The Political Economy of Regulation of Biotechnology in Agriculture - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 706

Conclusions
Perversely, the rise of the global anti-GM movement has taken considerable heat of the
chemical industries with regard to the use and safety of pesticides and other synthetic
inputs that are now highly regulated. Many activists now focus their energy on GM
crops, putting pesticides and their associated, proven health and environmental haz-
ards somewhat on the back burner. Many pesticides are highly toxic and do kill thou-
sands of people annually, primarily in poor countries. Some chemicals used to control
pests are deadly neurotoxins and/or carcinogens, whereas the vast majority of published
research indicates that the transgenic crops currently commercialized are neither toxic
nor carcinogenic. Indeed, growing evidence suggests that the use of GM crops may lead
to improvements in environmental health, especially where decreases in insecticide use
have been documented.
The GM crop debate has also affected relationships between scientists in some-
times pitting them against each other (Waltz 2009). As a result, the independence of
non-industry researchers has come into question. Every report published that has
suggested a potential negative impact of GM crops is subject to intense scrutiny and
often receives a scathing critique—in essence, protecting the position of the MNCs and
undermining public trust in science.
Two key arguments against the use of GM crops are corporate control of the food
supply and patents on particular gene constructs, termed “patents on life.” Two GM
crops that do not conform to these characterizations are the virus-resistant papaya and
golden rice.
The papaya industry in Hawaii was nearly devastated by the papaya ring spot
virus (PRSV), thought to have been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the
1930s. Carol and Dennis Gonsalves developed a transgenic papaya resistant to
PRSV at Cornell University that enabled the resurrection of the Hawaiian papaya
indust r y. 56 The virus-resistant papaya was developed by a public institution and is
openly available for use by farmers, who can replant if they desire; nevertheless,
this technology has been as vociferously attacked and criticized as those developed
by multinational companies. A clear advantage of the use of the PRSV-resistant
papaya is that it has enabled organic papaya to once again be grown in Hawaii. The
virus-resistant papaya is planted as a border “trap” crop completely surrounding
non-transgenic papaya trees, thus protecting them from possible attack by aphids,
which are the vector by which the virus is spread from tree to tree. The VR-papaya
literally saved the Hawaiian papaya industry and has enabled organic papaya pro-
duction rather than threatened it. Golden rice, which is able to make a substantial
contribution to alleviating vitamin A deficiency and is also available to poor farm-
ers without technology fees if farm profits do not exceed USD$10,000, is likewise
vilified. Proponents characterize the fight against use of golden rice as a “crime
against humanity.”