Genetic Engineering

What is genetic engineering?
Genetic engineering (GE) is the transfer of genes from one organism to another through means that do not occur in nature, but through human intervention. This involves isolating and then moving genes within and without different species by recombinant DNA techniques and other manipulation of the genetic construct outside the traditional practices such as sexual and asexual breeding, hybridization, fermentation, in-vitro fertilization and tissue culture. Using genetic engineering techniques, genes can be exchanged between species that would never interbreed in nature. Thus, fish genes can be inserted into a tomato, human genes into rice, and bacteria into corn.

GE, GM, GMOs?
Genetic Engineering relies on gene transfer using recombinant DNA technology to create a new plant or animal that could otherwise not have been created under natural conditions.
People refer to aspects of agricultural genetic engineering in many different ways. Below is a list of common terms:
• Agbiotech = specifically the agricultural arm of the biotechnology industry
• Biotech = the biotechnology industry
• Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) = a poisonous bacterium engineered into a crop, which then creates its own Bt pesticide in virtually all parts of the plant
• GE = genetic engineering/genetically engineered
• GM = genetically modified
• GMO = genetically modified organism
• Pharm crop = a GE crop that creates its own pharmaceutical byproducts in virtually all parts of the plant
• Transgenic = another name for GE

What is a GMO?
A GMO is short for genetically modified organism, also known as genetically engineered organism, or transgenic organism. It carries genetic material that has been altered in the laboratory and transferred into it by genetic engineering.

A GMO is a plant, animal or microorganism (e.g., bacteria) that is created by means that overcome natural boundaries. Genetic engineering involves crossing species which could not cross in nature. For example, fish genes have been inserted into strawberries. While the Food and Drug Administration insists that foods produced by genetic engineering are the same as foods from traditional breeding, their own scientists reported that, "the processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding are different and... they lead to different risks."

The most widely grown GE crops are soybeans, corn, canola (rapeseed) and cotton. Nearly all GE crops grown today are one of two varieties: "insect resistant" and "herbicide tolerant" crops.

The insect resistant crops are also known as "plant pesticides" because the crop is considered (and regulated by the government as) a new insecticide. The crop produces a toxin as it grows which is fatal to insect pests. The toxin is created in every cell of the plant throughout the entire growing season, including the parts of the plant we eat. When you eat GE insect resistant corn, and other insect resistant GE crops, you are eating a pesticide! Agbiotech companies claim that these crops will lead to reduced use of pesticides, but at what cost to human, animal, and environmental health?

Approximately 70% of the GE crop acreage in the U.S. is of the "herbicide tolerant" variety. This type of crop is engineered to withstand direct application of toxic weed killers. Previously a farmer had to be cautious when using herbicides, because the plant poisons could kill the crop. Now the crop is genetically altered so that it will not be harmed by the chemical. This means farmers can spray weed killers right on the crop - and it means more chemicals on our food.

It also means that farmers are now annual subjects to companies like Monsanto, paying royalties for seed and herbicide use. When a farmer plants Round-Up Ready soy beans, that farmer can only use the appropriate Round-Up herbicide for that type of GE crop. The farmer must buy the seed and herbicide directly from Monsanto every year. Any other herbicide used will kill the crop because it was not genetically engineered to resist herbicides other than the Round-Up Ready brand. Since the farmer cannot save and replant seed the next year without paying royalties to Monsanto annually, the farmer becomes legally subject to Monsanto. That farmer loses the long-held right to save and replant seeds, a process followed by farmers for thousands of years before Monsanto and genetic engineering.

How does genetic engineering differ from conventional breeding?
In conventional breeding by reproduction, only individuals from the same species or related species can be mated to produce offspring. The offspring will have genes from both parents, but the genes are just different variants of the same genes coding for the same functions. Genetic engineering, however, bypasses reproduction altogether, so completely new genes with new functions, as well as new combinations of genes can be introduced, which will interact with the organism's own genes in unpredictable ways.

Conventional breeding involves crossing many individuals of one variety or species with another. The result is a population that preserves much of the initial genetic diversity of the parental lines, and selection occurs in successive generations until the desired results are achieved. It is therefore more controllable and predictable.

A transgenic line, in contrast, results from gene insertion events in a single original cell, out of which the entire line is produced. It is genetically very impoverished. One single virus, bacteria or fungus could wipe out millions of acres of genetically engineered crops, perhaps causing economic devastation leading to mass starvation.

