Could you please tell us what biosafety means exactly and how is this important to us directly?
Answer
Biosafety is a term that refers to the need to protect human health and the environment against the potential negative impacts of biotechnology. So in other words, it is an approach to prevent the potential negative effects of modern technology.
Why is it important to us? It is important because this new technology, which is called biotechnology, is a rapidly growing industry field, which for example, currently represents a market of approximately 50 billion US dollars for a year. That means there is a lot of products of biotechnology which are exchanged throughout the world, and therefore there is a need to ensure that these products do not represents hazards for human beings specifically and the environment in general. That is how this new regulatory instrument is known as Cartagena protocols known as biosafety comes in.
Name
Hani
- Egypt
Profession
Question
I understood from your cv that you work on the Cartegena protocal on biosafety. Can you please tell us what this is exactly.
Answer
Cartagena is the name of a town or a city in Colombia in South America. Several years ago, way back in 1992, governments adopted an agreement known as the convention on biological diversity. This agreement aims to promote the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components. During those years of negotiating this convention, that is when this new technology (modern biotechnology) was beginning to emerge and many countries were concerned about the impact it could have on biological diversity. So they agreed to negotiate a supplementary agreement to address specifically this question of genetically modified organism which is publicly known as GMOs.
So the negotiations began in 1996 and were supposed to conclude in Feb 1999 in the city of Cartagena. So, the meeting in Cartagena did not conclude successfully and it was only one year later in Jan 2000 in Montreal that the text of the protocol was adopted. However, in recognition of the role played by Colombia, it was decided to name this instrument Cartagena protocol on biosafety.
Name
Mark
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
I would like to know whether anti-bactericidal genes which are introduced into some crops to prevent infection can affect humans in an adverse way or not???
Playing around with genes worries me a lot.
Answer
That is a very genuine concern. That is why any product resulting from this technology known as genetic engineering is usually subjected to rigorous safety assessment before it is authorized for commercialization. Many countries at least those who this biotechnology industry, have regulatory agencies which must ensure that the products are safe from a point of view human health, animal health, and environmental consideration. However, the problem we have now is that this technology is relatively new, and therefore we do not know yet what the long-term effects can be or will be.
That is why there is a need to keep being vigilant with regard to safety assessment. But according to many international agencies, such as Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations known as FAO are of the view that the products authorized so far are safe but, as I said, we need to keep being cautious in order to assess the long-term effects.
Name
Okwe
- Nigeria
Profession
Question
Thank you for this interesting topic.
My question is this: when I go shopping in the market or the supermarket, is there any way for me as a shopper to be able to tell the difference between vegetables/fruits that are genetically modified and those that are not? Please note that in most of the developing world there are no labels on foodstuffs, so we cannot depend on that.
Thank you.
Answer
You are absolutely right. In many countries, unfortunately, there is no labeling which can allow a consumer to tell the difference between genetically modified products and those that are not. This is because in many countries which are the largest producers and exporters of such products, like US, Canada, Argentina, and Australia, the biotechnology industry in those countries are of the view that these products are safe and that any labeling would lead to an un-necessary segregation, and therefore potential loss of market.
However, in some countries especially in the European Union labeling is beginning to become mandatory. So many developing countries, such as those in the Arab world or Africa could follow the European Union model requiring labeling – it is a just a question of putting in place national laws or regulations requiring labeling because many of those countries are importers under the provision of biosafety protocols. So they have the right to ask the exporters to indicate on the shipment that there are GMOs inside. Once this shipment is inside the country, the country can also ask the retailers to label before they put these products before they are put in the market. So the bottom line is that labeling is up to the domestic regulations of any country.
Name
Nancy
- Turkey
Profession
Question
Genetic manipulation is used to improve our crops and livelihood, how can this affect us in anyway?
Could you please give some clear examples of the dangers of genetic maniputlation and illustrate it with real life points.
thanks.
Answer
I will give two examples. The first major concern is what scientists call "horizontal flow of genetic material". In order words, you can eat a genetically modified crop and the foreign genes that have been introduced in this crop could transfer to your own body because of the bacteria that live in our stomachs.
