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SERIOUS MISCHIEF


Recently, Britain's Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered Prince Charles to shut down his royal Web site. The prince refused point blank the prime minister's command.

The Prince is speaking out about Monsanto's international PR and lobbying blitzkrieg on behalf of GM (genetically modified crops)--called GE in the U.S. (genetically engineered crops). He wants to encourage lively debate.

Monsanto is making $1.5 billion a year from bovine growth hormone, rBGH, according to Alexander Cockburn of the Nation, who says "the haul from Monsanto's Round-Up Ready soybeans, potatos and corn and its terminator seeds could be tens of billions more." The European Union has been opposed to allowing these products into its markets, but with recent arm wringing from U.S. politiicians such as President Clinton and V.P. Gore, the E.U. has relented.

Cockburn chided the prince's "cosmic holism and organic communitarianism" but that is another way of saying the prince may be seeing the big picture. Those qualities win him the Dendrite Forest Award for

RADICAL CONNECTIVITY

The Prince of Wales asks: Is genetically modified food an innovation we can do without?

A selection of your email responses appears below.

Pat Roberts, of Bristol, UK, said:
Some people, I am one, are potentially fatally allergic to nuts. Imported soya has already been modified with nuts, and could be in the bread we buy. How do I know that my daily bread is not going to kill me? What about other people with potentially fatal allergies? These things are not labelled.

Nigel Thomas, of Harlow, Essex, UK, said:
Much is made in this debate of the dangers of Genetic Engineering and the religeous aspects of the debate. It is easy to fall into a simple fear of the unknown. What is often missed is that with Genetic Engineering we are desperately stepping into areas where knowledge is at best patchy. The interaction of various segments of a DNA strand are immensely complex. By inserting a gene to code for a beneficial protein it is all too easy to interfere with coding for other elements of a plant. Who can truly say what the effect of the new genetic material will be on the environment? The variables involved are too complex to comprehend and gene transfer between species is a real possibility.Yet here we are proposing release of this material into the environment as part of the testing procedure.

John Parry, of Toronto, Canada, said:
Let me recount our experience with genetically modified potatoes. We planted a crop this year because we are plagued with Colorado beetles. The genetically altered seed are claimed to be unpalatable to the larvae, which then stop feeding and die. They were certainly effective because the larvae attacked very few potato plants, but turned their attention to other solanaceous plants instead (particularly our tomatoes and aubergines). When we harvested our crop we found the tubers to be remarkably tasteless, and with a less than appealing texture. At $14.99 for 10lbs the seed tubers were not cheap, and I will not repeat the experiment next year. I can buy tasty potatoes from Prince Edward Island at a fraction of the cost.

Chris Hart, of Bristol, UK, said:
I strongly agree with the comments of the Prince of Wales regarding genetically modified organisms. It seems to me to be simply a matter of common sense which unfortunately usually takes a back seat where profit is concerned.

Rev Jeff Leonardi, of Colton, Staffordshire, UK, said:
I endorse your trepidation about GM crops and would wish a complete moratorium until we have adequately researched the outcomes. I feel we are being driven to accept the practices purely by commercial pressures, and in this, as in other aspects of technological capability, I believe that we should be given choice.

Vanessa Hall, of Missouri, USA, said: As a one-time co-owner of a seed laboratory and the wife of a registered seed technologist, it's my firm belief that genetic manipulation of plants, particularly those used as food, will eventually lead to crop failure and drastic decreases in the food supply. Genetic manipulation is largely controlled by major corporations such as Monsanto, and is (not so) slowly decreasing the diversity of the crops that are planted and harvested. Dependence on fewer crops - and natural varieties within those crops - means that a crop failure will have a much greater impact. Anyone who believes crop failure is no longer something to worry about is not being realistic.

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