The Ministry of Agriculture's recent process of issuing production and application safety certificates for two genetically modified rice lines has intensified unease about the safety of genetically modified food.
The process was highly secretive: when a foreign news agency first discovered the news, it was posted on a specialized website that “was rarely updated,” mixed into the “2009 Second Batch of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Certificate Approval List,” and even Greenpeace staff who checked it almost daily had not noticed it.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
The safety certificates were issued by the department whose full name is the “Office of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Management, Ministry of Agriculture.” The recipients were the insect-resistant transgenic rice “Huahui No. 1” and its hybrid “Bt Shanyou 63” from the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement at Huazhong Agricultural University. The certificates took effect on August 17, 2009, with a validity period of five years. Accordingly, these two rice lines would be permitted to be planted on a large scale within Hubei Province.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Regarding the certificate issuance process, the Ministry of Agriculture provided only a brief written reply. According to this reply, the issuance of the certificates was a decision made “after years of safety evaluation through five stages, including rigorous experimental research, intermediate testing, environmental release, productive testing, and application for production and application safety certificates, and based on the evaluation results of the Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Committee.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
This reply led ordinary people to begin paying attention to the “Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Committee,” an institution that sounded highly specialized.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
There is much evidence indicating the importance of this committee. According to available information, it was established on the basis of the “Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms,” and its members are experts "engaged in research, production, processing, inspection and quarantine, health, environmental protection," and other related fields of agricultural genetically modified organisms, with each term lasting three years. When the previous round of membership changes took place, Xinhua News Agency specifically released a report on it.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
However, people quickly discovered that this enormous body with dozens of members was virtually inaccessible to ordinary people. Although many people worked hard to find out the identities of its members, and the internet was full of various inquiries and probes, none of them produced results. Even the earliest date of the institution's establishment was difficult for outsiders to ascertain.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Jiang Gaoming, a principal researcher at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that as the final step before the issuance of production safety certificates for genetically modified crops, the role of this committee should not be underestimated, and that this certificate is “the hardest hurdle to overcome before genetically modified crops can be marketed.” If anyone can guarantee that genetically modified food will not cause problems, then “we request that the names of these experts be made public.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
This request went unanswered. Jiang felt that all of this “was backroom dealing,” and he believed this showed that the relevant people “themselves were not confident” about genetically modified rice.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Greenpeace staff spent a great deal of time searching for information about this committee. In the end, they found only one news article on the campus website of China Agricultural University, which revealed that five researchers from that university had been appointed as members of the third session of the Biosafety Committee.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Fang Lifeng, the official in charge of agriculture projects at Greenpeace, felt that the entire community related to genetically modified organisms had fallen silent. This silence became a key focus of public questioning.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
As a civil society organization, Greenpeace has consistently strongly opposed the cultivation of genetically modified food crops. “We have always hoped that information concerning people's lives and safety should be made public. Even if people cannot make decisions, at the very least they should have the right to know,” the organization explained its position.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
In contrast to the activism of civil society organizations, the government agencies and researchers involved appeared extremely low-key.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Jiang Gaoming was one of the few experts willing to publicly state his position. His field of research is unrelated to genetically modified technology; it is ecological agriculture. This made Jiang Gaoming feel somewhat awkward, because those who should have spoken out even more “were really too quiet.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
“Since the safety issue of genetically modified food remains controversial to this day, the approval of genetically modified rice should at least be transparent.” He repeatedly appealed through blogs and published articles. However, he received no feedback of any kind, whether in agreement or opposition.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
In fact, after the media had repeated various doubts several times, a staff member of the Ministry of Agriculture said over the phone that “now the major media, ministry-affiliated media, and local media are no longer hyping this matter.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Behind the calls for the right to know and for information disclosure lies the enormous and persistent anxiety people have about genetically modified food. People worry that after genetically modified crops are consumed by humans, there may be “unforeseeable” consequences.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
The newly certified “Bt Shanyou 63” genetically modified rice is believed to be able to kill insects and control pests. In response to this characteristic, the most common attack online began like this: if even insects cannot eat it, can humans eat it?文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
This doubt has already been addressed by professionals. A researcher at the China National Rice Research Institute stated that this gene, which causes insect death, targets a protein encoded by a gene specific to a certain type of insect and will not harm humans.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
In order to prove the harmlessness of this crop, as early as before obtaining the safety certificate, Lin Yongjun, a researcher at Huazhong Agricultural University who participated in the research, had stated that for this genetically modified rice, they had successively conducted toxicological tests on mice, rats, and other animals, and had not found any problems.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
