Scientists wary of CSIRO GM crop
The wheat crop in question, believed to be undergoing field trials in Western Australia, NSW and the ACT, is genetically modified to produce a grain with a lower glycaemic index, which is touted as healthier because the carbohydrates are more gradually absorbed. This in turn delays the return of hunger pangs, and helps reduce sudden swings in blood sugar, which is particularly good for diabetics.
But molecular biologist Jack Heinemann, from New Zealand's University of Canterbury, will today unveil work that suggests an enzyme in the wheat, which is suppressed by genetic manipulation to achieve the lower GI benefit, is similar to a human enzyme responsible for producing glycogen -- a critical part of the body's energy-making process.
"The issue here is that these small RNA molecules can transmit through food to people, even when it's cooked or processed," Professor Heinemann told The Australian.Professor Heinemann and other experts from Britain and Australia who were asked by pressure group the Safe Food Foundation, which is linked to the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, to give their opinions of the safety of the CSIRO's trial say there is evidence the DNA-like molecules suppressing the wheat enzyme could transfer to humans and animals, with fatal results.
"And we know that if they have the right kind of (genetic) sequence, they can have an effect on human genes. We don't know what the sequence is in the wheat, because the CSIRO haven't released it."
Professor Heinemann said the RNA molecule was meant to silence a particular gene in the wheat, but such techniques were prone to causing "off-target effects" whereby other genes were also affected.
He called on the CSIRO to conduct more thorough testing, including better testing of the effect on human tissues.
In a separate review of Professor Heinemann's analysis, commissioned by the Safe Food Foundation, Judy Carman, associate professor of health and the environment at Flinders University, said there had been a "poor risk assessment process applied to these GM wheat varieties by both the CSIRO and its regulatory overseer", the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator.
A spokesman for the CSIRO said the agency would be reviewing the claims and responding in due course.