TL: GREENPEACE FACTSHEET: WHAT IS GENETIC ENGINEERING?
SO: GREENPEACE USA (GP)
DT: 1997

Since the time that humans first started cultivating plants and
raising animals for food, we have been striving to make food
healthier and food production more efficient. Using the natural
mechanisms of cross-breeding, which is nature's way of ensuring
genetic diversity, we have been able to affect the biological
traits of offspring by selecting and mating the parents that
carry the traits we desire. Cross-breeding can only take place
between species of plants and animals that are closely related
genetically.

With the advent of genetic engineering, scientists are now able
to surpass the natural barriers of cross-breeding. Genetic
engineers can cut out bits of a living organism’s DNA, called
genes, and splice them into totally unrelated species. These
scientists use enzymes to break the DNA strand at certain
places, insert new segments, and "stitch" the strand back
together again. They can "cut and paste" genes from one organism
into another so that the genetic make-up of the organism is
changed and its natural traits are manipulated in particular
directions. Genetic engineering changes nature rather than using
its own power.

DNA: THE BLUEPRINT FOR LIFE 

A gene is a segment of DNA. Genes carry messages encoded in
their chemical structure, so that together the genetic make-up
of a living cell determines physical traits of that organism.
The genes carry all the chemical instructions needed to make the
organism behave in a certain way, and since they are passed on
from one generation to the next, offspring inherit these traits
from their parents. 

There are literally millions of genes in a living organism and
they don't just work on a "one gene, one trait" system. Genes
are complex and work together to perform certain biological
functions. By altering the genetic code of living organisms,
genetic engineers are manipulating life processes. As more and
more genes are isolated from their natural sources, scientists
are able to control more and more aspects of life.

WHAT IS BEING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED?

The majority of the world's most important food crops have
already been either tested for genetically engineered versions,
or are under development. So far at least 38 different crop
species have been genetically engineered and tested in field
trials. Animal genes are going into plants, bacteria genes into
food crops, and even human genes are being used to change
animals and plants. Thousands of other new foodstuffs are
waiting in the wings. Already in the laboratory a human gene has
been added to salmon, trout, and rice; a chicken gene to
potatoes; a fish gene to strawberries, mouse genes into tobacco;
and bacteria and virus genes into cucumbers and tomatoes. 

WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING? 

"This is an imperfect technology with inherent dangers. ... It
is the unpredictability of the outcomes that is most worrying."
Dr. Michael Antoniou - Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology -
London

Genetic engineering creates whole new life forms. These
organisms are alive --they can mutate, multiply, breed with
other living things and go on breeding for generations to come.
All over the world we have seen examples of long-term damage
when non-indigenous species have been introduced into new
environments. We know that changing one element of the
environment sets off a domino effect of cascading changes
throughout entire ecosystems. Yet industry maintains that its
foreign species will not cause problems.

WHO SAYS IT'S SAFE TO EAT? 

Regulatory authorities who have allowed the use and distribution
of genetically engineered products, including the USDA, FDA, EPA
and the European Commission, rely solely on safety testing
provided by the GE companies themselves. 

Multinational companies who market the new crops say they are
safe, but they have done scant tests to prove it. Industry
health studies on GE crops are very limited in scope and
duration. These studies did not include assessing the health
affects of increased exposure to herbicide due to residues on
herbicide-resistant foodsources, or the affects of increased
insecticide exposure due to pesticides incorporated in
foodstuff. The only time the FDA requires further testing of a
GE foodstuff is if one of 8 to 10 known allergens has been
engineered into a plant. Assessing health hazards beyond a few
well known allergens is not required.

Allergies could very well increase. Many people are allergic to
food plants because of proteins produced by the plant as a
defense against diseases and pests. Since genetically engineered
plants are specifically designed to produce increased quantities
of these proteins, the risk of allergies is also increased.

Governments have expressed fears that crops containing an
ampicillin resistance gene could undermine the treatment of
human and animal disease. Ampicillin is one of our most
important antibiotics. It is feared that the resistance gene
could spread to harmful bacteria - making them immune to this
vital treatment. 

WHO SAYS IT'S SAFE TO GROW?

Field trials to measure environmental impacts of GE crops are
also usually short term and small scale, rarely lasting for more
than one growing season. It could take years for most ecological
effects, such as genetic pollution and increasing pest
resistance to pesticides, to be seen. Tiny trial plots cannot
possibly reflect the damage that could be done by planting huge
tracts of countryside with genetically engineered seeds. 

Scientists at Riso National Laboratory in Denmark have found
that, through spontaneous cross-fertilization, genetically
engineered canola can pass its herbicide resistance genes to
weedy relatives. The offspring resulting from the cross-breeding
of the GE and weedy plants were not only herbicide-resistant,
they also were capable of passing on resistance to subsequent
generations.

It is generally regarded as bad pest management practice to use
the same pesticide, or one with the same mode of action,
continually on a cropped area. This course of action inevitably
leads to a buildup of resistance to the toxin in crop pests.
Farmers using crop chemicals have seen over the years that, as
pest resistance develops, more chemicals are needed to have the
same effect. Resistance to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide has been
documented to occur after relatively minimal exposure over a
long period--one Australian farmer noted resistance to Roundup
after fewer than six applications over the course of ten years.
Tiny test plots can’t possibly determine the long range impacts
of genetically engineered crops.

THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

Precautionary standards are a normal part of everyday life --
when the prospect of harm is large and the uncertainty is great,
our ability to predict the future is limited so we take a
precautionary approach. The Precautionary Principle holds that,
1) the burden of proof of safety rests with the proponent of a
new technology, not the public; and 2) where there are threats
of serious or irreversible damage, lack of science should not be
used as an excuse for postponing measures to prevent
environmental degradation.

GREENPEACE, April 1997

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