Genetic Enclosure: The Ultimate Commodification Of Life

What Is Genetic Engineering?

Genetic engineering (also known as transgenics) is the process of isolating and transferring a DNA sequence (gene) from an organism, manipulating it in the laboratory and then reinjecting it into another, resulting in a modified organism. Up until recently the process of creation of a modified organism has been by selective breeding. This is the painstaking interbreeding of organisms in order to isolate a pre-selected trait to produce a new product by out breeding unwelcome traits. This can take about five years to get the desired result whereas genetic engineering through transgenics can be done more or less overnight in a test tube.

The Supposed Benefits Of Genetic Engineering

1) Solving of The World Food Crisis.

The argument used to justify this is that by the use of transgenics, crops can be made more resistant to factors such as disease and pests, enabling them to grow in a far wider range of environments than before.

The justification used illustrates a complete lack of understanding of all the geo-political influences on causes of world hunger, and distracts attention from the fact that the current world food crisis is caused by unequal distribution of available resources and the forced production of cash crops. Transnationals deliberately engender hunger in developing countries to force their dependence. For example: genetically engineered vanilla extract will undercut the livelihood of 100,000 ‘Third World’ farming families in Madagascar and SE. Asia. (1) Besides these arguments transgenics has no more acclaimed advantages over selective breeding as even though a new formulation of plant can be made overnight, only a handful of seeds are produced. To transform commercial farming 400,000 tonnes of seed are needed and it could take up to 7 to 10 years to produce these, which will be no quicker than traditional forms of selective breeding. (GREENLINE 1991)

2) The benefits to human health.

The obvious benefits that are often used are the increased availability of transplant organs and ridding people of inherited diseases. The transplanting of animal organs into humans (xenotransplantation) is hailed as a huge leap forward in medical science which is set to transform the way illnesses are dealt with. In a recent Panorama program (24th June 1996) it was stated that ‘40 to 50 people a day need transplants’ and as there is a shortage of human organs suitable for transplantation, it is a stated benefit of transgenics that animals will soon be able to provide some of these, thus saving lives. However these supposed gains are grossly overestimated when you take into account the possible negative consequences. For example take the case of the HIV virus that can lead to AIDS. Baboon blood is HIV resistant, and it is possible that a blood transfusion from baboons into humans could help with the treatment of people with the HIV virus. Problems arise when we consider the fact that it could also be transferring other animal diseases. Not only would animal diseases be difficult to detect, as incubation periods of disease can be as much as ten years, but viruses that they carry, could prove fatal in humans or contribute to the evolving of new strains, or even totally new diseases. The risk of this happening is articulated by Joshua Lederberg of The Rockefeller University (USA) when he says: “There are so many of them [viruses] and they are so variable in their manifestations, we don’t know where they came from and even our classification of viruses is basically quite flimsy”. In addition to this in the event that there is a mass transference of viruses across species it is not possible to develop a vaccine that will be of any use as ‘the minimum in which a vaccine could be developed and distributed today is six to nine months, and that is just not fast enough.’(2,) An example of this is the introduction of the growth hormone rBGH into cows which results in increased levels of a virologically active growth factor in the milk which may affect the human immune system causing allergic reactions.(3) In judging the possible effects that this could have on a wider scale it is the public as a whole that will be the final experiment.. In addition to this all animal to human transplants have so far failed, as recipients eventually develop an anti-body against the foreign blood or organ that was artificially introduced.

The Ecological Effects Of Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering will radically change our environment, but unlike earlier technological revolutions such as the nuclear age the associated polluting risks will be even more difficult to contain. Genetic wastes multiply, migrate and mutate and once released, it will be impossible to recall. It will have effects on pest and herbicide resistance, biodiversity, toxicity and climate, two of which we will look at here, as well as looking at possible effects of gene patenting.

