Scientists suspect health threat from GM maize 

   Scientists investigating a spate of illnesses among people living
   close to GM maize fields in the Philippines believe that the crop
   may have triggered fevers, respiratory illnesses and skin reactions. 

   The scientists' findings were immediately challenged by Monsanto,
   the world's leading GM company, and by the Philippine government. 

   The concern surrounds an unnamed village in northern Mindanao,
   where 39 people living near a field of Bt maize - which contains
   a pesticide in the gene - started suffering last autumn when the
   crop was producing pollen. 

   Doctors thought they had an infectious disease, but when four
   families left the village and recovered, and then showed the
   same symptoms on return, an environmental cause was suspected. 

   Terje Traavik, scientific director of the Norwegian Institute of
   Gene Ecology, was asked to investigate. Blood tests showed the
   villagers had developed antibodies to the maize's inbuilt pesticide. 

   Professor Traavik, who issued a summary of his results yesterday,
   said more tests were needed, but felt his preliminary findings were
   reliable. 

   His studies suggest that a virus promoter - which is like a motor
   driving the production of the genetic message - was unexpectedly
   found intact in human cells. 

   His team also said it had found that genetically engineered
   viruses used in the GM process recombined with natural viruses
   to create new hybrid viruses with unpredictable characteristics.
   If confirmed, this could suggest that they could cause new diseases. 

   Prof Traavik said tests so far showed evidence of an immune reaction.
   He will return to the Philippines this week to continue the research
   before publishing full results in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. 

   But he rejected accusations that he was trying to scare people with
   data not yet reviewed by other scientists. "Publication of results
   typically requires a waiting period of up to one year or more," he
   said in Kuala Lumpur. "With such evidence of possible human health
   impacts of foods already on the market, we believed that waiting to
   report our findings through publication would not be in the public's
   interest."

   John Vidal, environment editor
   Friday February 27, 2004
   The Guardian 
   http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1157222,00.html

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