The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is close to approving a
request to grow up to 3,200 acres of genetically engineered (GE)
pharmaceutical rice. The rice, developed by California-based Ventria
BioScience, is set to be grown and processed in Kansas, after the
company was chased out of other states, including Monsanto's stomping
grounds, Missouri, and Ventria's home-state, California. Ventria has
developed three varieties of rice, each engineered with a different
modified human gene to produce one of three recombinant human proteins.
Two of them -- lactoferrin and lysozyme -- are bacteria-fighting
compounds similar to natural versions found in breast milk and saliva.
The third makes recombinant serum albumin, a blood protein used in
medical therapies.
Drug-producing food crops grown out-of-doors
pose great risks to public health and the economic well-being of
farmers because they are likely to contaminate the food supply. In
fact, while Southern rice growers were still reeling from last year's
contamination of long-grain rice with an unapproved GE variety, a
second variety of rice was found to be contaminated with a second
unapproved GE line this month, throwing the rice market into further
turmoil. As a result, Southern rice growers are facing a severe
shortage of uncontaminated seed for planting this spring. Incredibly,
USDA appears poised to approve Ventria’s request even though the
pharmaceutical substances in Ventria’s drug-producing rice have not
been approved by the FDA.
Tell USDA enough is enough, and to reject this risky proposal!
![http://ga3.org/campaign/Ventria_KS/i7gb3xn4zww877i?]( "http://ga3.org/campaign/Ventria_KS/i7gb3xn4zww877i?")
Please take a moment to send your comment today -
we need to have your comments by March 28th to get them to USDA by the close of the comment period on the 30th!
