The global controversy regarding crops that have undergone a process of genetic engineering is intensifying. Most of the opposition for ecological or health reasons has no real scientific basis, and the main considerations for it stem from ideological, social and economic aspects
Tamara Traubman
Photo: Uriel Sinai Weiss and a genetically engineered tomato. The lost smell
One of the fiercest disputes today at the border between the world of science, society and the economy is related to plants that have undergone a process of genetic engineering. A variety of genetically engineered crops are currently in use, including soybeans, corn, strawberries and cotton, and already at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle in 1999, stormy demonstrations were held due to these plants. In Europe they are called "Frankenstein foods". In England, one of the main strongholds of resistance, more and more supermarkets declare that they do not sell genetically modified food products at all.
In the controversy over the genetically modified crops, two poles were created: in one there are activists for the protection of the environment and people who oppose globalization. They claim that the crops may harm health and the environment and that the new technology is used as a powerful means of centralized control by giant corporations over farmers and consumers.
At the other extreme are scientists and seed companies, who claim that no proof has been found
that the crops cause damage, and even if any damage is discovered in the future, the benefit
that in crops still exceeds the possible risks in them. according to them,
In the new technology lies the only hope for satisfying the growing need
in quality food in the poor countries.
The intensive commercialization of the genetically modified crops began in 1996 in the six years
Between then and 2001, the area occupied by the transgenic plants more than doubled
, 30 and today they cover 526 million dunams. More and more farmers
The genetically modified crops are adopted, and between 2000 and 2001 the amount of
These crops are 74%. 19% of the genetically modified crops are grown in the states
the industrialized and the rest in the poor countries.
According to a report published last year "the international service for purchasing applications
biotechnological in agriculture" operating in third world countries and the USA, in almost
From half of the world's area dedicated to growing soybeans, genetically modified soybeans have been planted. to cotton
A share of 20% of all cotton crops is genetically engineered into canola (a grass whose seeds are prepared
oil) 11% and corn 7%
According to Dr. Aryeh Maoz, secretary of the main committee for transgenic plants (the body
responsible in the Ministry of Agriculture for the supervision of plants), in Israel research has indeed been done
in transgenic crops, but there is no agricultural cultivation in the fields of the plants. However, also
Maoz and the Ministry of Health say that it is possible that some of the food eaten in Israel
Contains ingredients from genetically engineered plants. In '98 the Ministry of Health established a committee that was
should determine how the products containing genetically engineered components will be labeled. But until
Today her recommendations were not implemented. According to the Ministry of Health in many countries in the world
There are no regulations regarding this yet.
According to Dr. Dorit Nitzan-Klosky, head of the food division at the Ministry of Health, in the states
The alliance is widely used in genetically engineered crops, and "there may be products."
that come from the United States, containing plants that have undergone genetic engineering." According to her,
The manufacturers do not declare which of the products contain genetically modified crops, therefore no
They can be distinguished. In most European countries, however, most manufacturers
Products containing engineered components are indicated, if only due to consumer demand.
Since early man began to cultivate grains more than 6,000 years ago - and thus created
The first agriculture - changed forever the plant world. In preference to tasty varieties
and more convenient to grow, and through hybrids of related varieties, new plants were created;
For example, cherry tomatoes and nectarines. However, genetic engineering made it possible for a time
The first to break through the barrier set up by nature and introduce interspecific genes into the plants
completely different. So, for example, one of the first genetically modified crops was strawberry
Known as "Anti-Freeze": the scientists who created it integrated a fish gene into its genome
Rivers, which swims in the cold rivers of North America and does not freeze, and thus created a strawberry
Cold resistant.
Almost all genetically modified crops in use today contain conferring genes
The plant has resistance to herbicides or resistance to pests. In the mid-nineties it began
The American Monsanto company to market plants containing a gene from a bacterium called Bacillus
thuringiensis, which causes plants to produce a protein called Bt. The bacterium, which kills insects
certain that are harmful to crops, has been used for years as a means of biological control
in agriculture. Using genetic engineering, the scientists from Monsanto combined the responsible gene
to produce the bacteria's toxin in crops and produce a plant that secretes the toxin itself.
These crops are called Bt crops and include, among others, cotton, corn and soybeans.
Other crops widely used in agriculture, also created by Monsanto,
They are RoundUp Ready crops. RoundUp is a herbicide. Monsanto created –
Some argue that this is reminiscent of Microsoft forcing the use of the browser
The Explorer in its operating systems - crops that are resistant to Roundup. You
The "round-up ready" crops, which are not harmed by the chemical, must be sprayed with the killer
Monsanto's weeds.
