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Review in The Vortex, American Chemical Society,
December 2003
by Lou Rigali
Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M. Smith is a must read for anyone interested in the food they eat. While Smith writes for the non-technical person he is able to describe the consequences of horizontal gene transfer and also provide adequate documentation to original technical publications.
The book lists the claims of the Agrobiotech Industry for Genetically Modified foods: solving the world's famine, reducing the reliance on pesticides and curing the diseases of humankind. These claims are examined and discussed with both anecdotal and scientific studies. The real meat of the book is a list of 21 things that can go wrong when one performs a GM manipulation of any organism. A revelation that one gene is responsible for one and only one function, is flawed. When one inserts a foreign gene into the DNA it is impossible to predict the outcome!
Horizontal gene transfer (genes traveling from one specie to another such as in GM DNA transferring to bacteria in the human gut) does occur contrary to previously held opinions. The case study showed that GM soy transferred its herbicide resistant gene to the bacteria inside the digestive system after a single meal. How bad can that be?
An interesting case study involved people who had taken L-tryptophan manufactured by Showa Denko suddenly developing serious and life threatening allergic reactions. Only L-trytophan manufactured by Showa Denko was clearly associated with the illness. Showa Denko used GM bacteria to produce their L-tryptophan. Was there a connection?
The Author discusses the methods and pressures that descend on those who have either reveled inconsistencies in the published data supportive of GM foods or those who have conducted research which has shown a solid basis for concern. Among those who have been harassed and intimidated include Ignacio Chapela, a microbial ecologist from UC Berkeley who had data that showed that even in the remote mountainous area of Oaxaca Mexico, 6% of the indigenous corn tested was contaminated with GM corn and this in a country that has laws against planting any GM crops. Chapela asserts that the Mexican Minister of Biotechnology made vailed threats against him and his family. On the day that Chapela's work was published in Nature, messages started to circulate on the biotechnology listserve called AgBioWorld, which charged that his work was not peer-reviewed (a lie) and that Chapela was biased. Eventually hundreds of messages were generated, repeated, and embellished. Interestedly enough, Smith connects several of the email dots to either employees of Monsanto or with The Bivings Group that does PR for Monsanto.
The book is very informative and interesting to read, Almost each chapter starts with a feed tale relating different incidences in different locations but all consistent in that given a choice, animals from chickens to geese to cows and pigs and mice, squirrels and rats selected natural corn feed and avoided the GM feed. What do they know that we do not?
One of the messages that the author leaves us with is that we eat GM foods at every meal. He does offer some suggestion to change this situation or at least be in a position to know what we are eating. Additional information is available on the web site, www.seedsofdeception.com
The good news is that in a publicity statement published in Europe, Monsanto, who bring us GM corn, canola and soy, says "You have a right to know what you eat, especially when it's better..." The bad news is that they also contributed $1.5 Million in a campaign to defeat a labeling law in Oregon.
As a postscript to this review, the New York Times reported in their October 31, 2003 story by Andrew Pollack, that the FDA has deemed that cloned animals are safe as food, and quoted the Director for the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Stephen Sundlof, "There appears to be few if any safety concerns...if we consider them materially the same as traditional foods, the role for the FDA would be minimal."
-- Lou Rigali
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