When adding human genes to plants, leave the sick kids out
For the first time, plants containing human genes will be grown in the US. Last week the Agriculture Department gave preliminary approval for Ventria Bioscience to conduct large-scale cultivation in Kansas of rice that produces human immune system proteins.
The proteins — lactoferrin and lysozyme — are bacteria-fighting compounds found in breast milk and saliva that fight diarrhea. Producing them in plants makes the treatment more affordable for children in the developing world, where the disease kills 2 million children each year, Ventria officials said.
And who can argue with helping poor, sick kids get well?
Ventria seems to be following a common pattern in biotech history where companies introduce controversial technologies to aid sick children, then work their way into the real money-making later. It’s an effective way to curtail initial opposition to controversial technologies like adding human genes into plants. After all, who wants to be seen as opposing aid to sick children?
Do biotech executives really think the public will believe they’re in it for the children? Apparently so:
“We can really help children with diarrhea get better faster,” says Scott E. Deeter, Ventria’s president and chief executive. “That is the idea.”
And while the sick kid strategy may fool some people, it isn’t fooling agriculture giant Anheuser-Busch — the nation’s largest rice buyer. When Ventria initially proposed to grow their gene-altered rice in Missouri, the beer maker threatened to stop buying rice from the state if the deal went through.