In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

A Research Report Compiled by Sister Adelaide Ozer

The Experiment

When I first began my research into genetically engineered food, I was horrified to find that for years we have been part of an experiment we have not consented to. This makes us experimental subjects without any choice. We are the guinea pigs in this experiment and the planets ecological system is the test site. Scientists are creating unthinkable genetic modifications in our food, mixing animal, insects and even human DNA into animals and plants, and the reason of course is the giant biotechnology corporations are desperate for profits at any cost. The technology is grossly under-researched; the scientific basis of genetic engineering is still not fully understood and relies on lengthy hit-and-miss tests to get results. The biotech industry wants it all kept quiet as they push products onto the market with unprecedented speed to recoup their billions of dollars in accumulated genetic research and investment costs. It is important for us to be informed and to be up to date with genetically engineered food, the health risks it poses to humans, animals, birds, insects, and the damage it causes to our environment also the threats it poses to farmers. In developing countries farmers face a double risk to their livelihoods: ecologically, from the uncontrollable spread of GM seeds into complex ecosystems, and economically, from giant biotechnology corporations who control and own patents on the seeds.

[1] Animal experimentation is going on all over the world the genes from chicken, cows, rats and humans have been engineered into commercial fish species in order to increase the growth rates- GM salmon, for instance, have been engineered to reach six times their natural size. Yet once such fish escape from the farms in which they are produced, nothing can stop them from breeding with natural stock and passing their deformities into the gene pool.

[2] Some of these experiments with salmon are being carried out very close to us in New Zealand in fact.

[3] Another experiment carried out in New Zealand is by the New Zealand government. The research project is planning to put human genes into cows so that their milk is more like human breast milk. Scientist Phil L'Huillier who is heading the project, say's the first two or three years will be spent putting transgenic embryos into cows and breeding from them to produce transgenic calves which will in turn breed to produce herds of up to 30 animals for milking. We all should be concerned because it deals with the safety of something very basic to human life: our food. There is lack of consideration for a large segment of the population that has ethical or religious beliefs that classify genetically engineered plants carrying animal or human genes as being totally unacceptable as foods.

[4] An award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster David T Suzuki PhD say's, "We have learnt from painful experience that anyone entering into an experiment should give informed consent". That means at the very least food should be labelled if it contains genetically modified organisms so we each can make a choice. He sums up the cost of new technologies saying, we only have to reflect on DDT, nuclear power, and CFCs, which were hailed as wonderful creations but whose long-term detrimental effects were only found decades after their widespread use. Now, with a more wise and balanced perspective, we are cutting back on the use of these technologies. But with genetically modified foods, this option may not be available. The difference with GM food is that once the genie is out of the bottle, it will be difficult or impossible to stuff it back. If we stop using DDT and CFCs, nature may be able to undo most of the damage or even nuclear waste decays over time. But Genetically Modified plants are living organisms. Once these life forms have become established in our surroundings, they can replicate, change, and spread; there may be no turning back.

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