I am sure most of you have been following the so-called Mexican maize
"contamination" scandal. The research by Ignacio Chapela and David Quist
of UC Berkeley published in Nature supposedly found CaMV 35S promoter
sequences in Mexican maize landraces. (“Transgenic DNA introgressed into
traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico”; Nature; 29 November 2001;
Vol 414, pp 541-543). This research methodology and its conclusions are
however being challenged by a number of groups through formal letters
to Nature (under review), and it was also addressed recently in an editorial
in the journal 'Transgenic Research'.
The activists have now responded to the criticisms and challenges with
a 'Joint Statement on the Mexican Maize Scandal'. This statement essentially
claims that those scientific criticisms are akin to "mudslinging" and
"unethical attacks" rather than simply good, vigorous scientific discourse.
Late last week, about a dozen scientists decided to respond in the form
of a scientist Joint Statement, which you can read below.
If you would like to add your name to this AgBioView counter-statement,
please contact us. I also encourage you
to send your comments on this issue for posting on AgBioView to agbioworld@yahoo.com.
Recently, several activist organizations and individuals signed a “Joint
Statement” charging impropriety and criticizing vigorous scientific debate
surrounding controversial GMO research published in Nature. The research
supposedly demonstrated that Mexican landrace maize varieties had been
“contaminated” with genetic material from maize varieties improved through
biotechnology, presumably through cross pollination (activist statement
available at foodfirst.org)
It is important to recognize that the kind of gene flow alleged in the
Nature paper is both inevitable and welcome. It is inevitable because
of the nature of maize, and it is welcome as demonstrated by the standard
practices landrace custodians have used to improve their varieties for
thousands of years -- increasing variation by planting seeds of new varieties
adjacent to old ones, and then selecting the desired offspring while discarding
the rest.
However, several scientists have now challenged the methodology and the
results reported in the Nature paper in formal letters to Nature. The
editorial board of the journal Transgenic Research found it surprising
“that a manuscript with so many fundamental flaws was published in a scientific
journal."
These challenges are based on the fact that the key research method employed
is highly prone to false positives, and the Nature paper failed to use
standard techniques to ensure accuracy and confirm results. The “joint
statement” signed by the activists strongly condemns these challenges
from fellow scientists as nothing more than "academic intimidation" and
"a highly unethical mud-slinging campaign."
It must be stated clearly and unequivocally: scientists have a fundamental
ethical obligation to rigorously examine the results and methodology of
reported research. This is in fact how science corrects mistakes and ever
more closely approximates truth and understanding. Far from being “mudslinging”
or “intimidation,” all scientists worthy of the name understand that relentless
double-checking and independent third party evaluations are the cornerstones
of the scientific process.
Such relentless criticism and re-examination is perhaps most important
when it leads in directions that may conflict with a point of view driven
by politics or activism, rather than science.
We the undersigned scientists declare our support for appropriate and
necessary scientific discourse and debate, especially in areas marked
by widespread misunderstanding and misrepresentation, such as agricultural
biotechnology.
| Ingo Potrykus Professor Emeritus, Institute
of Plant Sciences Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Centre
| Stevens M. Brumbley Senior Research Scientist
Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations
|
| Klaus Ammann Director of the Bern Botanical
Garden, Chair of the IUCN-SSC European Plants Specialist Group Switzerland
| Bob Goldberg Professor of Molecular,
Cell, and Developmental Biology University of California
|
| Dr. José Luis Solleiro Senior Researcher
National University of Mexico
| Ray Wu Professor of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology Cornell University
|
| Andrew O. Jackson Chair, Plant and Microbial
Biology Dept. University of California, Berkeley
| Dr. Michael Mbwille, MD Food Security
Network Tanzania
|
| Michael Goodin, Ph.D. Department of Plant
and Microbial Biology University of California, Berkeley
| Jennifer A Thomson Professor of Microbiology
University of Cape Town, South Africa
|
| Peggy G. Lemaux, Ph.D. Cooperative Extension
Specialist University of California, Berkeley
| Dr. Chandra Prakash OSD Punjab State
Council of Science & Technology, India
|
| Sarah C. Hake Adjunct Professor University
of California, Berkeley
| C Kameswara Rao Executive Secretary Foundation
for Biotechnology Awareness and Education, India
|
| W. Zacheus Cande Professor of Cell and
Developmental Biology University of California, Berkeley
| Stephen K. Farrand, Ph.D. Professor of
Crop Sciences and of Microbiology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
|
| Michael Freeling Professor of Genetics
University of California, Berkeley
| Dr. Klaus M. Leisinger Executive Director
Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
|
| Sydney Kustu Professor of Plant and Microbial
Biology University of California, Berkeley
| Claude Willemot Departments of Plant
Science and of Food Science and Nutrition Laval University, Canada
|
| David M. Braun Postdoctoral Researcher
University of California, Berkeley
| Joseph M. Cleary Adjunct Professor San
Diego State University
|
| Sheila McCormick Adjunct Professor University
of California, Berkeley
| Diana M. Horvath, Ph.D. Science Director
ATP Capital LP
|
| Nick Kaplinsky Graduate Student University
of California, Berkeley
| Indu B. Maiti, Principal Investigator,
Scientist III Molecular Plant Virology and Plant Genetic Engineering
Laboratory, Biotechnology and Plant Genetic Engineering Research and
