On Thu, Jan 05, 2006 at 04:50:12PM +1300, Russell McMahon wrote:
> It happened very recently and the victim as laid quietly to rest with 
> (un)surprisingly little fanfare.
> I posted this to list recently. 26 Nov 05 New Scientist says -
> 
>         http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/gm-food/mg18825273.400
> 
> In this case a ten year trial (AFAIR) [[10 years !!!!]] was abandoned 
> after it was found that the milled, processed proteins in peas with a 
> bean gene [ :-) ] inserted caused allergic reactions in mice which 
> were totally unknown from either of the source crops.
> 
> This is *EXACTLY* the sort of thing that has been feared and which 
> 'experts' of appropriate bias have ridiculed long and hard and 
> dirtily. Note that NO "genetic material" remains - just the output 
> protein alone causes the damage. This is, of course, by received 
> wisdom, essentially impossible. Hookey Walker :-). (Google knows).

Well the thing that gets me with examples like that is it happens
without any GM technology at all. Standard cross-breeding techniques
occasionally produce strange allergic reactions and other weird effects,
it's rare, and more rare then effects with the GM stuff, but it happens.
Technology or not, it's all gene splicing, especially when you look at
the effect of naturally occuring bacteria and viruses.

GM food isn't all that magical. Nature is more than weird enough on it's
own!

-- 
pete@petertodd.ca http://www.petertodd.ca
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