Fears grow with genetic crop secrecy

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Louisa Wooton earns a living selling natural, organically grown tropical fruits on her family's three-acre farm in Kilauea, Kaua'i.

Biopharmaceutical crop research uses crops such as sugar cane, and crosses them with human or animal genes in the hope of producing useful drugs or chemicals. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

That doesn't entirely alleviate her fears that biologically engineered crops could contaminate her produce, since many details about where genetic crop research occurs, or even what is being done in Hawai'i, is confidential.

Crop researchers maintain that the secrecy is needed to protect their proprietary work from competitors and shield their crops from eco-terrorists.

The closely held information, however, breeds suspicion.

"We don't know anything, really — that's the problem," said Wooton, owner of Kauai Kunana Dairy. "There's just too much secrecy for the average person to figure out anything."

The secretive nature of the industry could change quickly, based on a lawsuit by an environmental group and several bills being discussed in the state Legislature.

With its fertile volcanic soil, year-round growing season and location far from America's farm belt, Hawai'i makes an ideal location for cutting-edge research into the high-tech seed crops of tomorrow.

In the past 16 years, Hawai'i has led the states in open-air test sites of genetically engineered crops, according to a report released this year by advocacy group Environment California Research & Policy Center.

And in the past decade, the value of the state's seed-crop industry, 40 percent of which is estimated to involve genetically engineered crops, has grown fivefold, to a record $48.7 million last year.

That record could be challenged by Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm based in Oakland, Calif., which is trying to use open-record laws to force the state to allow inspection of its files on two companies given permission to grow genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops in Hawai'i.

Bio-drugs next frontier

Lab technician Nellie Rosete of Kalihi works on plant tissue propagation at the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center. Advocates say the industry could produce drugs cheaper and faster than factories. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

In the relatively new area of biopharmaceutical crop research, plants are engineered to produce nonfood items, such as drugs or industrial chemicals. The Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, one of five entities doing this work in Hawai'i, said it had concluded field testing of 50 sugar-cane plants on O'ahu that had been crossed with human genes in hopes of producing an enzyme to spur production of bone marrow.

The use of plants to produce drugs or industrial chemicals could hold great promise for producing compounds cheaper and faster than in today's pharmaceutical factories, said Stephanie Whalen, president of the research center. Growing drugs in sugar cane also could give growers a new, high-margin sales stream, she said.

Critics contend that open-field, genetically modified crop testing — and biopharmaceutical research in particular — is racing ahead of what is known about potential risks to the nation's environment, people and food supply.

Holding on to information about what these companies are doing, and where, only makes it more difficult to gauge the risks, said Isaac Moriwake, an attorney for Earthjustice.

"Is the proper response to keep the public totally in the dark about where this is ongoing, or is the response higher security, or conducting these tests indoors?" he said. "The courts are going to be presented squarely with this question of, is it confidential business information?"

Secrecy required

The Hawaii Agriculture Research Center in 'Aiea is testing sugar cane crossed with human genes to try to generate an enzyme that will produce bone marrow. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group that has intervened in the Earthjustice suit on the state's side, contends that details about such tests need to remain confidential for competitive reasons and to thwart any destruction of crops by militant environmentalists.

"There are valid reasons why companies ask for, and were granted, (confidentiality) status — and if they can't receive that, companies will look at other alternatives," such as conducting research elsewhere, said Mike Phillips, vice president for food and agriculture for the industry organization.

If successful, Earthjustice's lawsuit could pave the way for making public all information on genetically modified crop research in the state, not just biopharmaceuticals. Research supporters say that could jeopardize a seed-crop industry that employs 1,190 people, the state estimates, in relatively high-wage jobs.

Ultimately, the research needs to prove its worth, and failure to manufacture crop drugs may lead to fewer tests. For example, last week Monsanto Co. said it would discontinue its plant-made pharmaceuticals program as a cost-cutting measure. Pioneer says it has no intention to field-test biopharmaceuticals.

That would be fine with Blake Drolson, a member of GMO-Free Kaua'i, which opposes genetically modified crops and food. Chief among the group's concerns are genetic contamination of the environment and risks to the state's endangered species.

"I feel like I'm being experimented on without my consent," he said.

Measuring risk

Beyond highly debated health risks, environmentalists raise concerns that Hawai'i's $500 million agriculture industry could be tainted by the state's increasingly high profile as a center for genetic crop research.

Already, food processors have lined up with environmentalists and consumer groups on the issue of biopharmaceuticals and expressed worries about buying food from areas where drugs or industrial chemicals are grown.

"Hawai'i could get a reputation as a genetically engineering place, and our agriculture may not sell around the world," said Drolson of GMO-Free Kaua'i.

Just how real are the dangers from genetically modified crops? Industry officials maintain that the risk to the environment and food is minimal.

"It's a bunch of nonsense," said Whalen of the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, on the prospect of genetic research contaminating the environment. "Plants are not promiscuous. There has to be some compatibility between the (genetically modified) plant and the natural plant."

Keith Pitts, director of public policy for the independent Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, agreed that Hawai'i's lack of a commercial corn crop reduces much of the risk of genetic contamination.

"But the other thing you have to think about — and I'm not saying it's a risk — is what does it mean to have a pharmaceutical grown in corn, or industrial chemical grown in corn, if it's eaten by a bird or small animal?

"Genes do move around, and plants cross-pollinate."

Part of the problem in gauging the adequacy of industry regulation is a lack of consensus on the risks posed by genetically modified crops. A key issue is whether it's even possible to measure the broad ecological effects of the plantings, according to the Pew Institute.

Time needed to act

Meanwhile, biotech crop research races ahead of the government's ability to react, Pitts said.

"I think the potential of the technology is a bit ahead of where our regulatory system is now," he said. "So I think some catching up needs to be done."

After an incident last fall in which biopharmaceutical soybeans were found mixed with soybeans meant for human consumption, the U.S. Drug Administration proposed new rules aimed at reducing the movement of biopharmaceutical seed and preventing genetically engineered crops from mixing with food crops.

The Pew Initiative also would like to see better coordination among federal agencies responsible for overseeing the industry. Some groups have called for greater scrutiny into what companies keep confidential, and increased disclosure of experimental locations where the risk to other crops is greater.

Beyond federal rules, many states are considering their own restrictions on the industry.

In the 2001 and 2002 legislative sessions, Hawai'i lawmakers led all states by introducing 23 biotech agriculture-related bills, according to the Pew Initiative. Only one passed: It made anyone found destroying such crops liable for damage.

In the 2003 legislative session, about a dozen biotech agriculture bills were introduced, including one by state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau), that would make crop test locations public and require independent monitoring of the work conducted.

Hooser said he recognizes the potential benefits of crop research, but feels certain types of crop experimentation warrant greater review. That is especially true in Hawai'i, where the state's $10 billion tourism industry depends heavily on the natural environment.

"There's a wide range of GM operations. Some are working on corn, soy and rice making them resistant to pests and weather," he said. "On the other end of the spectrum, we have pharmaceutical GMOs, where you cross animals, fish and plants together — scary stuff. I think the right to know is fundamental."

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.