Antonio M. Claparols, president of the Ecological Society of the Philippines (ESP) yesterday discounted the benefits gained from genetically modified rice.

The benefit of insect protection from Bt rice is offset by the potential harmful effects of high levels of toxin protein in the rice grain, Claparols said.

As rice is an important crop, the safety of Bt rice must be concretely established, Claparols stressed. Studies have found that food irradiation improved the quality of GM rice modified with the Cry1Ab toxin by selectively removing the toxin protein. However, study of the radiation products and adducts created during destruction of the toxin is essential. Furthermore, it is clear that food irradiation may be used to disguise GM rice.

Rice is the staple food crop for more than half of the world's population, among them the poorest and is currently, the target of genetic modification activity that has greatly intensified after the rice genome was announced two years ago. Since then, all major biotech giants are investing in rice research.

At the same time, a low-input cultivation system that really benefits small farmers worldwide has been spreading, but is dismissed by the scientific establishments as unscientific. This is one among several innovations that increase yields and ward off disease without costly and harmful inputs, all enthusiastically and widely adopted by farmers.

Claparols reported that a war is building between the corporate establishment and the peoples of the world for the possession of rice. The food security of billions is at stake and as is their right to grow the varieties of rice they have created and continue to create, and in the manner they choose.

Such a crop of immense global importance is a certain target for control by multinational companies, especially since the rice genome was announced.

Pharm rice production of pharmaceutical proteins in rice crops poses potent threats to the food supply. Recent efforts to test and produce rice modified to produce the human gene products lactoferin and lysozyme have been temporarily thwarted. However, rice producing human growth hormone has been developed despite the likelihood that GM rice could cause cancer in those consuming it. Rice is not a suitable cross for producing pharmaceutical products because of the high likelihood that the products will pollute the food supply.