Greenpeace - Q & A on pharmaceutical crops
December 19, 2011 http://archive.greenpeace.org/geneng/reports/food/pharmQ&A.pdf
Q: What is a “pharm” crop?
Genetic engineering (GE) corporations are creating crops that produce proteins that are
pharmaceuticals, vaccines, industrial enzymes or reagents for biochemical laboratories.
Genetically engineered (GE) “pharm” crops are mostly grown in open fields, then after harvest the
novel protein is purified for use. Most pharm crops are in pre-commercial field trials, but at least
two proteins used in biochemical and diagnostic procedures are already being grown in corn for
commercial use – avidin and beta-glucuronidase. Other proteins from pharm crops are already in
clinical trials. Open field trials of pharmaceutical crops have been taking place every growing
season in the US since 1992. If these altered crops were released into the environment they
could never be recalled and could enter the food chain.
None of the companies have a commercial permit for the cultivation of these crops. In the case
of avidin and beta-glucuronidase, the companies are selling the chemical in commercial
channels, but hiding their actions behind a “research” permit provided by the USDA. With this
type of permit, the chemicals and field locations can be kept secret.
Q: What kind of products are companies developing in gene altered plants?
About 20 companies worldwide are developing plants for the production of pharmaceutical or
industrial proteins using rice, wheat, corn, barley, tomatoes and other plants. Companies have
already conducted open field trials of plants that produce Hepatitis B vaccine, human antibodies
against herpes and other diseases, and human blood proteins. One company is developing an
animal drug in corn, and suggests that the corn would be grown only for feed. Field trials have
taken place at least in the US, France, and Canada.
Q: What is Greenpeace protesting today?
A California company called Applied Phytologics, Inc. (API) is conducting field experiments of
genetically engineered rice that is altered to produce human proteins for use as drugs or other
non-food uses. We know there are drugs in these rice fields because of the type of permits issued
by the USDA for these particular field trials. These “test fields” mean release of genetically
engineered organisms into the environment – in this particular case the GE fields are even
located close to a conventional rice fields. The GE varieties are likely to contaminate also their
wild relatives as well as their whole environment. This environmental risk is unnecessary as these
chemicals can be produced in other ways.
Q: What drugs is this rice actually producing?
According to the information submitted by the company to the USDA, there are nine different
compounds being produced in the Applied Phytologics fields. Eight of the nine compounds come
from humans, that is, there are eight different human genes engineered into the rice plants. API is
producing human lysozyme, human lactoferrin, human alpha-1-antitrypsin, and an unidentified
human trefoil factor, among other compounds that the company claims as secret “confidential
business information.”
Human lactoferrin and human lysozyme are commonly found in breast milk, as well as in human
bile and tears. They both possess antimicrobial properties, that is, they have been shown to kill
certain bacteria. Lactoferrin binds to iron and kills bacterial cells by depriving them of this
essential mineral. It has also been shown to promote cell growth and has immune-modulating
effects. Lysozyme breaks apart bacterial cells and is a common reagent in molecular biology
laboratories. Álpha-1-antitrypsin is used to treat symptoms of cystic fibrosis, emphysema, and
liver disease. All these compounds can be produced by other less risky means.
Q: Why is Applied Phytologics producing these drugs in a plant?
All the companies experimenting with pharmaceutical and industrial enzyme crops (see attached
table) claim that the method has lower costs than production within a pharmaceutical facility. One
company says that just 200 acres of corn would produce the same amount of drugs that would
otherwise require building a $400-million factory. Moreover, by making the compounds in crop
plants, rather than non-food plants, they can take advantage of all the cultivation, harvest, and
processing machinery already designed. Rice or corn fields producing pharmaceuticals provide a
high yield of the material that can be harvested and processed on a very large scale in regular
food crop facilities before being sent to the pharmaceutical factory for further purification.
This means, of course, that there is a great risk for pharmaceutical crops to mix with crops
destined for human or animal food. Applied Phytologics has formed partnerships with two
different companies that have malting capabilities – Coors Brewing Company (US) and Maltagen
Forschung GmbH (Germany) – as the pharm rice or barley needs to be malted before the
proteins can be isolated. Beer-making facilities could also become contaminated.
Q: Could this rice contaminate other plants?
According to Norman Ellstrand, professor of botany at the University of California at Riverside,
cultivated rice can easily transfer its genes to wild and weedy relatives, such as red rice, a
common weed in California rice fields. If pharm rice pollinates nearby food rice, or red rice, the
pharmaceutical protein would be produced in the resulting rice grains, thereby contaminating
human and/or animal food sources. Scientists do not know exactly how far rice pollen can travel.
Q: How is this crop dangerous to me?
There have been no peer reviewed scientific studies published on the safety of pharmaceuticalproducing
rice. No one knows whether this rice is safe to eat. We do know from experience that
companies have failed to segregate GE from non-GE crops, even when directed by the
government to ensure segregation, such as in last year’s StarLink fiasco. Because there are
numerous ways that rice for human consumption could become contaminated with pharm rice,
use of rice or any other food crop for pharmaceutical production should be stopped in open fields.
Q: Does this crop pose an environmental risk?
Yes. There are many other organisms in the environment that consume rice or rice plants. The
most well-known are the millions of ducks that visit California’s Central Valley every winter and
eat the rice seed remaining in the fields.
Q. Is Greenpeace opposed to all pharmaceutical crops?
We are opposed to the introduction into the environment of all engineered crops. We are not
opposed to contained greenhouse cultivation.
Q: What does Greenpeace want?
Crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical or industrial proteins should not be grown in open
fields. Greenpeace is calling for a ban on the release of genetically engineered crops, since these
plants will irreversibly alter the natural environment, with potentially devastating consequences for
food production and biodiversity.
