Friends of the Earth has welcomed comments to the BBC by the new Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) about the need for more research on the safety of genetically modified crops.
Professor Howard Dalton told BBC News about his, "concern that we are moving specific genes, often just one at a time as opposed to the many thousands you do with normal plant breeding. What we don't know is the implications of what that one foreign gene might have on other proteins in the recipient plant material, so we are adopting a precautionary approach to see what these problems might be."
Professor Dalton also raised the possibility of a delay in commercial development of GM crops for "a couple of months - maybe six months or whatever" if he is not completely satisfied.
"We're very pleased that Professor Dalton shares the concerns
that we have expressed for years about the safety of GM crops and food.
We don't believe that the Government's current farm-scale trials programme
can properly answer these concerns. It's going to take a lot longer
than 'a couple of months, or six months' to do the research that is
really needed," said Friends of the Earth GM Campaigner Adrian
Bebb. "Given that DEFRA's advisor now shares our worries, it's
no surprise that the public does not want to eat food containing GM
ingredients, or see GM crops growing in our countryside. Mr Dalton's
remarks are a welcome contrast to the previous gung ho GM enthusiasm
of Mr Blair and Lord Sainsbury. The argument for a full moratorium on
the commercial development of GM food and crops gets stronger every
day."
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