- MOSCOW (Reuters) - While the West frets over the possible dangers of
genetically modified foods, a top Russian scientist said on Tuesday that
work on genetic modification of livestock has already been under way in
Russia for six years.
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- "We have been carefully monitoring
genetically modified pigs for four generations already," Lev Ernst,
vice president of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told Reuters in
a telephone interview.
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- But while research is well established,
Ernst said no genetically modified animal products have yet appeared on
the Russian market.
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- "Work is going on in several directions.
We have succeeded in producing genetically modified pigs into which we
have integrated a growth hormone gene. When the pig is given this growth
hormone, it speeds up the growth of the animal and, especially, reduces
the fat content of the carcass."
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- He added that there was no demand for
pork with a high fat content, "except in Ukraine."
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- "We know that everyone is looking
at this matter warily, so over four generations we have carried out studies
of the biochemical content of their blood and carried out controlled slaughtering,
and research on their digestive tracts."
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- He added that although he was sure a
hormone which promoted growth posed no risk, food production had been
handed over to the Institute of Food for analysis, and they had declared
it "completely normal."
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- Russian scientists have also succeeded
in producing genetically modified sheep which produce chymosine, a key
fermenting agent in cheese production, in their milk.
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- "To make one tonne of cheese you
need one gram of this chymosine," Ernst said. "By traditional
methods, obtaining chymosine is a barbaric process. One must slaughter
veal calves and take extracts from their intestines. And we have engineered
it so these sheep produce their own chymosine in their milk."
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- Other experiments are also being carried
out on developing animals genetically resistant to various diseases, he
said, but so far this was only being done on laboratory animals on an
experimental basis.
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- Ernst said he believed the level of public
debate in Russia was adequate to protect the public, although he acknowledged
that the extent of the discussion was not as wide-ranging as it is in the
West.
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- "There is debate, maybe it's not
very loud, but of course there's debate."
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- He added that a law has already been
passed itemizing three levels of risk in such research.
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- "When you transplant genes from
one pig to another, the danger is minimal. The second and third levels
cover work with genes which could potentially harm the animals,"
he said.
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- Such protests as have been recorded against
his work did not surprise Ernst.
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- "That's the nature of science. When
something non-traditional appears, then without fail a group of conservatives
springs up saying 'you shouldn't be doing this'," he said.
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- "Why shouldn't we do this, I ask?"
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