The second concern could be allergies to these new products.
There is a third concern that I would like to mention. It is a new emerging field in which plants are genetically modified to make some pharmaceutical products. So you can imagine if you eat some corn (maize) which has been genetically modified to make, for example, polio vaccine. So if you consume this corn and therefore takes large doses of the vaccine it is making, nobody knows what the effects on your health could be. So this is an area of great concern for regulators.
All of these are theoretical situations because I am not aware of any real life case where is has happened, but it does not meant it could not happen. That is why we have to be on the precautionary side.
Name
student
- Canada
Profession
Question
Hello,
I wonder if genetically modified food is worse then "organic" one? Also,what effects cloning of extinct species will have on humans? for most part genetic modification seems quite safe, the only issue is an ethical one. would you agree? Thank you.
Answer
Yes, I tend to agree that besides the scientific considerations, we also have to take into account the ethical and moral questions of genetic engineering, because indeed in the case of cloning, how far can you go? And for what reason? Should we clone things just because it is possible? Or should we as a society debate all the consequences? I think there is a need to involve the public in all of these discussions and not to leave the question to just the scientist and the governments.
Name
Jabril
- Pakistan
Profession
Question
Can genetic modified crops and livestock be a danger to the ecosystem and why?
Answer
They could be. Again, through the same processes I mentioned earlier like the genetic horizontal transfer of genetic material, the need to conduct very strict risk assessment and if necessary, put in place appropriate risk management strategies because it is impossible to rule out completely any negative impact on the environment.
Name
shi
-
Profession
Question
Assalamualaykum,
How important is bio technology during this day and age?According to you what do you think are the positive and negative aspects of biotech?
Thanks in advance.
Answer
As I said in the beginning, it is a rapidly growing industry and it can make potential contribution to the welfare of mankind. For example, if I take the case of many Arab countries where fresh water is a big problem, so technology could make it possible to make some plants or crops which are resistant to drought and therefore make it possible to have some sustainable agricultural in those countries without spending too much money on irrigation. That is one concrete example.
And also in the area of human health, you are aware that one of the problems in many developing countries is the cost of modern medicine because of patent right imposed by the companies which manufacture drugs. So one could envisage a situation in which biotechnology could make it possible to produce drugs against many common diseases in our developing countries such as malaria or even HIV at a much affordable price. So the example could be some plants that are common in those countries, which could be genetically modified to produce that kind of drugs. For example, in South Africa they are experimenting some genetically modified tobacco to produce an anti-HIV substance.
Name
Mohamed
-
Profession
Question
Does biosafety affect developing countries more than western countries because they are less privileged?
Also, does this have any connection with indigenous knowledge?
Answer
Yes, biosaftey is a big issue for developing countries because it is an issue that requires capacities to deal with it adequately. For example, to be able to conduct real risk assessment or to test the presence of GMOs in a shipment, all these things require some facilities such as laboratories to do that.
Regarding the question of indigenous knowledge, there are two aspects: One is the possibility that genetically modifies crop could displace traditional crops which are important to the indigenous communities. Therefore, this would represent not only an economical loss for them, but also a cultural one.
The other aspect of the question relates to traditional knowledge. Many indigenous communities have developed some knowledge of the medicinal properties of some of the plants that they have around them. If, for example, a pharmaceutical company from the developed world, comes and takes one of those plants and then manufactures the drug out of those plants based on the traditional knowledge of these indigenous communities, then we should expect some equitable sharing of the benefits so that these indigenous communities get a recognition and a monetary compensation for their knowledge.
Name
Sherry
-
Profession
Question
How can we promote the idea of biosafety as individuals?
I am very interested in having a positive role to play as a non-professional.
thanks.
Answer
That is a very interesting question. I am pleased to know that there are people who want to play a positive role in these issues. Now, the Cartegna protocols of safety has one provision that specifically encourages public awareness and participation in questions regarding GMOs biosafety. So I would encourage you to look at article 23 of the protocol and then see how you could play a role. And we in our secretariat would be happy to assist the public in these involvement.
You can have more information of the secretariat website:
