> > Scotland on Sunday
> >
> >                 30 May 2000
> >
> >
> >                 Monsanto GM seeds contain 'rogue'
> >                 DNA
> >
> >                 EXCLUSIVE
> >                 Publication Date: May 28 2000
> >
> >                 When the world's leading bio-technology
> >                 company, Monsanto, bid for permission to
> >                 market the first genetically modified
> >                 agriculturalcrop,RoundupReady soybean, it was
> >                 sure it knew what it had created. The bean, the
> >                 company told US regulators in 1993, contained a
> >                 single new strand of DNA designed to make it
> >                 resistant to Monsanto's brand of weed killer,
> >                 Roundup.
> >
> >                 Seven years on, however, Monsanto has
> >                 realised it was wrong. New research by the
> >                 company, due to be published in the next few
> >                 weeks, will reveal the discovery of two rogue
> >                 fragments of DNA in the soybean, the world's
> >                 most widespread GM crop. The disclosure has
> >                 already prompted concern among genetic
> >                 scientists and alarm from environmentalists.
> >
> >                 They point out that such surprise pieces of
> >                 genetic material could have unknown effects on
> >                 human health and the environment. There could
> >                 also be similar unexpected bits of DNA in the
> >                 relatedgenetically modified-contaminated
> >                 oilseed rape inadvertently planted by hundreds of
> >                 Scottish farmers this spring.
> >
> >                 "These results demonstrate that genetic
> >                 modification is a clumsy process, not precise as
> >                 is often claimed," said Dr Sue Mayer, director of
> >                 Genewatch, an independent research group.
> >                 "There is no control over how many genes, in
> >                 what order, or where they are inserted.
> >
> >                 "It has taken Monsanto almost a decade to
> >                 provide what they now say is an accurate
> >                 analysis of the DNA in Roundup Ready soybean.
> >                 Additional copies or fragments of genes may
> >                 affect the operation of the other inserted genes,
> >                 which could have consequences for the
> >                 performance and composition of the plant. This
> >                 may have implications for human and
> >                 environmental safety."
> >
> >                 Last Friday, Monsanto's international
> >                 headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, told the
> >                 Sunday Herald it was about to submit the first full
> >                 analysis of the genetic sequences in Roundup
> >                 Ready soybean for publication in a scientific
> >                 journal. "We've identified two inactive pieces of
> >                 the Roundup Ready gene in addition to the
> >                 complete Roundup Ready gene within Roundup
> >                 Ready soybeans," said Dan Verakis, a
> >                 spokesman for the company.
> >
> >                 Monsanto has been informing regulatory
> >                 agencies around the world of the discovery.
> >                 "Those two pieces were present within the
> >                 soybeans used in all original safety tests and
> >                 hence do not change the conclusion by global
> >                 regulatory authorities that Roundup Ready
> >                 soybeans are as safe and nutritious as
> >                 conventional soybeans," claimed Verakis.
> >
> >                 "What we've achieved is the ability to see the
> >                 genes and DNA within Roundup Ready
> >                 soybeans more clearly, just like putting a
> >                 telescope in orbit makes it easier for
> >                 astronomers to see the stars."
> >
> >                 But Charlie Kronick, head of Greenpeace's
> >                 anti-GM campaign in the UK, argued that the
> >                 company's findings heightened worries about
> >                 safety.
> >
> >                 "Imports of contaminated seeds have left the UK
> >                 and the rest of Europe reeling from further
> >                 revelations of the biotechnology industry's failure
> >                 to control their pro ducts," he said. "Now
> >                 Monsanto announces a new discovery
> >                 concerning the genetic make-up of their first GM
> >                 product. After years on the market, Monsanto
> >                 reveals that neither the industry or the regulators
> >                 actually know what genes are in it. What else
> >                 don't we know?
> >
> >                 "The complacency of government and industry
> >                 must have surely reached a limit. These
> >                 cropsareunpredictable, uncontrollable and
> >                 unnecessary. It is time to ban their use
> >                 andstoptheircontinued gene tic pollution."
> >
> >                 Although Monsanto's GM soybean is not involved
> >                 in the contamination of oilseed rape planted by
> >                 600 farmers over 11,600 acres of Britain, one of
> >                 the company's related products, Roundup Ready
> >                 oilseed rape, is implicated. Advanta, the com
> >                 pany which distributed the contaminated seed in
> >                 Europe, says its problem was originally caused
> >                 by Roundup Ready rape growing nearby in
> >                 Canada.
> >