Modern biotechnology: making people happy and worried (10.5)

OA show ('918 '); on August 8, 2000, China officially signed the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety of the Joint Convention on biological diversity at the headquarters of the United Nations So far, 70 countries including the European Union, China, India and other developing countries have signed this agreement This protocol has become an international regulatory document for the management of the transboundary movement of living genetically modified organisms Biosafety refers to the possible negative impact on the development and application of modern biotechnology, that is, the effective prevention and control measures for the potential harmful impact on biodiversity protection and sustainable utilization, ecological environment protection and human health, so as to achieve the purpose of protecting biodiversity, ecological environment and human health It is totally different that modern biotechnology and traditional biotechnology only hybridize among the same species It can make human, animal, plant and microorganism genes transfer to each other artificially Many ecologists and non-governmental organizations strongly warn people to pay attention to and prevent the environmental risks of genetically modified organisms They think that the large-scale release of genetically modified organisms to the environment may cause irreparable ecological disasters to biodiversity and ecological environment Therefore, people pay more and more attention to biosafety The transgenic cotton improved by modern biotechnology is white and has long fiber, high yield of rice and fast-growing and high yield of poplar In the past 10 years, China's biotechnology has also developed rapidly In terms of transgenic insect resistance, anti-virus and quality improvement of crops and trees, field experiments have been carried out on transgenic cotton, soybean, potato, tobacco, corn, peanut, spinach, sweet pepper, wheat, etc The achievements are gratifying, but at the same time, we should note that all of these also pose potential risks and threats to China's biodiversity, ecological environment and human health Transgenic crops themselves may turn into weeds If the transferred resistance genes escape to other crops, the wild relatives of these crops will also turn into weeds Transgenic plants of insect resistance, disease resistance and herbicide resistance, in addition to causing toxicity and death to pests, also have a direct or indirect impact on many beneficial organisms in the environment, or even cause death, and have been transformed Reports on the death of butterflies caused by gene insect resistant corn pollen; the virus gene in transgenic crops may be recombined with other viruses infecting the plant to generate new viruses or super viruses; transgenic animals have the advantages that ordinary animals do not have, if they escape to the environment, they will destroy the original natural ecological balance by changing the competition between species; transgenic microorganisms The exchange of genetic material with other organisms may produce new harmful organisms or enhance the harmfulness of harmful organisms, and even cause the epidemic of diseases; transgenic microorganisms can also replace other species, leading to the destruction of biodiversity, resulting in irreparable loss of biodiversity Genetically modified organisms, as food, may cause some toxic effects and allergic reactions There are reports of allergic reactions in foreign countries when children drink genetically modified soybean milk The transferred growth hormone genes may have a significant impact on human growth and development The antibiotic marker genes used in genetically modified organisms, if they enter the human body, may cause human body to have many adverse reactions Antibiotics produce resistance Some of the impacts will take a long time to be demonstrated and monitored In recognition of the potential risks and threats of genetically modified organisms, governments have formulated and improved their biosafety laws and regulations, and established management institutions and mechanisms suitable for national conditions The United States has been concerned about the safety of biotechnology since the 1970s, and has added the content of biotechnology safety management in the amendment of relevant laws and regulations; the environmental protection agency of Canada formulated the regulations on the environmental release of biotechnology products in 1985; the European Union established the biotechnology Steering Committee in 1984 In 1990, three directives on research, environmental release and commercialized production management of genetically modified organisms were formulated; most developing countries, such as Asia and Latin America, have also started to formulate and issue laws and regulations on biosafety In order to prevent and control the possible risks of genetically modified organisms in advance and protect the global biodiversity and human health, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention on biological diversity (CBD) have organized the formulation of the Biosafety Protocol since 1994, and organized 10 rounds of working group meetings and intergovernmental negotiations From January 24 to 28 this year, in Canada A reconvened special meeting of the States parties was held in Nada montelille The Chinese government attaches great importance to the negotiation of the protocol With the support and support of the United Nations Environment Programme and the global environment facility, China has prepared the China National biosafety framework and proposed the biosafety management system, regulation building and capacity building program The framework is highly praised by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the Convention on biological diversity 。 However, relevant experts pointed out that the basic research of transgenic in China is still weak, and the awareness of biosafety is not strong At present, the national laws and regulations on biosafety management should be formulated and improved as soon as possible, and the research in this area should be included in the plan of key scientific research and investment projects DTM (author:)