Human genes engineered into experimental GMO rice

RachelsReboot

I don't even know what to say except EWWWW!

(NaturalNews) Unless the rice you buy is certified organic, or comes specifically from a farm that tests its rice crops for genetically modified (GM) traits, you could be eating rice tainted with actual human genes. The only known GMO with inbred human traits in cultivation today, a GM rice product made by biotechnology company Ventria Bioscience is currently being grown on 3,200 acres in Junction City, Kansas -- and possibly elsewhere -- and most people have no idea about it.

Since about 2006, Ventria has been quietly cultivating rice that has been genetically modified (GM) with genes from the human liver for the purpose of taking the artificial proteins produced by this "Frankenrice" and using them in pharmaceuticals. With approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ventria has taken one of the most widely cultivated grain crops in the world today, and essentially turned it into a catalyst for producing new drugs.

Originally, the cultivation of this GM rice, which comes in three approved varieties (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/biotech_ea_permits.html), was limited to the laboratory setting. But in 2007, Ventria decided to bring the rice outdoors. The company initially tried to plant the crops in Missouri, but met resistance from Anheuser-Busch and others, which threatened to boycott all rice from the state in the event that Ventria began planting its rice within state borders (http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com).

So Ventria's GM rice eventually ended up in Kansas, where it is presumably still being grown for the purpose of manufacturing drugs on 3,200 acres in Junction City. And while this GM rice with added human traits has never been approved for human consumption, it is now being cultivated in open fields where the potential for unrestrained contamination and spread of its unwanted, dangerous GM traits is virtually a given.

"This is not a product that everyone would want to consume," said Jane Rissler from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to the Washington Post back in 2007. "It is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors."

Though receiving tens of thousands of public comments of opposition, many rightly concerned about the spread of GM traits, the USDA approved open cultivation of Ventria's GM rice anyway. This, of course, occurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had refused approval for Ventria's GM rice back in 2003 (http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/publications/PharmaRice.pdf).

GM 'pharmaceutical' rice could cause more disease, suggests report
Besides the threat of contamination and wild spread, Ventria's GM rice, which is purportedly being grown to help third-world children overcome chronic diarrhea, may conversely cause other chronic diseases.

"These genetically engineered drugs could exacerbate certain infections, or cause dangerous allergic or immune system reactions," said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety (CFS), who published a report back in 2007 about the dangers of Ventria's GM rice.

You can view that report here:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

Sources for this article include:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/humangene042505.cfm

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4956

http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035745_GMO_rice_human_genes_Kansas.html#ixzz1tm8Ud7XQ

RobynC79

The first sentence of that article is both alarmist and nonsensical. I highly doubt anyone in the US will be unknowingly consuming this strain of rice.


Transgenic anything is extremely expensive to develop. The idea that this rice will somehow find it's way into your regular $2.00/lb supermarket rice is unlikely simply because it is far more precious to its owners to sell it at that price.

The risk of contamination by pollenation of local crops is a realistic concern though, however the risk of gene flow from a transgenic crop to a normal food cultivar is non-negligible only at very short distances (1-25m). If the rice is being grown in an area in which other rice is not cultivated, the risk is almost zero. The problem with indoor-only growing restrictions is that the crop has to be very small. Commercial quantities require a lot of space, and this can probably only be done cost effectively outdoors.

I think it's highly improbable that anyone buying supermarket rice will be exposed to this particular strain. It seems that it represents a potential high-yield delivery system for treating serious sources of child mortality in the developing world. Not a bad thing at all. If you find it distasteful, that's fine, but it has some potentially very beneficial applications.