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| | | You are here: Justice >> Genetic Modification | | | | GENETIC MODIFICATION | | | | | Five major multi-national companies, including Monsanto and BASF, are making a determined effort to gain control over the seeds of all the major crops in the world.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this is the fact that these companies are taking out patents on a huge number of seeds and plants, so that they control their distribution.
A second key element in what these companies are doing is that they are modifying the genes of seeds to include what is a called a ‘terminator gene’. The effect of this gene is to render infertile the seeds of any crops which have this gene. This means that the following year’s crop cannot be grown from the seeds of this year’s crop; new seeds have to be bought from the company that patented the seeds.
| | | Another part of what these companies are doing is to insert genes in plants which make the plants dependent on the use of the particular weed-killer which is sold only by that company. So the farmers have to buy that particular brand.
A further effect of what these companies are doing is to greatly reduce the variety of different types of rice, wheat, etc. The ‘biodiversity’ of nature is almost eliminated. This is highly dangerous as it means that most of the rice, wheat, etc of the world could be quickly wiped out by some new disease—whereas if there was a variety of strains of these crops (biodiversity) some of them would be immune to the disease.
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The companies claim that the genetic modifications they are introducing bring such a major improvement in crop yield that they are the way to solve food shortages and hunger. The US government has been supporting the companies and their claims, and has bringing enormous pressure on European and on foreign governments, especially in Africa, to allow GM crops to be grown and sold in their countries. (It remains to be seen whether President Obama will continue the approach adopted under President Bush.)
Some African countries, along with the European community, have so far resisted this pressure. For instance, the Zambian government, influenced mainly by the highly-respected and very effective research and campaigning of the Catholic Church, has refused to accept GM crops, even in the form of food aid from the USA; but they are under great pressure from the US to change this policy.
The major justice-development NGOs (non-governmental agencies such as Caritas, Trocaire, Cafod, SCIAF, etc.) and the environmental NGOs (such as Greenpeace) are opposed to GM and the patenting of life. They argue that GM will not help the poor but will enrich these companies and those engaged in agri-business by allowing them to control the market. Columban missionary Fr Sean McDonagh is campaigning very strongly against GM, especially against the ‘terminator gene’, and the patenting of life in any form. We seem to be getting conflicting signals on this issue from the Vatican.
For thousands of years farmers have been improving the quality of their crops by choosing and cross-breeding hardier and more productive strains. Quite recently scientists have developed a technique (called ‘MAS’) which enables them to identify the better-quality seeds far more quickly than in the past. When widely applied, this approach allows rapid improvement of crops while avoiding the dangers associated with the introduction of foreign genetic material into the natural seeds. This is a further strong argument against the use of genetic modification.
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| | | SUGGESTED PRACTICAL GUIDELINES | It is important that we try to educate people about these issues, so that they in turn can influence their politicians. It seems best to avoid getting involved in highly technical arguments for or against the genetic modification in theory. Instead we should focus on the fact that in practice these technical advances are being used by the big companies to control the whole food market.
Any of us who have any practical experience of how poor farmers suffer when genetically modified crops are introduced can share that experience with others—pointing out how the poor get trapped and how environmental damage is done by major companies under the name of ‘development’.
It is important that we help to form alliances to put pressure on local politicians, on national governments and on international bodies to take a strong and united stand. Together we can offer effective resistance to the pressure from powerful multinational companies to allow GM crops to be grown and sold in our countries.
We can also encourage our Church leaders to take a principled stand against the patenting of life and the introduction of the ‘terminator gene’—and to ask the Vatican to come out strongly on these issues.
Donal Dorr
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