Planet in Peril: An Atlas of Current Threats to People and the Environment

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Les cinq plus gros producteurs d’OGM

though this may change in the future with specially engineered plants capa- ble of trapping pollution or surviving droughts. But above all it is an uphill struggle forming an opinion amidst the conflicting views offered by experts, regardless of whether debate focuses on the consequences of GM crops for the environment, public health or the economy. As with so many issues related to living organisms, it is hard to distinguish between rational and emotional responses. Ecologists, seed merchants and even scientists are in complete disa- greement about the environmental impact of GM organisms. Their dis- semination by pollen is a potential risk for biodiversity. Observations in the United Kingdom and Germany have confirmed the risk of a “bio-invasion”. InMexico, where humans first cultiva- ted maize, the discovery that foreign genes introduced by US imports had contaminated traditional strains prompted a public outcry. Rather than attempting to explain what is going on, GM advocates maintain that such crops reduce the need for fertilisers

and pesticides, limit soil erosion and enable simpler farming techniques. There is still no certainty about the long-term impact of GMorganisms on public health, no systematic studies having been carried out, even in the USwhere consumers have been eating GM foods for years. Some experiments – open to doubt – suggest that chan- ges have been detected in the blood and kidneys of laboratory rats. On the other hand some people claim that GM crops reduce mycotoxin (a form of fungus) contamination, which in turn lowers the risk of cancer. Even the economic benefits are open to dispute. In South Africa the spread of insect pests (tarnished plant bugs) wiped out any benefit some small producers might have derived from investing expensive GM seeds. In other cases (fruit rot, vine growth malformation) a clear improvement in yields has been observed. Either way, GM crops seem certain to increase poor countries’ dependence on a few giant firms such asMonsanto or Bayer, long before they end the uneven distri- bution of food across the planet.

The precautions taken in Europe – special labelling, refusal by about 50 regions to authorise GM crops – and the destruction of trial crops by French environmental activists, are holding back research into their impact on biodiversity without stopping imports of genetically modified seeds or pro- ducts. There is a genuine risk that GM organisms become so widespread that they pass the point of no return, before governments have taken even themost elementary precautions, equivalent to the tests preceding the public launch of new drugs.

> Inf’OGM : www.infogm.org > GeneWatch : www.genewatch.org > Organic Consumers : www.organicconsumers.org > Comité de recherche et d’information indépendantes sur le génie génétique (CRRI- GEN) : www.crii-gen.org > Site interministériel sur les OGM : www. ogm.gouv.fr Sur la Toile

L’A TLAS DU M ONDE DIPLOMATIQUE I 33