gm foods in spanish newspapers
TRANSCRIPT
Bioengineering from stemcellsResearchers at Duke University (Durham,NC, USA) have shown that fat stem cells can be used in mice to bioengineer newcartilage tissue that could, one day, be usedto repair damaged tissues in the body.Cartilage repair after injury can be poorbecause cartilage lacks suitable bloodvessels and nerve networks. This advancefollows previous work in which the teamproved the feasibility of transforming stemcells from one type of tissue into anotherin vitro. In this most recent work, fat cellswere harvested by liposuction, filtered toobtain a sample enriched in stem cells andcultured in a medium that encouragescollagen growth, a key ingredient ofcartilage. When implanted in mice, the cellscontinued to develop as a collagen matrixfor several months. Ultimately, the newtissue could be grown over 3D scaffolds tocreate individual biocompatible implantsthat can be surgically inserted to repairtissue damage in the body.(http://www.whitaker.org/news) MJD
Mother’s milk
The milk of transgenic cattle could providean attractive vehicle for the large-scaleproduction of biopharmaceuticals. Patrickvan Berkel et al. report on the large-scaleproduction of recombinant humanlactoferrin (hLF) in the milk of transgeniccows. hLF, an iron-binding glycoproteininvolved in innate host defence, wasproduced in g l-1 concentrations in bovinemilk. Both natural hLF and recombinant hLFwere equally effective in three differentin vivo infection mice models, and showedsimilar localization at sites of infection. Theresults illustrate the potential of transgeniccattle in the large-scale production ofbiopharmaceuticals. (Nat. Biotechnol.20, 484–487) DM
Gene silencing enzymeGeneticists at the Wistar Institute(University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,PA, USA) have identified a key enzymeresponsible for silencing genes implicatedin the development of cancer. Frank J.Rauscher III and colleagues described how the enzyme (H3 lysine-9 specifictransferase) methylates the histones thatpackage DNA in the genes. When thismethyl marker is lost, the gene can bereactivated, leading to the development ofaggressive cancers. This enzyme could bean important new target for anti-cancerdrugs and the Wistar team is alsoinvestigating whether it is specificallyinvolved in breast, colon or lung cancer.(Genes Dev.16, 919–932) MJD
TRENDS in Biotechnology Vol.20 No.7 July 2002
http://tibtech.trends.com 0167-7799/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0167-7799(02)01952-2
285News&Comment
Letter
GM foods in SpanishnewspapersDiscussion about genetically modified(GM) foods causes great controversy inthe European Union, with opinion pollsshowing that consumers strongly rejectproducts containing GM ingredients. The media play a key role in this debate,with Spain being a good example. In ourcountry, consumers’ opinions can beinfluenced strongly by what the mediareport. Over the past five years(January 1997–December 2001), we haveanalyzed 520 news items from the majornational daily newspapers in Spain fornews about GM foods. As researchersworking in the field of GM foods, ourinitial impression was that the vastmajority of the news items publishedwere not scientifically rigorous and had a negative opinion. The results we willnow show indicate the opposite.
A chronological study of theappearance of GM-related news itemsshows a dramatic increase in the number
of items published towards the end ofFebruary 1999, corresponding to theUN Convention of Biological Diversity in Cartagena de Indias (Fig. 1). It isinteresting to see that after thisconvention, the average number of newsitems remained higher than before. Forexample, the scandal of the Monarchbutterfly in which pollen from GM cornwas claimed to kill the larvae of thisbutterfly received much greater coveragethan previous similar controversies suchas that of Ewen and Pusztai who claimedthat transgenic potatoes caused adverseeffects in rats [1]. It seems that, sincethen, news about GM foods has becomemore ‘productive’, from a journalisticpoint of view.
The news items have a predominantlynegative opinion (Fig. 1), with four out of every five items, being rigorous incontent. Sensationalism is found in only18% of the reports (Fig. 1), and there is a clear correlation between negativeopinion, lack of scientific rigour andsensationalism. There is an interestingdiscrepancy between different
newspapers; for example, in El Mundo(circulation 379 657 per day; Oficina de Justificación de la Difusión,http://www.ojd.es) 35% of the GM-relateditems published are sensationalist and 35% are also not scientificallyrigorous. By contrast, other newspapersof similar circulation, for example ABC(circulation 378 965 per day) or El País(circulation 562 821 per day) are~90% scientifically accurate. Whetherthese data are significant, or whetherthey correspond merely to marketingstrategies (the sociopolitical profile ofthe newspapers readers) remains open tofurther sociological analysis.
In any case, in a controversial areasuch as GM foods, a sensational articlehas a much greater impact on the reader than any scientifically rigorousnews item. Therefore, the percentagesshown here do not necessarily correspond to the influence that themedia can have on the capacity of theconsumer to decide. For example, anarticle appeared in February 1999 in which the spokesman for the
David McKay ([email protected])
and Martin J. Davies
Biodiversity Campaign of Greenpeace in Spain indicated a cause-and-effectrelationship between the geneticmanipulation of food and the transfer of
genes coding for antibiotic resistance to the fungus Aspergillus [2]. This article referred to the appearance ofinfections by Aspergillus fumigatus
in the operating theatres of severalhospitals in Spain. If we compare thissensationalist report with theinformative but low-key interviews withscientists explaining the way in whichevaluation of GM foods is carried out, the differing impact of the messages isevident. Furthermore, if the press fail to highlight that there are no studiesshowing that GM foods have more risksthan conventional foods, the readercould be misled.
Daniel Ramón*
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva ySalud Pública, Bromatología, Toxicología y Medicina Legal, Facultad de Farmacia, Universitat deValència, Avenida Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n,46100 València, Spain.*e-mail: [email protected]
Eavan Dorcey
José V. Gil
Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (CSIC), PO Box 73,46100 València, Spain.
Antonio Serrano
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC), Camino de Vera s/n,46022 València, Spain.
References
1 Ewen, S.W. and Pusztai, A. (1999) Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalislectin on rat small intestine. Lancet354, 1353–1354
2 Catalán, G. (1999) El Mundo9 February, p.33
Published online: 01 May 2002
TRENDS in Biotechnology Vol.20 No.7 July 2002
http://tibtech.trends.com 0167-7799/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
286 News&Comment
j f m a m j j a s o n d j f m a m j j a s o n d j f m a m j j a s o n d j f m a m j j a s o n d j f m a m j j a s o n d
Num
ber
of n
ews
item
s
Positive27%
Negative36%
Neutral37% Yes
82%No
18%No
82%Yes18%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Opinion Scientific rigour Sensationalism
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
(a)
(b)
TRENDS in Biotechnology
Cartagenade Indias
Monarchbutterfly
Pusztaicase
Fig. 1. News items about genetically modified (GM) food. (a) Chronological appearance of GM food news items in Spanishnewspapers between January 1997–December 2001. (b) The percentages of opinion, scientific rigorousness andsensationalism. Opinion was judged to be negative when only arguments against GM foods were presented, positivewhen only arguments in favor were presented, and neutral when either a balance of both positive and negative argumentswere expressed or the article was merely informative. Rigour was based on whether, in our opinion, the item wasscientifically sound. Sensationalism was based on whether an article was exaggerated and used inflammatory language.
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