Fwd: Fw: One/New report from Hobb

[Guest guest]

Here are a series of reports that Hobb has sent to the group. Hope

some of you find them interesting and useful. Thanks again .

One

Questions and answers on lectins

Here are some questions and answers on lectins prepared by Dr. Joe Cummins, Professor Emeritus of Genetic as University of Western Ontario. E-mail: jcummins@... The lectin contoversy began a few weeks ago when a researcher in UK reported damage to rats who had been fed lectins. As potatoes are being genetically engineered with lectins to deter insects, the public was concerned. However, the researcher in UK who reported the findings was fired as his superiors say his findings were not conclusive, etc. ...................... Dr. Cummins says: The recent publicity surrounding the experiments with lectins in potatoes may have left the impression that such experiments are very new and the field tests an isolated incident. The information publicly available from patents and filed test notifications show that a number of toxic lexins have been field tested in a number of species during the past seven years. The subject is both new and intimidating to those who have not been involved in it. ly, I believe that the field tests have not relied on precise information on injury to people and animals but instead has gone ahead risking all. The lectin experiments show that humans and wildlife are treated as experimental organisms by corporations and government regulators. The question and answer format below may help others to appreciate the threat of lectin experiments. 1) What are lectins? Lectins are proteins that bind to sugars or blocks of sugars on sugar containing proteins (glycoproteins). The glycoproteins tend to be associated with cell membranes and are involved in organizing cells in a tissue or with communications between cells in, for example, the immune system or brain. Lectins have been used for over a hundred years to identify blood cells and to trigger cell division in white blood cells. Lectins are isolated from higher plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals from invertebrates to mammals(http://www.vectorlabs.com).. 2) Why are lectin genes used to resist insect and fungal disease? In plants lectins are believed to be defense proteins, they defend plants against virus, bacteria, fungi, invertebrates and herbivorous animals including humans(W.Peumans and E. van Damme, Histochem.J. 27, 253-71,1995). 3) If lectins are natural and in crops why is their use in genetic engineering threatening? Lectins are present in most crop plants but in poisonous plants their levels are high and some poisonous lectins resist inactivation in the guts of birds and mammals making them potent poisons for mammals and birds. The genetically engineered lectins are activated in the plants by genetically engineered cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) promoters alowing the lectins to reach highly toxin levels in the crops. The engineered lectins are present at high levels allowing elimination of browsing pests including (perhaps) people. 4) Are some lectins poisonous to insects but not mammals? Patent holders for some lectin genes claim the gene products poison insect but leave browsing mammals unharmed. Some lectin gene products are very poisonous to mammals causing immune dysfunction and growth stunting. It is claimed such toxic lectins resist stomach acids and digestive enzymes, while nice lectins kill insects which have neutral to very alkaline stomach conditions but are harmless to mammals which have acid guts and digestive enzymes that require acidity. People on antacid, ulcer medication or who drink milk (that buffers acidity with their meals ) will probably suffer the side effects of poisoned insects. 5) Did the patents and field trials for lectin gene require testing to insure that the lectins patented or tested were not toxic to humans and wildlife? The patents did not require evidence about the toxicity of lectins but at least one application included speculation that the patented lectin(snowdrop lectin) was not toxic to mammals or birds. Field tests should have addressed the threat to humans and wildlife but appear to have taken the topic at all seriously. There does not appear to be published literature showing that some lectins are not toxic to mammals and birds. In most instances the lectins are toxic to mammals and vertebrates. 6) Have crops genetically engineered with lectins been field tested? ICGEB Biosafety webpages (http://base.icgeb.trieste.it:80/biosafety/bsfrel.htm) reports that in UK pea lectin was tested in potato by Nickerson Seed 1991,1993,and1994,mannose specific lectin was tested in potato by Axis Genetics in Herfodshire 1995. In the USA wheat lectin was tested in Maize by Pioneer,1991: snowdrop lectin was tested in Maize by Ceba-Giegy 1994,snowdrop lectin was tested in potato was tested by Mich State U ,1994: barley lectin, rubber tree lectin and stinging nettle lectin were all tested in walnut by U Cal ,1995; snowdrop lectin was tested in sunflower by VanderHave,1996 ,finally, snowdrop lectin was field tested in grape by U Cal/Kearney. 7) Have lectin genes been patented? USPatent 5,407,454 patents lectin genes from jacalin, camel'â foot tree, codium fragile, Griffonia simplicfolia, elderberry, Phytollaca ammericana, osage orange, wheat germ, and fifty other plant species. USPatent 5,276,269 patented barley lectin. USPatent 5,604,121 patents soybean lectin and uses a phloem specific promoter. US patent 5,545, 820 was for snowdrop lectin. Patent EP-A-0351924 was for pea lectin. Patent EP-A-0427529 used various plant lectins as gene inserts or as purified proteins applied to plants to kill insects. This is probably not a complete list but it is the most I can find. 8) Are lectins safer to non-target organisms (including human) than chemical pesticides? Lectins are not safer than chemical pesticides and their greatest threat is that foolish officials and cold blooded companies will claim that lectins are harmless to humans and wildlife. 9) Are field tests with lectins safe? Field test with lectins are unsafe and should not have been allowed until full knowledge of the toxicity to non-target organisms including beneficial insects is clearly established. There is one report of lectin killing of ladybug beetles in potato. 10) Have lectin genes spread to crops and weeds from the test plots to produce poison crops and super weeds? Most of the tests with lectin genes that have been done were done with potatoes. Potato pollen has been reported to drift up to a kilometer from a test site. Sunflower, grape and maize may pollinate crops while sunflower and grape have wild relatives. Weeds with elevated lectins would spread rapidly by resisting disease and damage wildlife who feed on them. The walnut experiment seems stupid because many lectins were loaded onto a tree, however, it takes many years for a tree to mature to produce flowers. However, any fool can graft a walnut and that will produce flowers quickly. There is little doubt that the lectin genes have spread from the test sites. Future US lectin field trials may not require notification because the government relaxed the requirement. 11)Will crops with lectins be labeled in the market? No, crops with lectin genes will not likely be labeled. Those injured by the crops will be difficult to identify , as the companies distributing the patented seeds very well know. They seem to reason that the injury of some people is justified by the companyâs huge profits and lavish lifestyle. 12) Will I face recrimination from fanatic biotechnologists in government, academe and industry for writing unpleasent things about lectins? My direct experience with the biotechnology bureaucrats in the Canadian Government is that they are weak on knowledge of genetics but strong on intimidation, one explained to me that we should all consider ourselves employees of the government (and his subordinates). The government has a biotechnology committee made of biotechnology company officials and academics who lobby for government grants and tax relief for multinationals. They are frequently called on to make official pronouncements on issues like the lectin experiments. They usually hire company officials to write reports on such matters that are kept secret (such reports are kept secret because the are usually public relations fabrications aimed at keeping elected officials docile). I expect they will try to think of something to make me uncomfortable.