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Jo Anne Johnson
Chair
Parks and Agriculture Committee
Maui County Council
Hawaii
30 September 2003
Dear Madam,
Please allow me to address you on behalf of the Independent Science Panel (ISP)
on Genetic Modification (GM), which was officially launched at a public conference
in London, UK, on 10 May 2003 at an event attended by 200 people, including
the UK’s then Environment Minister, Michael Meacher.
The ISP consists of two dozen prominent scientists from seven countries, including
the USA, spanning the relevant disciplines of agronomy, agroecology, ecology,
biochemistry, biophysics, botany, chemical medicine, molecular genetics, nutrition,
histopathology, toxicology and virology. They are concerned to provide critical
scientific information to the global debate over genetic engineered crops, in
view of its importance for the future of our food and agriculture.
The ISP members have undertaken an extensive review of the scientific and other
evidence on the problems and hazards of GM crops and the many health, environmental
and social benefits of all forms of sustainable agriculture. The results are
presented in a report entitled, The Case for a GM- Free Sustainable World,
a draft of which was released electronically on May 10, and was finalised and
published on 15 June 2003 on a newly created ISP website www.indsp.org
We are pleased to enclose an executive summary of the evidence assembled (together
with a list of ISP members), based on which, we are calling for a global ban
on environmental release of GM crops to make way for agroecology, organic farming
and other forms of sustainable agriculture.
We understand that the Parks and Agriculture Committee of the Maui County Council
is currently examining the issue of genetically modified organisms. Hawaii is
the US state that has hosted the most field tests sites for GM crops (4,566
from 1987 to 2002), including for food crops producing pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
It is clear, from the evidence presented in the ISP Report, that once transgenic
crops are released into the environment, transgenic contamination of non-GM
crops is inevitable. Already, there has been contamination of landraces of corn
in remote areas in Mexico, the centre of origin and diversity of corn. GM corn
engineered to produce pharmaceuticals and vaccines would carry particularly
serious risks to human beings and other species in the natural and agricultural
ecosystem.
In addition, there are many unanswered questions on the safety of GM crops.
Very few studies have been conducted, particularly as to the effects of GM foods
on human health, and the few independent studies that have been carried out
raise serious concerns, as pointed out by two recent review papers [1, 2].
We also recommend that the approval for the virus-resistant GM papaya that is
grown commercially in Hawaii is suspended until all questions regarding its
potential allergenicity are answered satisfactorily. The GM papaya is modified
with a gene for papaya ringspot virus coat protein. A recent publication [3]
identified the protein product of the papaya ringspot virus coat protein as
a likely allergen because it contains a string of amino acids identical to a
known epitope (string of amino acids in a protein that provokes an allergic
response).
Hawaii has a justifiable reputation of natural beauty and diversity, and for
all the above reasons we respectfully urge you to make the right choice for
the future of its agriculture. Support for organic farming, agroecology and
other forms of sustainable agriculture would add to the overall image of Hawaii
and its important tourism industry. Furthermore, there is overwhelming rejection
of GM crops in other parts of the world, including in the UK. Just recently,
its government’s national debate on GM which collected responses from
about 37,000 people, found that 86 per cent were unhappy with the idea of eating
GM food and 91 per cent thought GM had potential negative effects on the environment.
Only 8 per cent said they would be happy to eat GM foods.
Safeguarding Hawaii’s rich natural genetic resources from the ravages
of transgenic agriculture and corporate biopiracy is a very important step towards
a sustainable future for Hawaii and for the world.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
For the Independent Science Panel on GM
PO Box 32097
London NW1 0XR
U.K.
1. A Pusztai, S Bardocz and SWB Ewen “Genetically Modified
Foods: Potential Human Health Effects”, Chapter 16 in Food Safety:
Contaminants and Toxicants, JPF D'Mello (ed), CABI Publishing, 2003.
2. Ian R. Pryme & Rolf Lembcke “In vivo studies on
possible health consequences of genetically modified food and food - With particular
regard to ingredients consisting of genetically modified plant materials”,
Nutrition and Health, 2003, Vol. 17, pp. 1-8.
3. Kleter, G. and Peijnenburg, A. “Screening of transgenic
proteins expressed in transgenic food crops for the presence of short amino
acid sequences identical to potential, IgE-binding linear epitopes of allergens”,
BMC Structural Biology 2002, 2, 8-19.
c.c. Mayor, Alan M.Arakawa (by fax: (808) 270-7870)
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