Author : Chan Ying Kwok; Watchareewan Jamboonsi

Summary : Conclusions: Development of transgenic crops is intelligent science for the public good. There are fears about environmental, food and feed, and health safety that need to be considered because of the inclusion of foreign genes in the plant. Various agencies in the US - USDA-APHIS, EPA, and FDA - have not left any stones unturned in the deregulation of these transgenics - as exemplified by the long and tedious documentation required to prove the safety of the Rainbow transgenic papaya. In spite of such strict deregulatory precautions, there will still be doubting Thomases who will look at transgenics with with skeptism. This may especially be the case in developing countries like those in the SEA Papaya Biotechnology Network. Most of the consumers in these countries are ill-informed about this new technology for food and feed production. The majority of them may have read bits and pieces in the press, which seems to enjoy dramatizing the adverse effects of these technologies. The recent lambasting of the terminator gene, which prevents the regeneration of transgenic seeds is a case in point (We're all going to starve because the corporations are killing of our seeds). The multibillion coporations are usually seen as villains in the eyes of the 3rd World for coming up with super varieties that we will gradually become so dependent on that we will be at their total mercy at some time in the future. This fear needs to be dispelled. Genetic engineering is the science now and in the future. We have the hope that the technology owners with the help of mediating agencies such as ISAAA will be able to transfer and license the use of this important technology to the 3rd World countries.