All these growths cause concern among the opponents. They warn that the genes
The new arrivals to the plants will cause allergies and other health problems. however,
According to a report compiled this year by a team of experts for the British Royal Society,
From the studies done so far, there is no evidence of potential health damage
from the plants
"All humans are exposed, all the time, to hundreds of new chemicals and there are always here and there
Allergies," says Prof. Yossi Hirschberg, an expert in plant genetics
from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "It doesn't make sense to take care of the plants
The Engineers".
Studies done so far show that the genetically engineered crops are not harmful to the environment
more than any other agricultural product in use, and that to opposition based on background
My health has no real basis. The main objection seems to stem from fact
from ideological, social and economic aspects.
Pollen grains from the transgenic plants can transfer to closely related wild species, pollinating the
their flowers and in this way transfer the new genes to them. Opponents warn that
In this way, "super weeds" may be created, which are resistant to all herbicides
the existing ones. Prof. Hirschberg and many other scientists say that experience teaches
that the genetically engineered genes do not give the wild plants superior properties in nature and therefore
Domains will remain in limited areas.
Either way, the phenomenon already exists. Percy Schmeisser, a farmer from Saskatchewan
In western Canada, he has been growing canola plants on his plot for years. He chose not to use it
In the engineered equivalent. But a few years ago, canola plants were discovered in his field
Engineered by Monsanto. According to Schmeisser, this was due to "genetic contamination",
As he calls it, who came to his field from neighboring fields and violated his right not to
use transgenic crops. However, Monsanto sued him for theft
Her patent on the engineered canola. The court recently ruled that it doesn't matter
How the plants got to Schmeisser's field, the engineered canola is intellectual property
belonging to Monsanto, and obliged Schmeisser to pay damages and legal expenses to the company.
Yael Cohen, chairman of Magma Yeroka, an opposing student organization for environmental protection
to globalization, is not only concerned about the ecological consequences that the transition may have
the gardens for wild plants, but sees it mainly as a means of control by giant corporations
in the market "This is actually the corporations' way of forcing the farmer to buy Monsanto a year
The next one," she says.
The main corporations that market genetically modified crops are DuPont (producer
the largest seeds in the world), Aventis and Syngenta. but the undisputed leader
of the GM crop industry is Monsanto, which is responsible for about 91% of the area
the world dedicated to transgenic crops.
"Think," Cohen said last Thursday evening to a young crowd that came to the dim hall
of the "Left Bank" in Tel Aviv for a discussion on genetic engineering in plants, "Shak al-Hamazon
The world will be held by four huge companies - this is far beyond any possibility
health or ecological".
In an investigation published early last year by journalists Kurt Eichenwald and Gina
Collected in the "New York Times" it is written that Monsanto, which has "veteran political power
and deep connections in Washington", had a great influence on the regulations on plants
Engineered in the United States. "Throughout three different administrations," it says, "what
That Monsanto asked Washington, she - and following her the biotechnology industry
- received. If the company's strategy required regulations, regulations were adopted in favor
the industry. And when the company suddenly decided that it was necessary to get rid of the regulations
and speed up its food market, the White House quickly ushered in a regulatory policy
I am unusually generous myself."
The battle is indeed largely driven by economic interests. Europe imposes restrictions
Strictly on the import of genetically modified seeds, because most of them are produced in the United States and this
A way to fight off a burst of imports that will collapse European farmers.
Prof. Hirschberg also points to another interest. One of the reasons for the panic attack
The genetically modified crops in Britain was a statement by Prince Charles, who warned
of the health consequences of the crops and their damage to the environment. Then it turned out that
Prince farms for organic crops. "Organic agriculture in England tripled the
It has expanded since the hysteria caused by, among other things, Prince Charles," says Hirschberg.
Zambia recently refused to receive an emergency shipment of thousands of tons of corn from the US,
which probably also contained genetically modified corn kernels, for fear that this would damage trade relations
its with Europe. Zambia has a hunger crisis that is getting worse every day. The president, Levi
Mowanawasa, adopted a hard line: he fears that the corn kernels will be used for sowing,
And that transgenic corn will grow from them, which will cross-pollinate with non-transgenic corn varieties
Engineered. This will jeopardize exports from Zambia to the European Union, which requires marking the
All genetically engineered products. "The only people who have died so far from genetically modified food",
Says Jonathan Gressel, professor of plant sciences from the Weizmann Institute, "They are the poorest in the world
The third, who die of hunger."