Services, University of Kentucky Lexington
|
| Susan Jenkins Research Specialist University
of California, Berkeley
| John Kemp Molecular Geneticist New Mexico
State University
|
| Jennifer Pfluger Ph.D. Candidate University
of California at Berkeley
| Veli Kauppinen Research professor of
Biotechnology Emeritus Technical Research Center of Finland
|
| Jim Tepperman UC Berkeley / USDA Plant
Gene Expression Center Albany, CA
| Joseph P. Mascarenhas Department of Biological
Sciences University at Albany, State University of New York
|
| Cheryl Hackworth Graduate Student University
of California, Berkeley
| David Mardon, B.Sc., M.F.A. Laboratory
Instructor in Chemistry University College of the Cariboo, Canada
|
| J. Peter Coppinger Graduate Student University
of California, Berkeley
| Steven McCommas Associate Professor,
Dept. of Biological Sciences Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
|
| Vanessa Handley Graduate Student University
of California, Berkeley
| Muffy Koch Biosafety Consultant Innovation
Biotechnology, South Africa
|
| Zhangliang Chen Professor of Biotechnology
and Vice President Beijing University
| Dr. Peter Langelüddeke Retired, Hoechst
AG
|
| Swapan K. Datta Plant Biotechnologist
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines
| Susan Harlander, Ph.D. President, BIOrational
Consultants, Inc. New Brighton, Minnesota
|
| Dr Philippe Joudrier Director of research
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
| Piero Morandini Section for Plant Physiology
and Biochemistry University of Milan, Italy
|
| Neal Stewart Associate Professor Univerity
of North Carolina, Greensboro
| Erin Irish Associate Professor University
of Iowa
|
| Boris Levenko Head of Department Institute
of Plant Physiology & Genetics, Ukrainian Academy Sciences
| Andrew D. Powell, Ph.D. President ARB
Consultants
|
| Corrado Fogher Professor of Genetics
and Plant Breeding Università Cattolica S. Cuore, Italy
| Sarah Wyatt Assistant Professor, Plant
Biology Ohio University, Athens, OH
|
| Tony Shelton Professor,Department of
Entomology Cornell University
| Rob Martienssen, PhD Professor Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory
|
| Matt Metz Postdoctoral Fellow University
of Washington, Seattle
| Gregory Edmeades Research Fellow Waimea
Research Station, Pioneer Hi-Bred International
|
| Martina Newell McGloughlin Director and
Adjunct Professor University of California, Davis
| Hector Quemada Adjunct Professor of Biological
Sciences, Western Michigan University and President, Crop Technology
Consulting, Inc.
|
| Bruce Chassy Executive Associate Director
of the Biotechnology Center University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
| Dean W. Gabriel Professor of Plant Molecular
& Cell Biology University of Florida, Gainesville
|
| C. R. Bhatia Former Secretary, Department
of Biotechnology New Bombay, India
| Khusi R. Tiwari, Ph.D. Research Scientist
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
|
| Rick Roush Cooperative Research Centre
for Australian Weed Management University of Adelaide, Australia
| Herb S. Aldwinckle Professor of Plant
Pathology Cornell University
|
| C.S. Prakash Professor of Plant Molecular
Genetics Tuskegee University, Alabama, USA
| Peter Klosterman Postdoctoral researcher
The Buck Institute, Novato, CA.
|
| Douglas Powell Assistant professor, Department
of Plant Agriculture University of Guelph, Canada
| Jeff M. Hall, PhD Vice President of Cell
Biology Genoptix, Inc.
|
| Henry Miller The Hoover Institution Stanford
University
| David Cove Professor of Genetics, University
of Leeds Centre for Plant Sciences
|
| Tom DeGregori Professor of Economics
University of Houston
| Allan S. Felsot
Professor & Extension Specialist
Washington State University
|
Alex Avery
Director of Research and Education
Center for Global Food Issues
| Carlos F. Quiros
Department of Vegetable Crops
University of California
|
Mark P. Running
Assistant Member, Principal Investigator
Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center
| Detlef Bartsch, PhD
Aachen University of Technology RWTH
Germany
|
Yiji Xia
Principal Investigator
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
| Dr. Vivek Damle
Chairman, SAVIDA Agri-Com Pvt. Ltd
Mumbai, India
|
Jean B Bergé
Chef de Département Adjoint Département
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
| Roger Frutos
CIRAD
Montpellier, France
|
Mark Tepfer
Research scientist
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France
| Randy A. Hautea
International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications
Los Baños, Philippines
|
David E Tribe
Department of Microbiology and immunology
University of Melbourne
| James D. Wilson, Ph.D.
Resources for the Future
Washington, DC
|
Maurice M Moloney
Professor and NSERC Chair of Plant Biotechnology
University of Calgary, Canada
| Paul Robson
Project Leader
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, UK
|
Jose A. Feijo
Professor of Plant Biology, Univ. Lisboa, Portugal
Senior Researcher, Gulbenkian Institute for Science, Portugal
| Pia Rufener Al Mazyad
Botanical Garden
University of Berne, Switzerland
|
Pere Arus
Departament de Genetica Vegetal
IRTA-Cabrils, Spain
| Jumin Tu
Senior Research Scientist, Department of Biology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
|
Paul Geiger
Associate Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California School of Medicine
| Robert Wager
Biology Department
Malaspina University College, Canada
|
Drew L. Kershen
Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law
University of Oklahoma
| Shantu Shantaram
Head, Stakeholder and Technology Communications Syngenta Seeds, Inc.
|
Hans Holtan
Graduate Student
University of California at Berkeley
| Dr. Peng Zhang
Institute for Plant Sciences
ETH-Zentrum, Switzerland
|
William Hutchison
Professor, Entomology
University of Minnesota
| Richard Braun
Prof. em. of Microbiology
University of Bern, Switzerland
|
Dr. Roberto Defez
IGB, National Research Council
Naples, Italy
| Victor M. Nunez
Head of National Plant Genetic Rsources and Plant Biotechnology Program
CORPOICA Colombia
|
Professor T Michael A Wilson FRSE
Chief Executive
Horticulture Research International
|
|
