Letters Page

Dear John and Sally

Quentin Gargan, who has a keen nose for the subterfuge of the genetic modification industry, has forwarded us this fascinating, but more than a bit scary, info on a new Irish website.

Down on the Pharm

A new Irish website now offers a database to farmers enabling them to register an interest in growing crops which have been genetically engineered to manufacture drugs.

The site claims that this is a new and environmentally safer method of drug production. It is perhaps a curious element of the genetic engineering debate that those for and against the technology claimed to be acting in the best interests of the environment. It could be argued that such claims have more credibility coming from Greenpeace than they do coming from multinational companies whose main business is producing weedkillers.

Opponents of genetic engineering maintain that there are huge risks with plants genetically engineered to produce drugs and that there will ultimately be cross-pollination of conventional crops, carrying across either drug-producing genes, or other elements of the technology which would then be out of control.

The site can be viewed at http://www.MolecularFarming.com and if you want to register your displeasure, the site directs you to bmarshall@eircom.net and bmnobbs@ragingbull.com