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[GWL]: Dr. Elaine Ingham's Testimony




from http://www.biotech-info.net/EI_testimony_NZ.html

Dr. Elaine Ingham's Testimony (Executive Summary) before the (New 
Zealand) Royal Commission on Genetic Modification
Executive Summary 


February 2001


Executive Summary of DR. Ingham's Testimony: 

Genetically engineered organisms have not been adequately assessed for 
their environmental or human health effects. It is inadequate to subject 
ORGANISMS to the tested [sic] required for non-living chemical 
pesticides, and conclude that there will be no adverse or risky effects 
from release of those organisms based on that testing. 

A graduate student of mine, no longer working in the field of engineered 
organisms, and I did some research on a particular engineered bacterium 
that had been approved by the USEPA for field testing. No environmental 
effects were detected during pesticide or toxicity testing with this 
organism. However, Michael Holmes discovered that the engineered 
bacterium, Klebsiella planticola with a additional alcohol gene, killed 
all the wheat plants in microcosms into which the engineered organisms 
was added 1 . None of the wheat plants were killed in microcosms into 
which the not-engineered parent organism or just water were added. 

This bacterium was engineered to produce alcohol from plant debris, so 
alcohol could be produced after raking up grass straw residues instead 
of burning fields. This organism would have been released to the real 
world by placing the residue left at the bottom of the fermentation 
container following grass straw alcohol production on fields as 
fertilizer. With a single release, we know that bacteria can spread over 
large distances, probably world-wide. 

These bacteria would therefore get into the root systems of all 
terrestrial plants and begin to produce alcohol. The engineered 
bacterium produces far beyond the required amount of alcohol per gram 
soil than required to kill any terrestrial plant. This would result in 
the death of all terrestrial plants, because the parent bacterium has 
been found in the root systems of all plants where anyone has looked for 
its presence. This could have been the single most devastating impact on 
human beings since we would likely have lost corn, wheat, barley, 
vegetable crops, trees, bushes, etc, conceivably all terrestrial plants. 


It is clear, therefore, that current testing procedures required by US 
regulatory agencies are completely inadequate in assessing the potential 
risks involved with genetically engineered organisms. Until such time as 
adequate testing procedures are instigated and carried out, engineered 
organisms should not be considered to have acceptable risks. 
References 
Holmes, M. and E.R. Ingham. (1999) Ecological effects of genetically 
engineered Klebsiella planticola released into agricultural soil with 
varying clay content. Appl. Soil Ecol. 3:394-399. 

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