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Re: more on scary genetic engineering (fwd)
Is it true that one of the largest biotechnology companies in the world "
Novartis ",a Swiss chemical drug and agribusiness company announced they
will begin labeling genetically engineered products saying "if we believe
in the right to choose for consumers the industry cannot reasonably argue
against labels facilitating this choice." If so why is the USDA so against
freedom of choice,. Why are they making the good people of the world white
mice. Please don't let genetically altered crops contaminate foods
certified as organic. .Act Now to Protect Our Food Supply and Sustainable
Agriculture and Organic farming. Contact the Sec. of Agriculture at
(202-720-3252) agsec@usda.gov or U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington
DC 20250 . tell Secretary Glickman if they are going to refuse the label
at least exclude genetic engineering from the organic certification so
that we that do not what to partake of this global experiment can have a
choice.
At 08:40 PM 7/14/97 -0700, Diane Ridout wrote:
>Here is an article on some research happening at Cornell. I have emailed
>Robert Granados (the researcher named in this article) and asked him to
>answer some of the questions raised in this article, and to say whether
>this substance has been used in the field, and what applications his team
>envisions for it. I will forward his response (if he ever makes one).
>
>
>Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
>Kwantlen University College, "Talk
>PO Box 9030 doesn't
>Surrey, BC, Canada cook rice," they say.
>Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
>As we recklessly expand our action based on our delusion of separation from
>nature, I shake my head and wonder how bad things will have to get before
>we realize, like Pogo, how many of our modern ills we are doing to
>ourselves.... I fear that the horror needs to get much larger to get our
>attention, and deeply hope that this is not true, for the upcoming biotech
>catastrophes, if not stopped, may be truly unrecoverable - at least for our
>species.... P. Dines
>
>-- FORWARD ---
>From: Richard Wolfson, INTERNET:rwolfson@concentric.net
>To: info@natural-law.ca
>Date: Wed, Jul 2, 1997, 9:22 AM
>Subject: genetically engineered insecticide
>
>CORNELL SCIENTISTS ENGINEER VIRUS THAT KILLS CROP PESTS
>Futures World News - June 26, 1997 06:53, Ithaca, New York, FWN/UPI--=
>
>RESEARCHERS AT Cornell University have created a protein that allows a
>virus to evade the immune systems of insects, killing hardy pests that
>pr ey on farm crops.
>
>Researchers say the genetically engineered protein enhancin works by
>breaking down the virtually impermeable interior lining of a bug's
>intestine. That allows a virus to infect the insect, killing it
>quickly.
>
>Cornell researcher Robert Granados says the enhancin binds to a
>mucinous protein in intestine lining--formally known as the peritrophic
>matrix--an d destroys the matrix. That matrix generally provides bugs
>with a barrier against microbial attack.
>
>The scientists can combine the enhancin and a specific virus in
>crystals and inject crystals into a leaf or other substance a bug
>eats. The one-t wo punch has proven effective against seven bugs so
>far, including cotton bollworms, armyworms and the velvetbean
>caterpillar.
>
>The scientists also are studying how to genetically engineer enhancin
>directly in plants. The researchers say the enhancin enzyme poses no
>threat to humans or other mammals because the acidity in human stomachs
>renders it harmless.
>
> ............................................................
>
>According to Dr. Joe Cummins, Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the
>University of Western Ontario, those whose stomach acids are
>neutralized such as people taking antacid or ulcer medications such as
>Tagamet (Cimetidine) are at risk from exposure to enhancin. Such
>people are numbered in the millions. Other scientists have also
>expressed concern a t such genetically engineered toxins in our food
>that are meant to break do wn by stomach acidity, since stomach acidity
>can be quite variable.
>
>PD NOTE: Not to mention the harm to the beneficial bugs that we might
>not want to harm; the unintended consequences that they aren't considering
>(genetic engineering is hardly a tested and perfected science), both in
>t he genetically-altered material and in the ecosystem we're impacting;
>and th e huge risks of creating a supervirus and putting it into our
>food supply!!
>
>