On 5 June 2008, our
authorized, small-scale field trial
of transgenic potato plants for
nematode control was destroyed
by people seeking to coerce
government and society. It was
one of only two trials authorized
in the United Kingdom this year.
Our concern is that Directive
2001/18/EC, the European Union
(EU) legislation that governs
such trials, is confused. Although
it recognizes the need for field
releases at the research stage
(clause 23), it does not distinguish
between these and development stage
trials in its risk assessments.
It has also set the legal precedent
of providing precise locations of
trial sites to vandals.
We have no evidence
that the 400 transgenic
plants we released posed
any environmental concern,
particularly when considered
in the context of the annual UK
potato crop of 8,000 million
plants and their naturally
hazardous glycoalkaloid content.
If EU governments cannot
protect the trials they authorize,
they should establish secure,
vandal-proof national testing
centres.
Unfortunately, a failure to
distinguish a research trial from
product-development trials
seems to have blinded activists
to the published, broader aims of
our work. We develop controls
for nematodes on subsistence
crops in Africa and Asia, where
both farmers and governments
recognize the need for new
technologies.
What is the distinction between
burning university books 75 years
ago and now destroying university
research intended for publication
in scientific journals? European
governments must ensure that
science in our universities can
progress without coercion.
Howard J. Atkinson, Peter E. Urwin
Centre for Plant Sciences, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
"The undeciphered Phaistos Disc is
perhaps the most infamous of ancient
inscriptions." Andrew Robinson, page 990
979
|
