- The U.S. Department of Agriculture denied Ventria BioScience's
request to plant a genetically modified rice crop containing pharmaceuticals,
a setback for the California biotech company that had won backing from
a key industry organization.
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- The USDA wouldn't explain why it denied Ventria the license,
and spokesman Jim Rogers declined to comment. But he said the company has
redrafted its proposal and submitted it again, and the agency is reviewing
it. The Contra Costa Times reported that the USDA denied the license partly
because the pharmaceutical rice would be grown within 100 feet of rice
intended for human and animal food.
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- Ventria's rice would produce two human proteins that
fight infection: lactoferrin and lysozyme. The proteins could prevent infections
in infants. Lactoferrin and lysozyme are present in breast milk and protect
babies from ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory tract infections, meningitis
and other infections. Researchers at Ventria were first to develop a synthetic
form of these proteins that could become therapies.
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- On March 29, the California Rice Commission, a trade
association, recommended that the state give Ventria fast-track approval
to plant 120 acres of the rice. But rice growers and environmental groups
opposed the project, saying the modified rice could contaminate regular
crops and damage the export market. The California Rice Commission declined
to comment on the USDA's ruling.
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- Ventria didn't return phone calls requesting comment.
-
- Cross-contamination of pharmaceutical and regular rice
could be disastrous for human health as well, environmental and health
advocacy groups have said. In November, they sued the USDA for inadequate
oversight of pharmaceutical crops. In addition to Ventria, Dow Chemical
and Epicyte Pharmaceuticals are experimenting with corn, soybeans, tobacco,
rice and sugar crops to find a cheaper way to mass-produce drugs, instead
of building more manufacturing plants.
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- In 2002, federal officials ordered ProdiGene, of College
Station, Texas, to burn 155 acres of corn and 500,000 bushels of soybeans
because the crops had been contaminated by the company's pharmaceutical
corn, which had been genetically engineered to produce an experimental
diarrhea vaccine for pigs.
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- The San Jose Mercury News reported that even if the USDA
approves Ventria's updated proposal, it will be too late in the planting
season to grow a crop in 2004.
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- © Copyright 2004, Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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