January 22, 2004.
Download the document [pdf format, 119 pages]
According to this report, researchers are using biotechnology to develop genetically modified (GM) insects for a wide variety of purposes, including fighting insect-borne diseases like malaria and controlling destructive insect agricultural pests, but the federal government lacks a clear regulatory framework for reviewing environmental safety and other issues associated with GM insects.
The report provides an overview of current research efforts to apply genetic engineering technology to insects, and looks at the benefits, risks and scientific uncertainties associated with transgenic insects. After examining the strengths and weaknesses of the legal authorities EPA, FDA and USDA could use to conduct a regulatory review, the report finds the major concern regarding regulation is the absence of a clear articulation of how transgenic insects will be regulated. While a number of laws could potentially apply to GM insects, federal regulators have not indicated if they would regulate GM insects, how a regulatory review would be conducted, which agencies would be involved, or how those agencies would coordinate.
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AA04201
Behar, Michael WILL GENETICS DESTROY SPORTS? (Discover, Vol. 25, No. 7, July 2004, pp. 40-45)
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Gene therapy under development to treat muscle-wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy offers the potential to increase the size and strength of muscles, and ability to recover from injury. Some athletes may use it without regard for the limited knowledge available about side effects, because most gene therapies have not been tested in humans. The World Anti-Doping Agency defines gene-doping as "the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance," and prohibits the practice. That agency, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and scientists and others suspect that such doping is occurring, but practical tests to detect it have not been developed. Performance-enhancing chemicals can be detected by blood, saliva or urine tests, but detecting a change resulting from inserting a gene into a person's muscle cells currently requires an invasive biopsy. In addition to developing detection methods, the agencies will have to define the boundary between therapeutic use and performance enhancement use as gene therapy becomes a tool to treat sports injuries.
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Prakash, C. S.; Conko, Gregory TECHNOLOGY FOR LIFE: HOW BIOTECH WILL SAVE BILLIONS FROM STARVATION (The American Enterprise, Vol. 15, No. 2, March 2004, pp. 16-20)
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Prakash and Conko, President and Vice President of the AgBioWorld Foundation, note that countries that embraced superior agricultural technologies have brought unprecedented prosperity to their people, made food vastly more affordable and abundant, helped stabilize farm yields, and reduced destruction of wilderness. They say overcautious rules, such as the EU's moratorium on new genetically modified foods, are creating obstacles for the developing world to share in the many benefits derived from agricultural biotechnology. The authors point out that the fears spread by anti-biotechnology activists are overshadowing real-world scientific information. These include studies that show bioengineered crops and foods are at least as safe, or safer, for the environment and human consumption as conventional crops. They note that every crop is a product of repeated genetic selection by humans over the past few millennia. They argue that biotechnology offers hope of improving nutritional benefits of many foods, and a greater understanding of modern genetics means the changes to modified plants will be easier to predict than it was for conventional breeding.
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Moore, Patrick THE GREEN CASE FOR BIOTECH: RESISTING THE ANTI-SCIENCE, ANTI-HUMAN OBSTRUCTIONISM OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS (American Enterprise, vol. 15, no. 2, March 2004, pp. 24-27)
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Patrick Moore, chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies, says it is clear that the real benefits of genetically modified foods far outweigh the hypothetical and sometimes contrived risks claimed by its detractors. He says the purpose of biotechnology is to improve nutrition, to reduce the use of synthetic chemicals, to increase the productivity of farmlands and forests, and to improve human health. Moore illustrates how environmentalists use misinformation to support their own agenda by analyzing the allegations of a greenpeace report that claimed "adverse environmental impacts of BT cotton (genetically modified to resist bollworms) in China." He counters the claim that BT-resistant superbugs had emerged in BT cotton fields by noting that there is not a single example or any evidence in the report of actual bollworm resistance to BT cotton in the field; nor has the Chinese National GMO Biosafety Committee found any resistance of cotton bollworm to BT cotton in five years of bt cotton planting.
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Bennett, Drake ECO-TRAITOR (Wired, March 2004, pp. 128-157)
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This article charts Patrick Moore's transformation from ardent Greenpeace activist (he helped found the organization in 1971) to a proponent of sustainable development, including the increased use of nuclear energy, aquaculture and genetically modified foods. Moore believes the environmentalist movement has succeeded in raising the political profile of the issue, but says it is now time to promote solutions. "There's no getting around the fact that 6 billion people wake up every morning with a real need for food, energy, and material," Moore says. The author notes that Moore attracts a great deal of enmity from mainstream environmental organizations. He highlights Moore's science-based approach to "gardening the Earth" and illuminates a growing debate within the environmental community.
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Gilland, Tony THE CULTURE WAR BEHIND THE BIOTECH BATTLE (The American Enterprise, Vol. 15, No. 2, March 2004, pp. 28-30)
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Gilland, science and society director at the Institute of Ideas in London, says the resistance to agricultural biotechnology reflects a growing distrust of political authority and scientific expertise. Combined with an increasingly individualized and consumerist society, this has led to a situation in which unfounded fears and exaggerated risks can rapidly take hold, spread by unofficial sources such as the media, activist groups, and maverick scientists, he writes. Gilland notes that public fears over perceived dangers has become a global phenomenon, not just for genetically modified organisms, but also in debates about global warming, biodiversity, nuclear waste, electromagnetic fields, and nanotechnology. He points out that European policy maker's handling of the agricultural biotechnology debate sets a precedent of catering to public perceptions rather than relying on legitimate scientific questions of heath and environmental safety. When officials let public worries drive policy, they implicitly validate and institutionalize these perceptions, he states. The more Europe defines its own "culturally acceptable" approach to scientific risk -- rather than confronting the climate of fear -- the more it will be left behind, says Gilland.
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Lele, Uma BIOTECHNOLOGY: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 85, No. 5, December 2003, pp. 1119-1125)
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Lele, a senior advisor at the World Bank and fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association, says developing countries must figure out how to manage the risks associated with biotechnology, particularly since the benefits would be mostly domestic. Yet the popular opinion against biotechnology -- primarily coming from OECD countries -- and the regulatory requirements promulgated by these concerns are escalating the costs and complexity for adopting biotechnology, which impacts the developing world's efforts to move forward, she states. How OECD countries address their consumer preferences, perceive environmental risks, put in place national environmental assessments -- that pass both domestic credibility tests and WTO standards for biosafety -- will profoundly impact market access of developing countries, writes Lele.