There is no doubt that Monsanto's genetically modified foods need to be approved if they want to enter the domestic market. The third-party testing report approved by the license is issued by the Nutrition and Food Institute of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Gu Xiulin, a famous professor at Yunnan University, questioned the test report. She believes that there is academic fraud in the test report, because most of the contents of the report quoted a foreign language document used by the US Food and Drug Administration, which was published in the United States in a "paid way" and its contact address was Monsanto's location in the United States.
According to the regulations, if overseas companies export agricultural genetically modified organisms to China as processing raw materials, they need to be tested by "China Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Technology Testing Agency" to confirm that there is no danger to human beings, animals and plants, microorganisms and ecological environment. This report is obviously not an independent test report made by China.
Yang Xiaoguang: Genetically modified crops are actually a kind of gene transfer. Generally speaking, there are two aspects, one is broad and the other is narrow. All gene transfer can be called transgene. Nature and our most common cross breeding all contain this kind of gene transfer, because without gene transfer, your genetic material will not change, so the quality of crops will not change. But the transgene we are talking about now refers to the transgene in a narrow sense, that is, in a specific sense, that is to say, we use the current biotechnology or genetic engineering to separate the genes of one organism and then transfer them to another crop or another species. The quality and morphology of this species have changed, so this crop is called transgenic.
So after China imported genetically modified foods from abroad, where did these genetically modified foods go? Shi Yanquan, deputy director of the Department of Science and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture, introduced the scope of application of imported genetically modified products in China.
Shi Yanquan: Our country has approved the import of genetically modified agricultural products used as processing raw materials, including soybeans, corn and rapeseed, which will enter the production process. Most of them are genetically modified soybeans. Last year, our country imported more than 50 million tons. Others are like corn and rape. After soybeans come in, they are mainly used for processing into edible oil. At present, five varieties of genetically modified soybeans and 13 varieties of genetically modified corn have entered China, and we have also issued safety certificates.
Although people talk endlessly about the safety of genetically modified foods. But Shi Yanquan believes that these imported genetically modified products are absolutely safe.
Shi Yanquan: These approved applications, including imported genetically modified organisms, have undergone strict environmental safety and food safety assessments. The safety evaluation shows that these genetically modified organisms approved for application and import have the same safety as non-genetically modified organisms, and everyone can use them with confidence.
When talking about genetically modified products, Yuan Longping, an agricultural expert, said that there are two schools of genetically modified products, one is the opposition, the other is the pro-school, and both schools make sense, and he himself is the "middle school". He analyzed that the reason for "opposition" is that the function of transgenic disease resistance and insect resistance comes from the toxic protein gene. Insects will die if they eat it, but people will not threaten their health if they eat it. The "pros" also have reasonable reasons. They explained that insects die because their stomata are blocked, but this is completely different from human digestive tract.
Regarding the viewpoint that genetically modified food may lead to human infertility, Yuan Longping thinks that people are not mice, so we can't take risks with the health and life safety of so many people. He said: "I would like to eat genetically modified food myself to do this experiment, but the problem is that I am infertile." The influence of transgene on sexual ability and heredity needs to be proved by experiments. If young people voluntarily do experiments and eat genetically modified food for more than two years, it is safe and will not affect fertility and the health of the next generation. "
However, Yang Xiaoguang, a researcher at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, believes that it will take a long time to observe the development and approval of genetically modified foods. Once there are security risks, development and production will be suspended immediately. Many countries have a set of procedures and methods to evaluate the safety of genetically modified foods. Therefore, genetically modified foods have undergone strict safety evaluation before entering the market. So far, it has not been found that the approved genetically modified foods have any adverse effects on human health. Therefore, genetically modified foods should be safe and safe to eat.
In fact, as a new biotechnology, transgenic technology is uncertain and immature, which inevitably makes its safety become the focus of attention.
Zhang Chunwei, Special Commentator of Economic Voice: First of all, genetically modified foods have been used by humans for a short time, and many hazards are not easy to see at present. Secondly, its development speed is too fast. On the one hand, safety has not been recognized by everyone, on the other hand, its number is so rapid that we will be frightened when we mention transgenic technology, and even in some fields, the use of transgenic technology will be criticized and refuted. Behind this argument, there is still no convincing argument about the current safety of the whole genetically modified food. In addition, Monsanto, an agricultural company, was selected as one of the top ten most influential enterprises in Business Week in 2008, accounting for 90% of the global genetically modified seed market. China imports 80% of soybeans every year, but more than 90% of imported soybeans are genetically modified soybeans planted with Monsanto's technology.
Monsanto has a deep relationship with the American government. Many of its former senior employees later entered the US Food and Drug Administration, influencing and mastering the approval process. Former US Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld served as CEO of Monsanto's company. Former US foreign trade envoy Mike Kanter also went to Monsanto's board of directors after leaving office; Supreme Court Justice clarence thomas served in Monsanto; In addition, some senior Monsanto officials were transferred to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the White House and other government agencies. This makes the relationship between Monsanto and government departments very delicate.
The survey in Greenpeace shows that most of the technologies related to the research and development of genetically modified crops in the world are controlled by a few companies such as Monsanto. These bio-giants have seized the grain control rights of some countries through patented technologies and international conventions, thus controlling the population of this country.
At present, 99% of soybeans grown in Argentina are genetically modified soybeans from Monsanto. Farmers in Argentina not only have to pay extra for these genetically modified soybeans, but also have been mired in legal proceedings since then. Monsanto has actually monopolized the soybean market and the sales of soybean seeds in South America such as Argentina, and similar situations have occurred in crops such as corn, from which Monsanto has made huge profits.
Monsanto also occupies a considerable monopoly position in the market, and even has a technology monopoly. Will it exert a more abnormal influence on some government policies in some aspects? Zhang Chunwei affirmed this.
Zhang Chunwei: Yes, because it has a trend, and it will be reflected in its products through commercial and social forces. For example, we have seen many former employees finally enter the new management. At this time, they are actually referees and athletes. It's hard to say how objective this is. Therefore, as we can see in the article, the professor of Yunnan University questioned the test report, because the report quoted the paid literature, in this case, it is very likely to prove his innocence.
We know that for a commercial enterprise, when it wants to prove its innocence, I think its credibility is actually greatly reduced, especially when it is in a monopoly position. I don't think we are the only ones who have this kind of vigilance against Monsanto. We should see that it is in a vigilant range all over the world.