Furthermore, the genetic engineering process for making a GMO is uncontrollable and error-prone. It causes random disturbances to the system, making the result highly unpredictable as well as unstable. Genetic instability of GMOs is now a well-known problem. Genetically engineered crops are failing and GE animals have had little success.

Genetic engineering consists to a large extent, of artificial horizontal gene transfer. New combinations of genetic material from different species are created (recombined) in the laboratory. The artificial constructs are designed to cross species barriers and to jump into genomes. They are also structurally unstable, consisting of many weak links, and tend to break and rejoin incorrectly, or to join up with genetic material from other genomes. In other words, the process of genetic engineering has greatly enhanced the potential for uncontrolled horizontal gene transfer.

Horizontal transfer of transgenic DNA could create new disease-causing viruses and bacteria, spread antibiotic resistance genes to the pathogens to make the diseases untreatable. Insertion of foreign DNA into animal cells could also trigger cancer.

Sources and more information available at the Institute for Science in Society and GE Food Alert.

Why is CCOF opposed to GE crops?
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) is opposed to the continued release of products that are the result of genetic engineering research for agricultural use. We oppose the experimentation of genetically modified organisms in open fields and commercial applications. Given the lack of information about their effects, the proliferation of GMOs must be stopped before GMOs become irreversibly linked to life on the planet. Altered genes, once released in nature, cannot be recalled. Gene pollution is forever.

CCOF insists on the labeling of all products of genetic engineering. Consumers must be granted the right to make informed choices in order to protect their health. Therefore, CCOF insists on labeling that will ensure clear identification of GMOs.

Where genetically engineered crops are being cultivated in close proximity to organic production, the neighboring conventional farm growing these GE crops must accept the burden of legal and financial responsibility and liability for the effects of their GE crops on neighboring fields, animals and humans.

Proponents of agbiotech claim that GE crops will help feed the starving people of the world; however, the world already produces more than enough food for every man, woman and child on the planet. The problem is not underproduction of food, but rather unequal access to food held hostage by corrupt governments and others in positions of power.

Read more about CCOF's position on genetic engineering. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download this form.)

Please visit our Action Alerts page to take action against the release of agricultural biotechnology into our environment, food chain, and our bodies.

You can also visit the Center for Food Safety for more information, including a detailed map on Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Foods - Worldwide Regulation, Prohibition and Production

Further information is available at www.bio-integrity.org/list.html (Key FDA documents revealing (1) hazards of genetically engineered foods, and (2) flaws with how the agency made its policy.)

10 Strategies to Minimize Risks of GMO Contamination
By James A. Riddle

More and more consumers are looking for organic foods. It is the largest growing sector of the food industry, with growth rates of 20-25% per year for the last 12 years. The new Federal rules for organic production prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in organic production. Even though organic farmers don't plant GMO seeds, crops can become contaminated by GMO pollen drift, use of contaminated seeds, and/or sloppy handling practices. Read more... (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download this article.)

(Originally printed in The Newsletter of CCOF, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Spring 2002, page. 28)

GE Links The GE Links page a comprehensive list of government, scientific, and activist websites.

Seeds of doubt: North American farmers' experiences of GM crops
published by the Soil Association, UK.

This Soil Association report is the first to reveal the serious widespread impacts of GM crops in North America on the food and farming industry, where three-quarters of the world's GM food is grown. It is the most comprehensive review of the situation to be produced from a non-biotechnology industry perspective.

Visit the Soil Association website to read about, purchase, or download this book.

You can also visit Soil Association's main website at www.soilassociation.org.

An Invitation to Join Californians for Ge-Free Agriculture (CGFA)
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) is excited to be a founding member of a new coalition working to prevent genetically engineered (GE) crops in California. We are encouraging all of our members to get involved with this coalition and lend support to the campaign.

Right now California is virtually free of genetic engineering (GE), with the major exception of GE cotton grown in the Central Valley. In the next few years, however, the industry hopes to commercialize a new generation of GE crops in the state, including: Bayer's herbicide-tolerant rice; Ventria Bioscience's pharmaceutical rice (with human genes); and, Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant strawberries, lettuce and rice. Bayer's GE rice was recently approved by the federal government and could be grown in California soon.

We must stop GE crops in order to continue being a world leader in organic and sustainable agriculture. Californian farmers and consumers can lead the way in the rejection of this dangerous technology and demand a different kind of agriculture.

Please join the campaign today. You can find out more about Californians for GE-Free Agriculture by visiting our website www.calgefree.org and signing up for our volunteer network to receive updates and information about getting involved.

Thanks for your support and interest!