Poisonous Potato Controversy
A Controversy in Biotechnology
(Scientific Miscommunication in UK)
Presented by: Marco D Silvano
Dr. Arpad Pusztai
• a Rowett Research Institute
researcher
- a protein scientist
• a world expert on plant lectins
• On Monday, August 10, 1998, he
reported in a television interview
that he had found that potatoes
genetically modified by the English
biotech company Cambridge
Agricultural Genetics to
contain lectin, a natural insecticide
in snowdrop plants had caused
harm to rats.
Desiree Red Potato
John Gatehouse
• Developed the Desiree
Red Potatoes for Pusztai’s
study
"The genes that were added direct
the manufacture of plant lectins
which are harmful to insects, we
know that they're toxic to insects,
so it isn't shocking if they also have
toxicity to animals. That was what
we wanted to know, and that's why
the tests were carried out."
University of Durham
Snowdrop (Galanthus) Lectin
Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) gene
Proteins highly resistant to digestion which
can be assimilated into the body.
Some are powerful growth triggers which
mimic hormones and some can change the
bacterial composition of gut flora.
LECTIN
Dr. Pusztai claimed that feeding GM
potatoes to rats damaged their immune
systems and caused pathological damage to
the gut.
Dr. Pusztai’s Mistake was…
World in Action (TV Program) Scientific Forum
Pusztai’s Experiment
• feeding rats on raw and cooked genetically
modified potatoes, using Desiree Red potatoes
as controls. One of the controls was unmodified
desiree red potatoes mixed with snowdrop lectin.
"We had two kinds of potatoes - one GM and the other non-GM. I had expected
that the GM potato, with 20 micrograms of a component against the several
grams of other components, should not cause any problems. But we found
problems. Our studies clearly show that the effects were not due to that little
gene expression, but it depended on the way the gene had been inserted into
the potato genome and what it did to the potato genome."
The Controls
GM Non-GM
Cooked
&
Raw
Potato INSERTED with Potato MIXED with
snowdrop lectin snowdrop lectin
Pusztai’s Findings
• The rats fed on the genetically modified potatoes showed intestine
damage and harm to their immune systems.
• These effects were not observed in rats fed on unmodified
potatoes, or unmodified potatoes mixed with snowdrop lectin.
• The team concluded that the effects observed were a result of the
genetic modification, not the snowdrop lectin.
The stated objective of Dr Pusztai's experiments was to determine the effect
of feeding GM potatoes to rats, but the experimental design did not allow that
objective to be addressed because there were no suitable controls.
GM Potato
showed damage to rats
immune system and the intestine
Non-GM Potato mixed with lectin
did not show any problem
Non-GM Potato
did not show any problem
The Experimental Research was faulty
because:
• The experiments were poorly designed.
• Different diets were added without sufficient
controls.
• Few rats were tested and were given non-
standard control diets.
• Data analysis was improper and a failure to
account for inconsistencies in results between
experiments.
The Royal Society Concluded
• The work is flawed in many aspects of design,
execution.
• They found no convincing evidence of adverse
effects from GM potatoes.
• Dr Pusztai's experiments lacked the
appropriate controls and replications to draw
*THAT THE WORK WAS "FLAWED IN MANY ASPECTS OF DESIGN,
anyEXECUTION
conclusions.
AND ANALYSIS AND NO CONCLUSIONS SHOULD BE DRAWN FROM IT".
MOREOVER, EVEN IF THE EXPERIMENTS HAD BEEN PROPERLY DEVISED AND CARRIED
OUT "IT WOULD BE UNJUSTIFIABLE TO DRAW FROM THEM GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
ABOUT WHETHER GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS ARE HARMFUL TO HUMAN
BEINGS".
Who contradicted Pusztai?
• Rowett Institute – Phillip James, director of Rowett
• Royal Society – forefront of defending the GM
Technology
• House of Common Science and Technology Select
Committee – with Royal Society
• Biotechnology Presentation Group – set up by the
government
• Rebuttal Unit- by the Royal Society
• Prof. John Pickett – against the publication of
Pusztai’s data.
• Sir Peter Lachman- Sec. of the Royal society.
Who aided Pusztai?
• 13 countries – supported Pusztai’s result
• Dr. Stanley Ewan – co- author of Pusztai’s
paper
• The Green Groups – claimed that Pusztai had
been vindicated.
• The Lancet – Published Pusztai’s paper
What happened in the end?
• The potatoes were subsequently destroyed, along
with all the details of their modifications and
Cambridge Agricultural Genetics Subsequently
ceased business.
What were the effects of the controversy?
• More issues arise contradicting GM
Technology
• Environmental Issues
– Safety of food
– Natural or Genetic Engineering
• Risk
– Contamination
- Manufactured Risk
• Approach of the public to GMO
- Decision making
Refferences
• [Link]
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%22download%22%2C%22logged_in%22%3Atrue%2C%22platform%22%3A%22web%22%7D
• "Professor J.A. Gatehouse – Durham University". Archived from the original on 2016-02-01.
Retrieved 2015-04-26.
• Ewen SW, Pusztai A (October 1999). "Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes
expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine". Lancet. 354 (9187): 1353–4. doi:
10.1016/S0140-6736(98)05860-7. PMID 10533866. S2CID 17252112
“EL Final”
