Pharming drugs: a cause for concern

Like other GE plants, there is the serious risk that pharmed plants(and animals) will cross breed with food crops. Corn in particular,which accounts for about two-thirds of pharmaceutical crops beingtested, has a strong tendency to cross pollinate. There have alreadybeen several cases of contamination. In 2002 in the US, half a millionbushels of soya for human consumption were found to have beencontaminated by GE corn designed to produce a transmissible stomachvirus. In both Quebec and Ontario, several incidents were reported ofGE pigs that were being used as bio-reactors for molecular farmingmistakenly being sent to the slaughter house, possibly ending up onsomeone's plate as bacon or a pork chop.

So far there have been no studies indicating that GE food poses ahealth risk; on the other hand, there have been no studies on thelong-term effects of GE food on human health. However, pharma cropsraise the stakes as they are designed to specifically target aphysiological function in humans.

"Are Canadians, consumers and farmers, here and abroad, willing toaccept having their food supply contaminated by industrial andpharmaceutical organisms?" Greenpeace wrote to ask the Canadian primeminister. We think not.

Greenpeace urged the prime minister to prevent the release in Canadaof GE plants designed for pharming, warning of the danger posed to theenvironment and its natural biodiversity, the food chain and theability of Canadian farmers to sell their crops in overseas markets.

The prime minister was reminded of the very worrying conclusionsreached by the auditor general in her 2004 report concerning theCanadian Food Inspection Agency, which regulates GE crops. The agencywas criticized for deficiencies in procedures for determining whetheror not to release GE plants. According to the auditor general, "theagency did not have complete documentary evidence and therefore, wasnot transparent about how it was evaluating the long-term effects onthe environment before authorizing unconfined release of plants withnovel traits."

Greenpeace believes that no food plants or animals should be used inthe production of pharmaceuticals. Moreover, there is no excuse forallowing drug producing crops to be grown out in the fields where theycan contaminate the environment and food chain by spreading their genesto wild relatives and to conventional crops growing nearby. Thesepharmaceuticals can be produced in other ways. The industry's pitch forcheap drugs is an empty promise as pharmed crops will be patentedallowing the companies that own them to charge high prices. Thesepatents ensure that the any benefits from pharming will go the drugcompanies, not patients.