Francisco Bolívar Zapata: "I would eat all the transgenic foods"

Mexican scientist Francisco Bolívar Zapata participated three decades ago in creating the first genetically modified organisms. Today he says he believes in them more than ever.

MEXICO CITY - A world pioneer in biotechnology, Mexican scientist Francisco Bolívar Zapata declares in an exclusive dialogue with Tierramérica that he would be willing to eat all genetically modified foods to prove that transgenics are harmless.

Winner of Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize in 1991, Zapata, now 54, took part in the creation of the first genetic modification of organisms in the 1970s, which ultimately gave rise to efficient production of insulin, indispensable for millions of diabetics around the world.

In Mexico, where growing genetically modified crops is limited to scientific experiments, there is intense debate about whether to open the doors to agro-biotech companies and their transgenic products. A bill to regulate genetically modified organisms is currently being debated in Congress.

Zapata asserts that biotechnology, the area he coordinates at the Mexican Academy of Sciences, is a powerful tool for meeting the challenge of providing the world with safe and nutritious foods, as well as medicines and efficient health services.

"It is the most important technology of the century, and its dynamic, especially in the agro-nutritional field, also favors the development of cleaner production processes," he says.

Can it be said for certain that transgenics do not pose a threat to the environment or to human health?
First of all, there is no technology with "zero risk", but nor is there evidence that the transgenic seeds can harm the environment or human health, as we know non-degradable agro-chemicals have done. A modified organism has a new gene that turns it into a different living organism whose behavior is impossible to predict. However, I would walk over coals to assure that nothing bad happens. The same debate is occurring now as 30 years ago, when in the first stage of genetic modification bacteria where introduced to produce human insulin. Scandal erupted because of the supposed unknown diseases that were going to appear. In spite of that wave of rejection, vaccines emerged for diseases like hepatitis and an arsenal of pharmaceuticals was created to confront serious health problems. No other product in the food industry is subjected to more testing than genetically modified products. If I could, I would eat all the transgenics.

Then why is there so much fear of genetically modified foods?
Environmental groups have not yet figured out that the best defense of biodiversity is biotechnology because it is a natural tool, contrary to the case of agro-chemicals. It is preferable to use technology provided by nature itself and which only needs to be transferred from one biological system to another. Mexico has the potential to provide added value to natural products by applying biotechnology to agricultural resources, improving food quality.

What needs to be done to make protection of biodiversity compatible with technological development?
Modern biotechnology is one of the areas of science that has most evolved in recent decades. Now, a second phase of developing transgenics is impacting the agricultural sector. Agricultural biotechnology allows us to improve the quality of the environment by using biological pesticides that make highly toxic chemicals unnecessary, and to implement soil conservation programs. Furthermore, biotechnology makes it possible to increase the nutritional content of food.

No laws exist to regulate the marketing of transgenics in Mexico, but such products have already entered the country and have even "contaminated" other crops, such as maize. What should be done?
It is necessary to evaluate the risks on a case-by-case basis and enact a monitoring system for land use to protect ecosystems and human health. The transgenic maize that Mexico has been importing for more than seven years has been planted in many places around the country, and that is irreversible. The matter needs to be sounded out, and to do so, a law on biosecurity is urgently needed.

Do the big agro-biotech companies have interests beyond the purely economic?
It must be recognized that there is a trade war for market dominance and control over food sources. If the companies' "bio-prospecting" leads to transgenic products, there should be the possibility that these can generate revenues for the communities that own those biological resources.

* Pilar Franco is an IPS contributor.