This argument also drew attacks online. One doubt was: “Can you treat people like mice?”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Although they did not possess complete scientific information, people were still unable to eliminate their anxiety about this man-made crop. Many people online regarded the approval of genetically modified rice production as “scientific research” breaching the “moral bottom line,” and felt worried about their own health.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
In fact, regarding whether genetically modified crops pose dangers, the scientific community at home and abroad has never reached a definitive conclusion. Contradictory evidence continues to emerge. Opponents cite reports by foreign scientists stating that in experiments, young mice that ate genetically modified potatoes suffered damage to the immune system of their internal organs. But supporters“ experimental results were the opposite, showing that ”no damage occurred at all."文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Conservative countries and regions, such as the European Union, strictly restrict the cultivation and import of genetically modified crops because scientists cannot provide evidence proving that genetically modified crops are indeed harmless. In countries such as the United States and China, because opponents likewise cannot provide evidence proving that genetically modified crops are harmful, policy has tended toward promoting genetically modified crops.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Previously, genetically modified crops such as tomatoes, cotton, and soybeans had already been promoted on a large scale in our country, and had at one time achieved brilliant results in areas such as pest and disease control. But for major food crops such as rice, almost all countries have adopted a cautious attitude.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Yuan Longping, an authority on rice research in China, said that his own students had also participated in research on genetically modified rice. However, not long ago, Yuan Longping publicly stated that the government should be especially cautious in approving the commercialization of genetically modified plants. His reason was that scientists cannot fully predict what kind of mutations genetic modification of organisms may cause.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
“Although the experiments are very mature, their possible effects on humans may not become apparent until future generations,” Yuan Longping said.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Under these circumstances, researchers in some domestic genetically modified projects repeatedly complained that the marketization of their research results was being obstructed by an “overly strict” approval process.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
There are many other doubts about genetically modified technology as well. Many scientists worry that if the genes of genetically modified crops “drift” into the surrounding environment through pollination and other pathways, it may trigger an ecological crisis. Another doubt points out that when genetically modified cotton was promoted, because of chaotic management, the sources of cotton seeds were very mixed, and many had not received formal assessment and approval. Some people could not even say where the cotton they planted came from. People worry that compared with the cotton worn on the body, the rice that will ultimately be eaten, if poorly managed, may cause unknowable dangers.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
In 2008, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture stated that the Biosafety Committee held regular meetings twice a year, and at each meeting it had to discuss the question of “whether to approve genetically modified rice,” which had consistently failed to pass. At that time, the committee was still in its second session, with a total of 74 members. A member said in an interview that genetically modified technology “has good intentions and very obvious effects, but the dangers cannot be predicted.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
However, before these remarks were made, in April 2008, the Ministry of Agriculture had already completed research for revising the “Regulations on the Safety Management of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms.” Media reports said the result of this research was the view that “on the premise of science and safety, the originally overly complicated approval procedures should be appropriately simplified and the process for bringing genetically modified crops to market shortened.” This move was seen as aimed at genetically modified rice and as marking "an acceleration of the commercialization of genetically modified rice."文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Some people also noticed that as early as 2007, the 16-character guideline for the development of genetically modified crops had already been adjusted from “scientific planning, active research, steady progress, strengthened management” to “accelerate research, promote application, standardize management, scientific development.” This shift did not attract much attention.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
With the beginning of this “acceleration,” only about a year passed before the technology previously considered to involve “danger” was quietly approved for production.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
The relevant departments“ permission for the cultivation of genetically modified rice is regarded as the inevitable result of a long-term national project. In the ”Outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Science and Technology Development (2006-2020)" published in 2004, "cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified organisms" was designated as one of 16 major special projects, with a total budget exceeding 20 billion yuan.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Since then, genetically modified organisms have “become a very hot field of research.” Jiang Gaoming commented: “No matter what problems are discovered, it will not stop, because once the money starts being spent, it cannot stop.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
It is reported that the project that received the safety certificate this time began research as early as 1995, and had already completed productive testing between 2003 and 2004. Researchers on the project had said they “did not want to wait indefinitely,” because a variety that currently has great advantages may lose its competitiveness after several years.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
Now, his hope has come true. Although the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized in its reply that this genetically modified rice “still must pass variety approval and obtain a seed production and operation license before it can enter commercial production and application,” when the news came out, the stocks of three listed companies related to seed production soared in response.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
The Ministry of Agriculture commented: “This is an important achievement with independent intellectual property rights obtained in our country's genetically modified technology research, and it has laid a good foundation for commercial production.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/
(Reprinted fromChina Youth Daily）文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11203/