Genetic engineering, then and now

It was 1997 and I was terrified, facing a packed room in Kaslo, British Columbia. The room was not hostile, only curious and concerned. The terror came from my fear of public speaking. But worse than that, in my opinion, was the threat posed to my children, to our food systems, to the environment and to the planet by the genetic engineering of our food.

I explained the methods employed by scientists for violating the essence of a plant and inserting a foreign gene – by either using a rogue virus to cross the cell wall, or by shooting minute golden bullets coated in the foreign gene into an organism. I told them how it is not one gene but a package that includes antibiotic resistance since the only way to know that the gene transfer had been successful was to kill off all those that had failed. I talked about how the traits being engineered were not about increased production, nor improvements to the health of the environment or of those consuming the final products. I proposed that it was a power and money grab by agro-chemical companies since the traits being engineered were almost exclusively about giving to the engineered plants the ability to withstand the toxic effects of the application of their proprietary chemicals.

It is December 2013 and I am co-hosting, with Jon Steinman, a talk by Doctors Chiv Chopra and Thierry Vrain. To a packed room in Nelson BC, Dr. Vrain, a retired scientist from Agriculture Canada, explains the methods used in genetic engineering and debunks common industry claims.  He draws on his personal experience, before retiring, as the head of biotechnology at the Summerland Research Station. Dr Vrain shows startling slides, with graphs illustrating data that was not available in 1997. One shows an exact parallel and dramatic climb, between 1996 and now, in the increased incidence of diabetes and autism and the increased acreage of genetically engineered crops. 1996 was the first year of commercial plantings of genetically engineered crops.

Dr. Chopra then speaks from personal experience of the battles to serve the public interest, as a scientist working for Health Canada, in the face of the influence of the biotech industry and its efforts to have genetically engineered organisms approved. Dr Chopra was fired for whistle blowing, for making it known that some of the best minds in Health Canada were being silenced because they put the public interest before the profit motive of large corporations.

I overcame my fear of public speaking in 1997 because what I learned of genetic engineering caused me grave concern. At that time, the consensus amongst the few working against the introduction of genetic engineering into our food production systems was that it would inevitably lead to an increase in pesticide use since Darwin was on to something – living organisms can adapt, even to the heavy application of toxins. We were afraid of the impact on soil organisms, not only from the increased use of pesticides but also from gene transfer between the engineered plant roots and the billions of organisms in the soil. We recognized that both genetic engineering and the corporate control wielding it threatened our biodiversity and likely our health.

We are called reactionaries or luddites when we reject the genetic engineering of our food and ecosystems. My reaction in 2013 is the same as it was when I first learned about it in 1996 – I still believe profoundly that it is wrong and dangerous. And it is still about my children, and all our children, about the environment. It is still about corporate control and about the wonders and vital contribution of bio-diverse, vibrant ecosystems.

So call me a reactionary – I don’t mind.

For more information:

• Food Secure Canada's policy platform, Resetting the Table, includes recommendations on genetic engineering in the section on Science and Technology for Food and Agriculture. The Discussion Paper from which these recommendations are drawn can be downloaded here.
• The Canadian Biotech Action Network has a wealth of information and suggested actions.
• Vigilance OGM in Quebec has an excellent and accessible guide to genetic engineering and food (in french), found here.