Pest And Herbicide Resistance

This process would involve inserting genetic material into crop plants, which induce the plant to produce substances that are toxic or distasteful to pests, which will enable the crop to be grown without the use of insecticides. The problem that has been overlooked is that this genetic material will eventually escape via cross-pollination to wild relatives of the original crop strain. Those plants that have the artificially introduced immunity would then be favoured by natural selection and thus the genetic material would spread through the wider population, and have the effect of depriving insects of a food source and

inevitably disrupting links in the food chain which will have unknown results. (See BBC Wildlife Nov. 1991) Parallel with this is the development of crops that are tolerant to higher doses of herbicides being used to counter the effects of increasingly resistant ‘undesirable’ plants. This continuous growth in the use of herbicides to control ‘undesirable’ plants will be to the detriment of the ecology of the area. In addition to this fact it will be the herbicide companies who supply the resistant crops and then the herbicides to deal with the resultant effects opening up another sphere of economy from which to profit.(4)

Loss Of Biodiversity

When genetically engineered plants and animals are released into the environment no attention has been given as to what effect this may have ecologically. In the event that a genetically engineered organism replaces or wipes out a species the effects could be devastating, as ecological niches inhabited by a species forms a function in the wider environment and if the species is removed from the ecosystem this function can no longer take place. We have already seen some of the effects of introducing new species that are non-native, they "rake over ecological niches, such as gypsy moth, and rabbits in Australia"(5), which has lead gross overpopulation of the species at the expense of the other plants and animals in the surrounding environment.

The Effects Of Patenting Genes

Patenting will have the effect of not only undermining biological diversity, but also of commodifying the life on the planet, and handing over control to a handful of transnationals. By only slightly modifying an organism to meet the legal requirements for a patent they can claim that organism as their own property. It is possible that a gene taken from a plant variety evolved by generations of farmers through selective breeding, is then inserted into another seed, and as if by magic the seed with the good gene now belongs to a company. An example of this is the seed industry whereby it is illegal to buy seeds that are not patented and you have to purchase genetically engineered seeds from the Common Catalog. "In Europe three quarters of the traditional vegetable seeds are at risk of extinction because of the hybrid monopoly"(6). It is not difficult to see that the world’s food supply will become even more monopolised and controlled by only a handful of companies. Competition to be one of the handful of transnationals that will have this power is fierce and with stakes this high no company is going to allow any dissent to get in the way. A recent Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) document stated; “could opposition of the public or minority groups working through parliamentary and other procedures, spill over into the legislative and legal process and prevent the required modifications of patent law regarding biotechnology?”(7). Considering the changes which have already taken place and those which have been initiated, this possibility seems much less likely than in the safety and regulation context, although the opposition could cause further delay particularly in Europe.” Looking at the legal situation it appears that the US and Japan have the most lax laws, with them going so far as to pass a law in the 1980’s that legitimised patents for, “anything under the sun that is made by man”.(8) Britain was going to follow the Japanese example but came up with strong opposition from European Law which, after heavy campaigning by theological and philosophical groups, introduced a law in March 1995 which rejects patenting of plant and animal genes.

Conclusion

When we consider the effects transgenics may have there are some fundamental points to bear in mind, such as the fact that 80% of organisms in a soil sample of a typical garden are unknown to science. Besides not knowing our environment well enough to be able to calculate the risks, there will also be the element of risk through uncertainty and surprise. The debate that surrounds genetic engineering is increasingly entering the public consciousness and it must be questioned and fought against at every opportunity. It has the potential of being an issue that unites a large number of groups including ecologists, animal rights groups and civil liberties groups, and as such, may be the most powerful voice of rebellion that we can muster against the war between ourselves and those that are destroying life itself.

References

(1) ‘Vanilla and Biotechnology’ by Rural Advancement Foundation International - January 1987.

(2) The Guardian Newspaper - June 1996.

(3) Genetic Engineering Experiments on the Public’ by Peter Montague - Third World Network.

(4) ‘Some Environmental and Ethical Considerations of Genetically Engineered Plants and Foods ’ by Prof. Philip L. Bereave.

(5) ibid.

(6) Seeds savers - Laura Syperch. Printed in “Crestone Eagle” Jan 1996

(7) ‘Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food’ published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) - Paris 1992.

(8) ibid