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 being tested, has a strong tendency to cross pollinate. There have already been several cases of contamination. In 2002 in the US, half a million bushels of soya for human consumption were found to have been contaminated by GE corn designed to produce a transmissible stomach virus. In both Quebec and Ontario, several incidents were reported of GE pigs that were being used as bio-reactors for molecular farming mistakenly being sent to the slaughter house, possibly ending up on someone’s plate as bacon or a pork chop.

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

“Are Canadians, consumers and farmers, here and abroad, willing to accept having their food supply contaminated by industrial and pharmaceutical organisms?” Greenpeace wrote to ask the Canadian prime minister. We think not.

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

The prime minister was reminded of the very worrying conclusions reached by the auditor general in her 2004 report concerning the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which regulates GE crops. The agency was criticized for deficiencies in procedures for determining whether or not to release GE plants. According to the auditor general, “the agency did not have complete documentary evidence and therefore, was not transparent about how it was evaluating the long-term effects on the environment before authorizing unconfined release of plants with novel traits.”

Greenpeace believes that no food plants or animals should be used in the production of pharmaceuticals. Moreover, there is no excuse for allowing drug producing crops to be grown out in the fields where they can contaminate the environment and food chain by spreading their genes to wild relatives and to conventional crops growing nearby. These pharmaceuticals can be produced in other ways. The industry’s pitch for cheap drugs is an empty promise as pharmed crops will be patented allowing the companies that own them to charge high prices. These patents ensure that the any benefits from pharming will go the drug companies, not patients.